Review of Transavia flight Seattle → Paris in Economy

Recently, Flight-Report.com had the opportunity to take part in the delivery process of a new Transavia Boeing 737. Please join us as we head behind the scenes of the 737: from the factory to arrival at the airline hub.

The arrival of a new aircraft in an airline’s fleet is an interesting process that goes through many stages. For Boeing’s airline customers, it all begins in Seattle, Washington, Boeing’s hometown.

The 737 is Boeing’s most popular aircraft. In fact, it is the world’s best-selling aircraft of all time.

1. Blog: Boeing 737: From the Factory to the Delivery
2. Flight-Report: Boeing Field (BFI) - Keflavik (KEF) - Paris (ORY) | B737-800 | Economy

Delivery Ceremony

Delivery of 737s takes place at the Seattle Delivery Center at Boeing Field.



Preparations for the delivery ceremony are under way at the foot of the new aircraft.



And of course, this delivery flight could not happen without the Transavia flight. The pilot-in-command poses next to his two co-pilots and our one flight attendant. There will be a total of only 12 passengers for this ferry flight to Paris-Orly via Keflavik, Iceland.



Big group photo with the Transavia team as well as some Boeing representatives.



Transavia CEO, Nathalie Stubler, posing with today’s crew in front of the fleets newest aircraft.

Aircraft Walk-around

The APU (Auxiliary Power Unit) is one of the differentiating elements between the 737 NG and 737 MAX.



The new Boeing 737 awaiting its maiden flight home in front of the delivery center. Let’s have a look around.



Fun fact: this new aircraft’s registration, F-HTVF, contains Transavia France’s ICAO Code (TVF).



Transavia also puts their aircraft registrations under the wing.



The landing gear.



The belly of the beast.



With a maximum thrust of 117 kilonewtowns, you don’t want to be standing behind this CFM56 when it powers up. The CFM56 is one of the most reliable engines in the world, with an average in-flight shutdown rate of only 1 incident per 333,333 flight hours.



A key to the plane? Well, it doesn’t start anything, but these symbolic keys are traditionally given to new aircraft customers as part of the delivery ceremony.



A buffet meal is offered by Boeing to Transavia and their guests before the departure of the delivery flight scheduled for early afternoon.



A model of a 737 MAX “Advanced Technology” winglet near the dining area, not to be confused with the Split Scimitar winglet, which is only optionally mounted on the 737NG.

Boarding

Time to board this brand-new bird!



View of the fuselage upon boarding. In the distance, we can see some 737s on the flight line for Xiamen Airlines, China Southern, and another soon-to-be-delivered Transavia bird.



Nice entryway with soft green moodlighting bathing the Boeing Sky Interior cabin.



Transavia’s standard cabin on its newer aircraft features comfortable and reclineable signature green B/E Aerospace seats.

As Transavia is a Low-cost carrier, the cabin is in an all-Economy layout with rows of seats pitched at 30”—better than many other LCC’s offering a knee-crunching 28-29” pitch.



The combination of the modern seat design with the mood lighting and soft curves of the Boeing Sky Interior makes for a pleasant cabin atmosphere.


For the few passengers on this ferry flight, Boeing has provided a pillow and blanket, along with a bottle of water and some Seattle chocolates—a nice touch.



After a brief onboard security check, it’s time to go! Mercedes, chief purser for this flight, closes the door and we are on our way.



In the flight deck, the crew gets ready for the long flight ahead.



A KC-46 (military aircraft based on the Boeing 767) is seen during taxi. The KC-46 is capable of refueling aircraft in mid-air.



There is a one-person security demo for all 12 passengers onboard today.



We taxi right past the famous Museum of Flight, and AvGeek paradise where one can find the first ever 747, the “City of Everett,” as well as one of the first 787 Dreamliners and other attractions.



This 757 with registration N757A is a Boeing test aircraft nicknamed “Catfish”. Currently, Catfish is wearing an F-22 raptor nose to test some new communication and navigation tech.

Behind Catfish is a P-8 Poseidon, a 737-800 derivative developed for Navy surveillance missions and anti-submarine warfare (it is capable of launching torpedoes). The P-8 Poseidon is peculiar in that it is a 737 derivative with raked wingtips similar to the larger 767-400ER and 777-300ER.



On takeoff, we can see a Boeing 727 in American Airlines colors. This old bird, N874AA, is the last 727 to fly in AA colors. It was on display at the Museum of Flight for a long time, but is now being transferred to a museum in Kansas City.


The lush green landscape of the southern suburbs of Seattle.



Awesome view of downtown with the Space Needle on the left.

First leg

Flying over Puget Sound, about to cross over into Canada.



Boeing has provided the snacks and catering to celebrate this special flight. With only 12 passengers on board, there is plenty for everyone!



Veuve Clicquot Champagne! Obviously not the usual affair found on a Low-cost carrier 



After a nice and festive aperitif, it’s dinner time. Seafood salad for the first meal service was served on demand.



On this red-eye ferry flight with so few passengers, a row of 3 seats made for a decent bed to get some sleep. Those who were awake during the night were treated to some magnificent displays of the aurora borealis.



Who needs IFE when you have champagne and auroras 

Refueling Stop

A tech stop in Iceland was necessary to refuel on the way to Paris.

Given that the temperature is slightly below 0 Celcius, the wings will need to be de-iced.



De-icing before we depart again for the Continent.

Second leg

We take off on Runway11 which offers a beautiful view over Keflavik Airport. Transavia operates seasonal flights to KEF in the summer.



We are then treated to some nice views of the capital Reykjavik and its small domestic airport RKV.



A second meal is then served with hot options of beef or salmon. The hearty meal is accompanied by croissants, coffee, and fruit salad.


In the cockpit, the two copilots have replaced the captain on crew rest. We cruise at FL410.



The United Kingdom is completely covered in a fluffy blanket of clouds.



It’s hard to resist sleep on a redeye!



The clouds dissipate as we reach the coast of France.



Back in the cockpit for a landing Runway 24. Despite a cross-wind, the co-pilot performs a smooth landing.



This is only the seventh landing in F-HTVF’s short life!

The taxi time was very short because we parked opposite the future building connecting ORY-West Terminal and ORY-South Terminal. The construction seems to be coming along quite well.



And Voilà! This delivery flight is over and F-HTVF is home at its new hub.


F-HTVF in front of the future connector building—it’s nice to see Orly getting some renovations.



Although this was not a scheduled passenger flight and no one checked any luggage, Aeroports de Paris announces the arrival of our flight TO737 from Boeing Field on the airport displays. Only a real Aviation Geek would have even noticed 



F-HTVF started revenue operations on the Thursday following the delivery flight. The new bird is now fully integrated as one more workhorse in the Transavia France fleet.



Trip taken by Florent as a guest of Boeing Commercial Airplanes and Transavia France.