Ethiopia Airlines dreamliner arrives
August 15, 2012, Seattle (News24) – Boeing and Ethiopian Airlines celebrated today the delivery of the airline’s first 787 Dreamliner.
“Today begins the first day in a new era of flying for our passengers and brings us even closer to our vision for the future, Vision 2025,” said Tewolde GebreMariam, CEO of Ethiopian Airlines.
“We are pleased… to receive this technologically advanced aircraft. We have been waiting for this airplane and now that we officially have it and will show it to the world, I can say with pride, it was worth the wait. This airplane is going to move Ethiopian Airlines to the forefront of aviation leadership around the globe.”
The 787 Dreamliner is composed of light-weight composites and features numerous system, engine and aerodynamic advancements making it more efficient to operate compared with its competition. It is the first mid-sized airplane capable of flying long-range routes, enabling airlines to open new, non-stop routes preferred by passengers.
“Today marks not just another milestone for Boeing and Ethiopian Airlines, but a new beginning in our 65-year partnership,” said Van Rex Gallard, vice president of Sales for Africa, Latin America, & Caribbean, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. “Ethiopian Airlines continues to show their strong leadership in African aviation and their growing presence around the globe. Being the first in Africa and one of the first in the world further confirms their position globally.”
After taking delivery, Ethiopian Airlines will fly its Dreamliner to Washington DC where the aircraft will be on display and is expected to be visited by VIP guests and media.
The aircraft will then make its inaugural trip to Africa with its first revenue flight from Dulles International Airport to Bole Addis Ababa International Airport.
Ethiopian Airways has nine more 787 Dreamliners remaining on order.
It is not surprising if the heaD of state, the church, the military, the intelligence, Ethiopian Airlines etc. are from Tigray. Tewolde Gebremariam, the CEO of Ethiopian Airlines is also from Tigray.
Dear Jiru, you are right. On top of that, Tewolde is not only from Tigray but also he is head of TPLF agents and memebrs in the airlines. He had started the Leadership Development Program (LDP) in 2005/6 by breaking the chain command of the airlines. It should have been the then Executive Vice President Corporate Services (having incorporated Vice president HRM, VP IT and Dean Aviation Academy) that had the responsibility to do so. However, Tewolde, former Area Manager New York had been automatically promoted to Chief Operating Officer position and immedialtly made Mr. Girma Waqe make a second restructure in the airline within a year to include the main functional unites of the airlines namely – VP Fligt Operations Tesfaye Ambaye a Tigrean, VP Commercial(Busera), VP Maintenance & Engineering (Mesfin)and VP Customer Services (Solomon Debebe, brother of Meheret Debebe of EEPCO). All these important unites of the airlines became under the control of Tewolde. Then he started implementing TPLF’s program through the LDP that he imported from the General Electric Corporation of the US by recruiting ‘prospective managers, Directors and Vice Presidents’ into the program. He didn’t only use his own selection criterias into the development programs but also prepared his own political oriented training manuals against the policies and procedures of the company. Since his ‘appointment’ as z CEO (in fact, he has been informally working as a CEO for more than 5 years) he has fired and forced hundreds of talented and competant employees who didn’t want to be party memebrs or supporters into exile. On the contrary, he hired and promoted incompetent agents and rehired Tigreans and EPRDF memebers who couldn’t fulfill company’s standars and professional requirements. He is, as other Tigreans, a much benefited person from the system through the TPLF’s capacity building program as Tesfaye G/Aab has mentioned in his latest book “Yederasiw Mastawesha”.