Misplaced Pages

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105-573: SilkAir Singapore Private Limited , operating as SilkAir , was a Singaporean regional airline with its head office in Changi, Singapore . It was a wholly owned subsidiary of Singapore Airlines and in 2017, operated scheduled passenger services from Singapore to 54 cities in Southeast Asia , the Indian subcontinent , East Asia , and Northern Australia . As the regional wing of Singapore Airlines, it served

210-600: A letter of intent with Boeing for a purchase of 68 aircraft. The agreement includes a firm order for 23 Boeing 737-800s and 31 Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, and purchase rights for another 14 aircraft. On 14 November 2012, the commitment was then converted to a firm order. The 737 aircraft will be used to replace the older A320 fleet and for the expansion of the airline. On 4 February 2014, SilkAir received its first Boeing 737-800 aircraft. On 4 October 2017, SilkAir received its first Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft. On 21 June 2018, Singapore Airlines announced that it plans to transfer

315-451: A 1983 article about PBA, Provincetown-Boston Airlines , both Air New England and Air Florida are described as regional airlines. At the time, Air New England was a recently-failed turboprop operator in the northeast USA, while Air Florida was a jet carrier flying from Florida to the northeast, to Latin America and Europe. The two airlines had little in common. As flag carriers grew to fill

420-541: A 76-inch (193.0 cm) fully flat bed. There are also adjustable dividers at the centre seats to provide passengers with a "customised level of privacy". Unveiled on 2 November 2017, the new A380 business-class seats were being progressively rolled out on the Airbus A380-800 fleet. There are 78 Business class seats on the aircraft, offered in a 1-2-1 configuration behind the Singapore Airlines Suites on

525-653: A civil lawsuit against Parker Hannifin . The jury under the Superior Court in Los Angeles in 2004, which was not allowed to hear or consider the NTSB conclusions, decided that the crash was caused by a prominent issue inherent in other 737 crashes: a defective servo valve inside the Power Control Unit (PCU) which controls the aircraft's rudder, causing a rudder hard-over and a subsequent uncontrollable crash. The manufacturer of

630-621: A cookbook in 2010 titled Above & Beyond: A Collection of Recipes from the Singapore Airlines Culinary Panel . Passengers in Suites, First and Business class may choose to use the "Book the Cook" service, where specific dishes may be selected in advance from a more extensive menu. Premium Economy class passengers may also choose to use the "Premium Economy Book the Cook". This service is only available on selected flights. KrisWorld

735-420: A dark blue skirt. For the year ending 31 March 2015, the airline flew over 3.5 million passengers and made an operating profit of S$ 40.8 million. SilkAir announced the appointment of Foo Chai Woo as Chief Executive as of 18 May 2016, succeeding Mr Leslie Thng. On 29 October 2017, SilkAir took over Scoot 's services to Yangon . With the transfer, the airline boosted its Yangon operations to 15 non-stop services

840-424: A form of a virtual airline , with the regional airline paid to staff, operate and maintain aircraft used on flights that are scheduled, marketed and sold by a partner mainline airline. This practice allows the mainline carrier to use outsourced labor at smaller stations, to reduce costs. In 2011, 61% of all advertised flights for American, Delta, United and US Airways were operated by their regional brands. This figure

945-530: A half hours. SilkAir launched their All-Time Favourites dishes in July 2016 where they served a selection of Asian, Western and local cuisine such as Nasi Lemak , Hainanese Chicken Rice , Beef Tenderloin, etc. that Business Class passengers could pre-book meals before their flight. SilkAir shared the KrisFlyer frequent flyer program with its parent company, Singapore Airlines. However, unlike Singapore Airlines, SilkAir

1050-519: A larger carrier, similar to their American counterparts. Some of these airlines and brands include: The trend of branding regional airlines to match the mainline airlines, has led to just three major sub-brands in the United States: American Eagle , Delta Connection and United Express . They are the post-deregulation survivors of the multiple bankruptcies and mergers of the major, legacy, mainline airlines. These regional brands are

1155-514: A mainline or flagship airline's aircraft, while in actuality they are far from it. Sub-branding is pretty consistent throughout the airline industry of the United States, with all the regional airlines, mainline airlines, and the regional airline holding companies, as well as the mainline airlines holding companies participating. On Feb 12th, 2010, a year after the crash of Colgan flight 3407 , Frontline premiered its WGA Award-winning exposé on

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1260-670: A new KrisWorld based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux was introduced, featuring a new interface, additional programming and audio and video on demand as standard. Widescreen personal video systems were installed in all cabins, including 23-inch LCD monitors in First Class, 15-inch monitors in Business Class, and 10.6-inch monitors in Economy Class. The new KrisWorld is available on Airbus A330, Airbus A380 and Boeing 777-300ER . Features include: A $ 400 million new KrisWorld entertainment system

1365-469: A new orange line added above it. The same orange line was also added behind the bird logo. The font typeface of the word "Singapore Airlines" was modified. However, in 2005, the livery received a minor update where the "Singapore Airlines" wording was enlarged and shifted closer towards the front of the aircraft, and the bird logo was also enlarged. The blue/gold sections of the tail is cut horizontally. The first set of windows are also no longer left out from

1470-527: A new vision for regional mobility, based on services built out of small general aviation aircraft and VLJs (very light jets) with advanced automation. This vision failed to materialize due to its primary focus on rural mobility and a lack of clear and viable business case. With the introduction of air taxi services and very light jets , city pair links to smaller communities lacking regional connections could become more common. This opportunities could become commercially viable with advanced air mobility and

1575-580: A non-intrusive reading light under it, which can be used by folding the screen outwards. These are configured 3-4-3 on the lower deck of the Airbus A380, 3-3-3 on the Boeing 777, and 2-4-2 on the Airbus A330, as well as the upper deck of the Airbus A380. Other features include an independent cup-holder (separate from the fold-out table), a USB port, and a power socket, as well as an iPod port exclusively on board

1680-653: A number of Boeing 737-800 to Scoot between late-2018 to early-2019 to better optimise the overall group's network. Following the events of the Boeing 737 MAX , plans to transfer the Boeing 737-800 were suspended in April 2019. There were two classes of cabins available on all SilkAir flights — Business class and Economy class. In 2020, there were new lie-flat seats in Business class, and the installation of seat-back in-flight entertainment systems in both Business and Economy classes. Business class cabins consisted of leather seats with

1785-505: A panel containing power and USB port, as well as an NFC reader for contactless payments. In November 2024, Singapore Airlines pledged to invest S$ 1.1 billion ($ 828 million) to overhaul the seats in its long-haul aircraft, including all-new first- and business-class product. A new seat with slight changes was announced to be retrofitted on Singapore Airlines's A380 and eventually become available on newer versions of their A350 and 787 aircraft. Features include more legroom and back support,

1890-564: A portfolio of 27 joint ventures including with Boeing and Rolls-Royce . Singapore Airlines Cargo operates SIA's freighter fleet and manages the cargo-hold capacity in SIA's passenger aircraft. Scoot , a wholly owned subsidiary, operates as a low-cost carrier . Singapore Airlines was the first to put the Airbus A380 —the world's largest passenger aircraft—as well as the Boeing 787-10 into service, and

1995-461: A seat pitch of between 39 and 40 inches and seat width between 20-22 inches. On Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, the seat pitch was increased significantly to 49 inches in Business Class with additional seat recline. Economy class cabins had a seat pitch of 31 inches and seat width between 17-18 inches. On Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft there were seat-back tablet and phone holders, and personal in-seat USB charging ports. SilkAir offered

2100-407: A second-generation livery features a blue and yellow strip on the windows on the white fuselage, with the stylised bird logo in yellow. The word "Singapore Airlines" was stylised in italics. The current livery has only some minor changes, and the gold-blue color scheme and the bird logo have been retained. In the change to the current livery, the yellow rear fuselage was changed to metallic gold with

2205-399: A selection of newspapers and magazine titles on board and screened a series of short features on its 11-inch overhead dropdown screens. The Silkwinds inflight magazine was complimentary for all passengers. In-seat audio and power supply were available exclusively on its Boeing aircraft. 2014 saw the launch of SilkAir Studio as a complimentary wireless streaming service for its passengers. It

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2310-525: A six-way adjustable headrest, and foldable wings. The Economy Class seat also features a more contemporary fabric seat cover design. The screen size remains the same, yet handsets from the previous iteration of seats have been removed. A redesign of the economy class seat was unveiled on 9 July 2013 alongside new first and business class products. Features include 32-inch (81 cm) of legroom, slimmer seats, an adjustable headrest , and an 11.1-inch (28 cm) touch-screen inflight entertainment system which

2415-408: A strong entrepreneurial sector of independents. They are based on business models ranging from the traditional full service airline to low cost carriers . Innovations include one where the passenger is required to join a membership club before being allowed to fly. Some examples of European regional airlines include: India has many regional carriers operating currently. Some of these operate under

2520-471: A tablet. In May 2017, the service was enhanced and upgraded to offer more than 150 international blockbuster movies and TV sitcom shows available on SilkAir Studio. For Apple users, the SilkAir Studio app had to be downloaded prior to flight in order to enjoy the in-flight entertainment. SilkAir offered Oriental and Western menus. Light snacks were also available on selected flights of less than one and

2625-413: A week. On 30 October 2017, SilkAir launched its inaugural flight to Hiroshima , marking the first Japanese destination that SilkAir has added to its network. On 22 November 2018, SilkAir announced plans to transfer 17 routes to Scoot including Luang Prabang , Chiang Mai , Kota Kinabalu , Yogyakarta and Wuhan over the months of April 2019 to July 2020, ahead of its merger with Singapore Airlines in

2730-744: A wide array of food options on each flight. Regional dishes are often served on their respective flights, such as the Kyo-Kaiseki , Shi Quan Shi Mei , and Shahi Thali meals, available for first-class passengers on flights to Japan, China and India, respectively. SIA has also introduced the Popular Local Fare culinary programme offering local favourites to passengers in all classes flying from selected destinations. The dishes featured in this programme include Singaporean "hawker" fare such as Teochew porridge , bak chor mee , Hainanese chicken rice , and Satay (meat skewers) on certain routes. They published

2835-644: Is Singapore Airlines' in-flight entertainment system, introduced in 1997 on Boeing 747–400, Airbus A310-300, Airbus A340-300 and Boeing 777–200 aircraft. KrisFlyer overhauled Singapore Airlines' in-flight experience with a new, cheaper entertainment solution that would supersede the primitive Thales entertainment systems on offer at that time by Virgin Atlantic and Emirates . The original KrisWorld provided 14 movies, 36 television programmes, and five cartoons, as well as many Super NES games, KrisFone and fax, text news and flight path in all classes. The original KrisWorld

2940-458: Is also controllable with a video touch-screen handset as well as brand new KrisWorld software. The new seats were originally announced to be available exclusively onboard factory-fresh Airbus A350-900 and refitted Boeing 777-300ER. The previous generation economy class seats on unrefitted Airbus A380-800 , and Airbus A330-300 are 19 in (48 cm) wide, have in-seat power and have a 10.6-inch (27 cm) personal television screen which has

3045-506: Is available on Airbus A380 and refitted Boeing 777-200ER aircraft, where a fully flat bed is available in a 1-2-1 configuration featuring 30 in (76 cm) of seat width. These seats are forward-facing, in contrast to the herring-bone configuration used by several other airlines offering flat beds in business class. The leather seats feature a 15.4 in (39.1 cm) diagonal screen-size personal television, in-seat power supply and two USB ports. On eight Airbus A380 aircraft,

3150-655: Is common in the U.S. to incorrectly associate aircraft size with the Department of Transportation's designation of major, national, and regional airline. The only corollary is the Regional Airline Association, an industry trade group, defines "regional airlines" generally as "...operat(ing) short and medium haul scheduled airline service connecting smaller communities with larger cities and connecting hubs. The airlines' fleet primarily consists of 19 to 68 seat turboprops and 30 to 100 seat regional jets." To be clear there

3255-500: Is fully owned by American Airlines Group and does business as American Eagle . Many of these large regional airlines have joined the lobbying group Regional Airline Association . This association lobbies purely for the financial interest of the corporate bodies it constitutes, not the employees of those airlines. In Canada there are a number of regional airlines. Some of them focus on Canadian Arctic and First Nations communities, while others operate regional flights on behalf of

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3360-530: Is headquartered at Airline House, a former hangar at the Changi Airport in Singapore. In November 2022, Tata Group reached an agreement with Singapore Airlines which will see Indian full-service carrier Vistara merge with Tata-owned Air India to form a single entity with an expanded network and broader fleet. The merger officially took place on 12 November 2024. In November 2024, Singapore Airlines said it

3465-428: Is no distinction in the Department of Transportation definition of major, national and regional airlines by aircraft size. The definition is based on revenue. The clash of definitions has led to confusion in the media and the public. Beginning around 1985, a number of trends have become apparent. Regional aircraft are getting larger, faster, and are flying longer ranges. Additionally, the vast majority of regionals within

3570-500: Is not a member of Star Alliance , so frequent flyer miles on SilkAir flights may only be credited on the KrisFlyer programme, but not on other Star Alliance frequent flyer programs. Tradewinds Tours and Travel Private Limited was a wholly owned subsidiary of SilkAir, providing package tours to destinations flown by the airline, as well as chartered flights within the Asia region. The company

3675-687: Is the only operator of the ultra-long-range (ULR) version of the Airbus A350-900 . It ranks amongst the top 15 carriers worldwide in terms of revenue passenger kilometres and is ranked tenth in the world for international passengers carried. Singapore Airlines was voted as the Skytrax World's Best Airline Cabin Crew 2019. The airline has also won the second and fourth positions as the World's Best Airlines and World's Cleanest Airlines respectively in 2019. In 2023,

3780-655: The Airbus A330 . Singapore Airlines introduced a similar design on board the Boeing 777 aircraft through its ongoing cabin retrofit program. The Boeing 777–300 was the first model to undergo refit and had introduced the product on the Singapore–Sydney route on 22 July 2009. They are equipped with slightly smaller 9-inch screens (which are, however, larger than the 6.1-inch VGA screens on unrefitted aircraft) and AVOD in each seat. The seats are installed onboard all B777-200ERs and all but one B777-200. Singapore Airlines offers

3885-652: The Civil Aeronautics Board from 1943 to 1950 include: A history and study of regional airlines was published by the Smithsonian Institution Press in 1994 under the title Commuter Airlines of the United States , by R.E.G. Davies and I. E. Quastler . Since the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978, the US federal government has continued support of the regional airline sector to ensure many of

3990-556: The Musi River in Sumatra during a routine flight from Jakarta to Singapore, killing all 104 people on board. The crash was investigated by various groups, with different results. The Indonesian NTSC , who were lead investigators, stated that they were unable to determine the cause, while the U.S. NTSB concluded that the crash resulted from an intentional act by a pilot, most likely the captain . A civil lawsuit case against Parker Hannifin,

4095-410: The aircraft livery for the company they are operating flights for. These airlines can be subsidiaries of the major airline or fly under a code sharing agreement or operating through capacity purchase agreements, with the mainline parent company financing the aircraft for the regional airline, and then placing the aircraft with the regional for very little cost. An example would be Envoy Air , which

4200-425: The 19 passenger Embraer/FMA CBA 123 Vector and the 34 seat Dornier 328 were undertaken, but met little financial success, partly due to economic downturn in the airline industry resulting from the outbreak of hostilities when Iraq invaded Kuwait . Many of the regional airlines operating turboprop equipment such as Delta 's regional sister Comair airlines in the United States set the course for bypassing entirely

4305-444: The 1929 launch of Transcontinental Air Transport (T-A-T) in the United States. T-A-T's transcontinental "Lindbergh Line" became America's first contiguous coast-to-coast air service, and it ushered in a new era of major airlines expanding to operate networks with large footprints. The development of long-range aircraft operated by flag carriers like British Overseas Airways Corporation and Trans-Canada Airlines further normalized

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4410-541: The A330. The Business Class seat is lie-flat at an eight-degree incline, featuring Krisworld on a 15.4-inch (39 cm) screen. On 28 March 2018, the new regional business class was unveiled following the delivery of the first Boeing 787-10 . These new seats manufactured by Stelia Aerospace are arranged in a forward-facing 1-2-1 staggered configuration, providing every passenger direct aisle access. Each seat measures up to 26 in (66.0 cm) in width and can be reclined into

4515-532: The A350-900 aircraft and includes Business, Premium Economy, and Economy classes. This was followed by the resumption of non-stop flights to Newark and Los Angeles from 11 October 2018 and 2 November 2018, respectively, with the delivery of the Airbus A350-900ULRs, allowing the airline to operate two of the world's longest non-stop flights again. On 14 October 2015, Singapore Airlines announced plans to resume

4620-448: The Business Class was unveiled on 9 July 2013 and is available on refitted Boeing B777-300ERs and the Airbus A350-900 . Features include a power socket and ports all in one panel, stowage beside the seat, two new seating positions, arranged in a 1-2-1 configuration and an 18-inch in-flight entertainment screen. The seat has a recline of 132 degrees and can be folded into a 78 in (198.1 cm) length bed. Long haul business class

4725-656: The SARS outbreak in 2003–04, Singapore Airlines ceased flights to Brussels , Chicago , Las Vegas , Hiroshima , Kaohsiung , Madrid , Mauritius , Shenzhen , Surabaya , and Vienna . Singapore Airlines discontinued flights to Vancouver and Amritsar in 2009, and São Paulo in 2016. The airline has a key role in the Kangaroo Route , operating flights between Australia and the United Kingdom via Singapore. It flew 11.0% of all international traffic into and out of Australia in

4830-573: The United Arab Emirates, to offer more onward connections from Bangkok and Dubai, respectively. In 2005 AirAsia , a low-cost carrier (LCC) based in Malaysia, accused Singapore Airlines of double standards, when it claimed that the Government of Singapore attempted to keep it out of the Singapore market, despite desiring to fly routes out of Australia itself. In 2007 Singapore Airlines welcomed

4935-606: The United States with more than ten aircraft within their fleet, have lost their individual identities and now serve only as feeders, to Alaska Airlines , American Airlines , Delta Air Lines , or United Airlines major hubs. Regional aircraft in the US have been getting slightly more comfortable with the addition of better ergonomically designed aircraft cabins , and the addition of varying travel classes aboard these aircraft. From small, less than 50-seat "single-class cabin" turboprop , to turbofan regional jet equipment, present day regional airlines provide aircraft such as

5040-429: The United States, are: Mainline carrier-owned Independent contractors The evolution and chronological history of the commuter side of the regional airline industry can be defined by a number of dates prior to the end of the era of airline regulation by the Civil Aeronautics Board of the United States. Among these significant dates are: List of Commuter Airlines in 1977 Prior to Airline Deregulation: Some of

5145-538: The aircraft's rudder controls and the families later reached an out of court settlement. It is the only fatal hull loss for SilkAir in its history. [REDACTED] Media related to SilkAir at Wikimedia Commons Regional airline Decades before the advent of jet airliners and high-speed, long-range air service, commercial aviation was structured similarly to rail transport networks. In this era, technological limitations on air navigation and propeller-driven aircraft performance imposed strict constraints on

5250-484: The airline for the fifth time took the prize of "Best Airline" as well as the "Best First Class Airline" by Skytrax. Singapore Airlines is majority-owned by the Singapore government 's investment and holding company Temasek Holdings , which holds 55% of voting stock as of 31 March 2020. Nevertheless, while the government holds a golden share via the country's Ministry of Finance , it stressed its non-interference in

5355-404: The airline hub. Initially these tie ups tended to use small 15 -19 seat aircraft, which did not have a reputation of passenger comfort, or safe reliable operations, by small often under capitalized tiny airline operators. To create a common tie and what appeared to be seamless to the air traveler, major carriers marketed in advertising and soon had much smaller airlines paint their small and what

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5460-585: The airline is the only reasonable link to a larger town. Examples of this are PenAir , which links the remote Aleutian Islands to Anchorage, Alaska , and Mokulele Airlines , which operates in the Hawaiian islands. As an affiliated airline , contracting with a major airline , operating under their brand name (for example, Endeavor Air operates flights under the Delta Connection brand name for Delta Air Lines ), and filling two roles: delivering passengers to

5565-473: The blue/gold/yellow strip. The engine logos were also subsequently removed a few years later. Singapore Airlines flies on five continents from its primary hub in Singapore. After the Asian financial crisis in 1997, Singapore Airlines discontinued its routes to Berlin , Darwin , Cairns , Hangzhou , Kagoshima , and Sendai . Toronto was discontinued earlier, in 1992, due to a petition from Air Canada . During

5670-437: The capability of "far and wide" air travel among the traveling public. "Regional airline" is a flexible term whose meaning has changed substantially over time. What it means today is different than how it has been used in the past. For instance, in the United States, around 1960, the term “regional carrier” denoted the smaller eight of the 12 largest carriers, then known as trunk carriers (or trunk airlines or simply trunks). At

5775-521: The carrier matured, regional business destinations such as Jakarta , Phnom Penh , and Yangon were added to its network, thereby broadening the airline's appeal beyond the holiday-maker to include the business traveller. A major marketing overhaul was officially started in 1991 and officially culminating on 1 April 1992 by giving the airline its present name and logo as a new corporate identity officially launching new name and new logo as SilkAir on 1 April 1992. The re-branded airline utilised up to six of

5880-519: The demand of long-range passenger traffic, new and small airlines found niches flying between short and under-served routes to-and-from major airports and more rural destinations. Through the 1960s and 1970s, war surplus designs (notably, the Douglas DC-3 ) were replaced by higher-performance turboprop or jet -powered designs like the Fokker F27 Friendship and BAC One-Eleven . This extended

5985-688: The first Airbus A320-200 arrived on 18 September 1998, and retired all Boeing aircraft a year later. Soon after its first A320 was delivered, SilkAir took delivery of its first A319-100 aircraft on 3 September 1999. The A319 was utilised on certain routes within Southeast Asia, and to some cities in India, while the larger A320 was used on most of the airline's major routes. On 20 December 2006, SilkAir signed an agreement to purchase 11 Airbus A320-200 aircraft with nine more on option. These aircraft were delivered between 2009–2012. On 3 August 2012, SilkAir had signed

6090-568: The first major overhaul in over eight years and costing the airline approximately S$ 570 million. Initially planned for the Airbus A380-800's introduction into service in 2006, and subsequently on the Boeing 777-300ER , the postponement of the first A380-800 delivery meant it had to be introduced with the launch of the first Boeing 777-300ER with the airline on 5 December 2006 between Singapore and Paris. On 9 July 2013, Singapore Airlines, in collaboration with design firms James Park Associates and DesignworksUSA , released new cabin products for

6195-522: The first of which entered service in October 2011, Singapore Airlines dedicated the entire upper deck to the Business class cabin, unlike the original configuration's upper deck shared by 16 rows of business class and 11 rows of economy at the rear. Medium and short haul business class layouts are available on Airbus A330-300 , Boeing 777-300 and all unrefitted Boeing 777-200 aircraft, configured in 2-2-2 layout and with iPod connectivity, only available in

6300-651: The first, business, and economy classes. They debuted on the carrier's new Boeing 777-300ERs delivered from 2013 onwards, with London's Heathrow Airport being their maiden route. The product was later introduced on its Airbus A350s and extended to all its older Boeing 777-300ERs. On 2 November 2017, Singapore Airlines released new cabin products for the Airbus A380-800 . These new changes cost roughly S$ 1.16 billion and were rolled out in response to growing competition from Middle Eastern carriers such as Emirates, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways. The seating configuration in

6405-750: The following airlines: Singapore Airlines operates a predominantly widebody fleet, until the second re-introduction of the Boeing 737 in March 2021 following the merger with SilkAir . The airline also operates Boeing 747-400F and Boeing 777F freighters. As of September 2024, there were 160 aircraft registered in the Singapore Airlines fleet, comprising 148 passenger aircraft and 12 freighters. Singapore Airlines offers five classes of service – Suites, first class, business class, premium economy class, and economy class. Major upgrades to its cabin and in-flight service were announced on 17 October 2006, constituting

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6510-510: The following airlines: Throughout its existence, SilkAir operated the following aircraft: SilkAir began operations with one leased McDonnell Douglas MD-87 aircraft in 1989, before investing in its own fleet of six Boeing 737-300s , the first of which began operations in 1990. It operated two Airbus A310-200s for a brief period from 1993 to 1995 before they were transferred to Singapore Airlines, and two Fokker 70s from 1995 to 2000. It began replacing its Boeing fleet with Airbus aircraft when

6615-545: The government's UDAN (Regional Connectivity Scheme) . Note:- Alliance Air is still a state-owned airline, whereas Air India is private. Australia has an association for regional airline, the Regional Aviation of Australia. More than 2 million passengers and 23 million kg of cargo are involved each year. Post airline deregulation, airlines sought added market share and to do this they sought partnerships with regional and small airlines to feed traffic into

6720-416: The higher capacity CRJ700 , CRJ900 , CRJ1000 series of aircraft and the somewhat larger fuselage Embraer E-Jets . Some of these newer aircraft are capable of flying longer distances with comfort levels that rival and surpass the regional airline equipment of the past. In the early 1990s, much more advanced turboprop-powered, fuel efficient, and passenger friendly DC-3 type replacement projects such as

6825-532: The industry entitled "Flying Cheap". In the program, reporter Miles O'Brien questioned how the impact of low salaries are having on pilot psyches and how safe this could be for the flying public. When asked to respond to the question, Roger Cohen, president of the Regional Airline Association, told Frontline that, "...there are many other people who earn less money than that and work more days in these communities that can afford it and do it and do it responsibly." The Small Aircraft Transportation System outlined

6930-461: The introduction of electric aircraft. In some parts of the world, regional airlines face competition from high-speed rail and also coach (bus) services with airlines sometimes replacing feeder services through air rail alliances and contracts with bus companies (e.g., Landline between Philadelphia International Airport and Atlantic City International Airport ). In North America , regional airlines are operated primarily to bring passengers to

7035-416: The late 2020 or early 2021. By the end of 2021, SilkAir had ceased operations and gradually finished integration into its parent company, Singapore Airlines . The key business trends for SilkAir are shown in the following table (as at year ending 31 March): At the end of April 2021, SilkAir's network covered three destinations – Cebu, Kathmandu and Singapore. SilkAir had codeshare agreements with

7140-631: The lesser known smaller brands used by the regional airlines and their parent companies were: European regional airlines serve the intra-continental sector in Europe . They connect cities to major airports and to other cities, avoiding the need for passengers to make transfers. For example, BA CityFlyer a regional subsidiary of British Airways uses the basic Chatham Dockyard Union Flag livery of its parent company and flies between domestic and European cities. Some of Europe's regional airlines are subsidiaries of national air carriers, though there remains

7245-567: The liberalisation of the Singapore-Kuala Lumpur route, previously restricted to Singapore Airlines and Malaysia Airlines under rules designed to protect the state-run airlines from competition for over three decades, accounting for about 85% of the over 200 flight frequencies then operated. A highly lucrative route for LCCs due to its short distance and heavy traffic as the fourth-busiest in Asia, bringing Singapore Airline's capacity share on

7350-667: The livery of Air France . NLM 's KLM style branding does however pre-date the Air France efforts though by a number of years. The success of the "rebranding" or "pseudo branding" of a much smaller airline into the name recognition of a much larger one soon became clear as passenger numbers soared at Air Alpes, and it was soon decided to paint other aircraft such as the Fokker F-27 into full Air France colours as well. Many airline passengers find sub-branding very confusing, while many other airline passengers are content to think they are on

7455-488: The main opponent to the liberalisation of the route and deemed to be the party that stands to lose the most, continued to codeshare with both Singapore Airlines and SilkAir on the route. Singapore Airlines operated two of the longest flights in the world , both nonstop flights from Singapore to Los Angeles and Newark with Airbus A340-500 aircraft. All A340-500s were phased out in 2013 and nonstop flights to both destinations were terminated. Nonstop service to Los Angeles

7560-680: The mainline airline's sub-brand livery. For example, United Express regional airline partner CommutAir branded its entire fleet as United Express. On the other hand, regional airline Gulfstream International Airlines did not brand their aircraft. When Colgan Air was still operating, they branded a handful of aircraft as Colgan Air, but most were branded as Continental Connection , US Airways Express or United Express , with whom it had contractual agreements. 21st century regional airlines are commonly organized in one of two ways. Operating as an independent airline under their own brand, mostly providing service to small and isolated towns, for whom

7665-410: The mainline airlines, in terms of revenue, many would be designated major airline carrier status based on the only actual definition of "major airline," in the United States, the definition from the U.S. Department of Transportation. This definition is based solely on annual revenue and not on any other criterion such as average aircraft seating capacity, pilot pay, or number of aircraft in the fleet. It

7770-439: The major airline's hubs from surrounding towns, and increasing frequency of service on mainline routes during times when demand does not warrant use of large aircraft, known as commuter flights . One of the first independently owned and managed airlines in the world that rebranded its aircraft to match a larger airline's brand was Air Alpes of France. During 1974, Air Alpes painted its newly delivered short range regional jets in

7875-481: The major airlines. Singapore Airlines Singapore Airlines ( abbreviation : SIA or SQ ) is the flag carrier of Singapore with its hub located at Changi Airport . A member of Star Alliance , the airline is notable for highlighting the Singapore Girl as its central figure in the corporate branding segment and not significantly changing its livery throughout its history. Widely renowned as one of

7980-501: The major hubs, where they will connect for longer-distance flights on the national airlines also known as flagship carriers . The smallest regional carriers have become known as feeder airlines. The separate corporate structure allows the company to operate under different pay schedules, typically paying much less than their mainline owners. Many large North American airlines, have established operational relationships with one or more regional airline companies. Their aircraft often use

8085-495: The management of the company, a point emphasised by Lee Kuan Yew when he said the Singapore Changi Airport's front-runner status as an aviation hub is more important than SIA. However, he was personally involved in easing tensions between the company and its pilots in the early 2000s, warned the airline to cut costs, and made public his advice to the airline to divest from its subsidiary companies. Singapore Airlines

8190-495: The manufacturer of the PCU-dual servo unit essential in the 737's rudder control—and also suspected in causing the crashes of United Airlines Flight 585 and USAir Flight 427 under similar flight-event parameters , had provided the NTSB the initial test results of the recovered PCU-dual servo unit from Flight 185 in 1997, but was later further independently investigated for litigation on behalf some families of Flight 185 passengers in

8295-626: The month ended March 2008. As of summer 2023, it operated more flights to Australia than any other country. Singapore Airlines also operated flights between Singapore and Wellington , New Zealand via Canberra until May 2018, when the intermediate stop was changed to Melbourne . This route was known as the Capital Express. The route was suspended in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Singapore Airlines has taken advantage of liberal bilateral aviation agreements between Singapore and Thailand, and with

8400-620: The new Boeing 737-300s introduced just a year earlier. The mid-1990s saw two Airbus A310-200 aircraft in use and the expansion of services to India as well as mainland China. It was the first Asian carrier to offer handheld portable video-on-demand (VOD) in-flight entertainment in the form of the DigEplayer 5500, available on flights to selected countries. Four months later, SilkAir officially very first began operations to Indonesia in August same year and has steadily strengthened its network over

8505-458: The new design consists of 6 suites and 78 business class seats on the upper deck, with 44 Premium Economy Class seats and 3-4-3 Economy Class seats on the lower deck. The new changes were rolled out on the five new Airbus A380 aircraft that were delivered to Singapore Airlines, while the existing A380 fleet had these new products retrofitted until 2020. Sydney was the first city served with the new product on 18 December 2017. The current version of

8610-403: The potential length of each flight; some routes covered less than 100 miles (160 km). As such, airlines structured their services along point-to-point routes with many stops between the originating and terminating air terminals. This system of air transportation effectively forced most airlines to be "regional" in nature, but the lack of distinction among carriers soon began to change with

8715-604: The promotion of its female flight attendants known as Singapore Girls has been widely successful and is a common feature in most of the airline's advertisements and publications. The Singapore Airlines logo is a stylised bird inspired by a keris, a dagger that is a cultural symbol of the region. The keris is central in Singapore Airlines' branding, such as the SilverKris lounge and the KrisWorld entertainment system. The logo has remained unchanged since Singapore Airlines' inception from

8820-494: The range of the regionals dramatically, causing a wave of consolidations between the now overlapping airlines. In the United States, regional airlines were an important building block of today's passenger air system. The U.S. Government encouraged the forming of regional airlines to provide services from smaller communities to larger towns, where air passengers could connect to a larger network. The original regional airlines (then known as " Local service carriers ") sanctioned by

8925-831: The regional turboprops as they became the first to transition to an all-jet regional jet fleet. To a lesser extent in Europe and the United Kingdom this transition, to notably the Embraer or Canadair designs, was well advanced by the late 1990s. This evolution towards jet equipment, brought the independent regional airlines into direct competition with the major airlines, forcing additional consolidation. To improve on their market penetration, larger airline holding companies rely on operators of smaller aircraft to provide service or added frequency service to some airports. Such airlines, often operating in code-share arrangements with mainline airlines, often completely repaint [1] their aircraft fleet in

9030-484: The route down to about 46.7%, Malaysia Airlines' down to 25.3%, and increase to 17.3% to the three LCCs now permitted on the route, and the remainder shared by three other airlines as of 22 September 2008. Until 1 December 2008, Singapore Airlines operated six flights per day. Singapore Airlines operated four flights per day plans from 1 December 2008 when the route was completely opened, while its sister airline SilkAir also operated four flights per day. Malaysia Airlines,

9135-807: The short to medium-haul destinations in the Singapore Airlines Group network. By the end of 2021, SilkAir ceased operations, with all flights transferred to its parent company Singapore Airlines or its low-cost affiliate Scoot . The airline had its roots as a regional air-charter company as Tradewinds Charters formed in 1975, serving leisure destinations using planes predominantly leased from parent airline Singapore Airlines . Scheduled services were introduced as Tradewinds Airlines on 21 February 1989, when it leased McDonnell Douglas MD-87 aeroplanes for services to 5 destinations: Pattaya , Phuket , Hat Yai , and Kuantan from Singapore's Changi Airport , and Tioman from Singapore's Seletar Airport . As

9240-462: The smaller and more isolated rural communities remain connected to air services. This is encouraged with the Essential Air Service program that subsidizes airline service to smaller U.S. communities and suburban centers, aiming to maintain year-round service. Although regional airlines in the United States are often viewed as small, not particularly lucrative "no name" subsidiaries of

9345-439: The split of Malaysia–Singapore Airlines , except for a minor tweak in 1987. In May 1966 Malaysian Airways (MAL) became Malaysia-Singapore Airlines (MSA). The original MSA livery features a yellow MSA logo on the vertical stabiliser and a black nose, with a white and grey fuselage . All aircraft in this original livery have been repainted or retired. Following the spinoff of Malaysia Airlines , Singapore Airlines introduced

9450-473: The time the four biggest airlines in the United States were known as the Big Four, comprising American , United , TWA and Eastern Air Lines . The other eight trunk carriers were Braniff , Capital , Continental , Delta , National , Northeast , Northwest and Western . Since, at the time, none of these eight had a network approaching the scale of the Big Four, they were known as the regional carriers. This

9555-443: The upper deck. The seats, designed by JPA Design and upholstered with Poltrona Frau grain leather, can be reclined into a fully flat bed. There are also adjustable dividers between the centre seats that can either be fully raised, half raised or fully lowered. When the centre divider is fully lowered, the pair of centre seats directly behind each bulkhead can form double beds. There is also an 18-inch (46 cm) touchscreen LCD TV and

9660-574: The world's best carriers, the airline is ranked as a 5-star airline as well as ranked as the world's best airline by Skytrax five times. The airline operates a variety of Airbus and Boeing aircraft, namely the Airbus A350-900 , Airbus A380 , Boeing 737 MAX 8 , Boeing 737-800 , Boeing 747-400 Freighter , Boeing 777-300ER and Boeing 787-10 . Singapore Airlines Group has more than 20 subsidiaries, including numerous airline-related subsidiaries. SIA Engineering Company handles maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) business across nine countries with

9765-407: The world's longest non-stop flight between Singapore and New York – a 15,300 km (9,500 mi), 19-hour route that the airline had dropped in 2013. A340-500 aircraft were formerly employed to serve this route until their retirement in 2013. SIA resumed the route following the acquisition of new Airbus A350-900ULR aircraft on 18 October 2018. At the time, Singapore Airlines Flights 21 and 22

9870-457: The years. SilkAir currently serves eleven Indonesian destinations, namely Balikpapan , Bandung , Lombok , Manado , Makassar , Medan , Palembang , Pekanbaru , Semarang , Solo and Surabaya . On 10 April 2015, SilkAir launched a new collection of uniforms, the fourth uniform change in over 26 years. There are two variations of the uniform - aqua-blue for junior crew and a plum-red version for senior crew. Both variations are accompanied by

9975-409: Was despite the existence, at the time, of 13 smaller United States scheduled carriers known as local service carriers whose service was arguably far more regional than the “regional” trunks. So when reading historical sources, it’s important to understand that the term "regional airline" has migrated greatly over time. Sometimes the term has been stretched beyond the point of utility. For instance, in

10080-507: Was feeling the impact of the aviation industry’s widespread supply-chain issues, estimating it is likely to have five fewer aircraft than planned by the end of the 2024 fiscal year, with 204 jets in fleet, due to delivery delays. The key trends for Singapore Airlines are (as of the financial year ending 31 March): Branding and publicity efforts have revolved primarily around flight crew, in contrast to most other airlines, who tend to emphasise aircraft and services in general. In particular,

10185-474: Was first available on its Boeing 737-800 aircraft before being progressively rolled out to its Airbus fleet. This system complemented the existing overhead systems. SilkAir Studio was introduced in 2014 where passengers were able to stream blockbuster hits, short features, and music, to their personal laptops and handheld devices via Wi-Fi. This system complemented the existing overhead systems. Passengers in Business Class on flights more than two hours were offered

10290-521: Was incorporated in 1975, and became a fully licensed tour operator in 1984. SilkAir, the regional wing of Singapore Airlines, was once known as Tradewinds Charters at its founding in 1976, before earning its present name in 1991. The chartered operations hence continued to be handled by Tradewinds Tours and Travel. On 19 December 1997, SilkAir Flight 185 registered as 9V-TRF, operated on a Boeing 737-300 and piloted by Captain Tsu Way Ming, plunged into

10395-465: Was installed on Boeing 747-400 and selected Boeing 777-200 aircraft. Connexion by Boeing , an in-flight Internet service, was introduced in 2005. Live television streaming was proposed on Connexion, but this service was discontinued in December 2006. Since October 2005, Singapore Airlines has offered complimentary language lessons by Berlitz. and, starting December 2005, live text-news feeds. In 2007,

10500-401: Was often described as puddle-jumper aircraft, in the image and branding colors of the much larger mainline partner. This was to give the appearance of reliability. Over time these regional aircraft grew in size as airline hubs expanded and competition dwindled among the major carriers. Below is a list of many of the regional brands that evolved when regional airlines were advertised to look like

10605-580: Was only 40% in 2000. The formerly small regional airlines have grown substantially, through mergers or by the use of a holding company, as pioneered by AMR Corporation in 1982. AMR created the AMR Eagle Holding Corporation which unified its wholly owned American Eagle Airlines and Executive Airlines under one division, but still maintained the regional airlines' operating certificates and personnel separate from each other and American Airlines . The most significant regional airlines in

10710-486: Was subsequently upgraded to feature Wisemen 3000, an audio and video-on-demand version of the KrisWorld system featured exclusively in First and Raffles Class cabins, then progressively introduced into Economy Class in 747 cabins and selected 777 cabins. In 2002, Singapore Airlines introduced a re-branding of the KrisWorld system. Named Enhanced KrisWorld, it featured additional movies, television programming, music and games, and

10815-404: Was terminated on 20 October 2013 (the airline continues to serve Los Angeles from Singapore via Tokyo-Narita ), and the nonstop service to Newark was terminated on 23 November 2013 in favour of a Singapore-New York JFK route via Frankfurt . From 23 October 2016, Singapore Airlines resumed non-stop flights from Singapore to the United States, beginning with San Francisco . The route is flown by

10920-448: Was the longest scheduled route in the world. It was suspended again in March 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic , and resumed in March 2022. On 9 November 2020, SIA relaunched the nonstop flights between Changi Airport and New York, but this time to John F. Kennedy International Airport , three times a week. The route, Singapore Airlines Flights 23 and 24 , is the longest scheduled flight in the world. Singapore Airlines codeshares with

11025-428: Was unveiled in 2012. This comes from a major deal with Panasonic Avionics, which will provide the latest Panasonic eX3 systems. The eX3 system features a larger screen with much higher resolution, wide touch-screen controllers, new software, and, above all, in-flight connectivity. Singapore Airlines launched its in-flight connectivity in August 2012. Passengers are now able to make phone calls, send text messages and access

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