A few weeks ago, Lufthansa Cargo ‘retired’ one of their MD-11 Freighters as they begin introducing brand new Boeing 777Fs to replace them. As part of the process of retiring ‘D-ALCO’, she was flown to Lufthansa Technik Component Services (LTCS) in Tulsa, Oklahoma where she will be disassembled. Critical components will be removed, refurbished and certified for future use in other MD-11s in the Cargo Fleet while the rest of the aircraft will be dismantled and recycled as appropriate.
When I was in Tulsa last week visiting LTCS to see the arrival of D-ABIB, a 737 also entering retirement, I had the chance to get one final look at D-ALCO. Seeing D-ALCO being prepared to be disassembled was genuinely a sad moment for me because this was not the first time that I had crossed paths with her.
On one of my many trips to Frankfurt over the past years, I had a chance to visit LH Cargo and had an opportunity to board D-ALCO while she was being prepared for a flight to India. If you’d like to read that piece and see D-ALCO when she was in active duty, you can find my post here.
D-ALCO was Lufthansa Cargo’s oldest MD-11. She was completed in January 1992 and entered service as PP-SOW with now-defunct VASP (Viação Aérea São Paulo). In December 2000 she was sold to Varig (PP-VQL). In 2004 she was handed back to Wells Fargo Bank Northwest who acted as trustee/leasing agent for the aircraft. In December 2005 she joined the LH Cargo fleet.
As luck would have it, I was there to see her be parked on the LTCS ramp and was able to capture the moment:
With all of this said, here are what may be the last pictures taken of D-ALCO before tear down begins. In some of these photos you’ll see final farewells that were written on D-ALCO by her pilots, mechanics and cargo ground crew:
Final good-byes by a variety of LH Cargo employees
One of the prettiest tails in aviation……
Final push to the LTCS ramp in Tulsa (TUL)
The last crew to pilot D-ALCO pay their respects…..
Lufthansa has now made it possible for passengers on long-haul flights to use their mobile devices to connect to terrestrial friends, family and others using their existing service provider.
Currently installed and available on a handful of A330 aircraft and others, the service will be made available ‘long-haul’ fleet-wide by the end of the year. The early phase of this rollout will cover flights serving North America and the Middle East.
The technology is provided by AeroMobile, who has contracted with over 200 mobile phone service providers worldwide to make this possible. It is integrated with Lufthansa’s existing FlyNet service.
However voice calls, Skype, Face Time and the like will still not be permitted aboard LH flights. This service will simply allow passengers to use their mobile devices to text, surf the internet, check emails etc.
The pricing of access will depend on your service provider. It will be considered ‘Data Roaming’ which can carry significant charges. Charges will be billed directly by your service provider and added to your normal bill.
Lufthansa has recently announced changes to their flight operations in the US for their Summer 2014 timetable. The biggest change involves the removal of First Class cabins from certain gateways in the US. Please keep in mind that these kind of updates are fluid and other changes can still be announced. I’ll provide updates as they are released by LH.
Boston – Munichbeginning on March 30, 2014 will be operated by an Airbus A330-300. Beginning on June 5, it will be replaced by an Airbus A340-600. First Class cabins will be available on these aircraft.
Dallas – Frankfurt beginning July 1, 2014 will be served by a 2-class Airbus A340-300. This will replace the A330. First Class will not be available from Dallas during the summer timetable.
Detroit – Frankfurt effective between March 30 and May 4, 2014 will be operated by an Airbus A340-600 with 3-class service. Beginning on May 5, a 2-class Airbus A340-300 will resume flying the route.
Los Angeles – Frankfurt will see the 747-8i operate both daily flights between LAX/FRA for the summer timetable.
Miami – Frankfurt will continue to see the A380 fly the route during the summer timetable.
New York(JFK) – Frankfurtwill see the A380 return for the summer for one of the 2 daily JFK-FRA flights. The A380 will operate on LH400/LH401.
Philadelphia – Frankfurt beginning June 1, 2014 will be served by a 2-class Airbus A340-300. First Class will not be available from Philadelphia during the summer timetable.
San Francisco – Frankfurtbeginning on April 22 will see the return of the A380, replacing the 747-400 for the summer timetable.
Seattle – Frankfurt beginning June 21 will be served by a 2-class Airbus A340-300. First Class will not be available from Seattle during the summer timetable.
Washington Dulles – Frankfurt beginning on July 24, Flight LH416/417 will be flown by a 2 class A340-300. First Class service will not be available. The other daily Washington DC – Frankfurt, LH418/LH419, will continue to have First Class capacity.
