The month of June for me starts off with another spotting trip to Portland International Airport, this time to photograph the inauguration of Sun Country Airlines' daily scheduled service to/from it's hub located at Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport. Sun Country is a low-cost airline that flies to resort destinations from a primary hub (in this case, being Minneapolis), or a focus city (Sun Country has two; Dallas/Fort Worth, and Southwest Florida International), much like Allegiant. And like Allegiant, they have a business model that makes it hard for me to spot their livery and planes everywhere. However, unlike Allegiant, Sun Country currently flies to 35 scheduled destinations (15 of them being served all-year round) and therefore, is a much smaller airline. The airline also specializes in various charters, including sports charters as well as charter flights for the U.S. Armed Forces. PDX has seen Sun Country flights from time time in the past in the form of charter flights and the airline actually served PDX in the early 2000s as part of their expansion efforts into the West Coast. This was before the recession mind you; and let's not get started by mentioning that the airline was dealing with hardships and bankruptcy as a result of the airline distancing itself from Petters Group Worldwide (which the airline was a part of), a diversified group of companies that got tangled up in a $3.65 billion Ponzi Scheme... The airline is now slowly growing profitably and now owned by Minnesota-based Cambria, a kitchen countertop company that specializes in engineered quartz surfaces. Sun Country starting PDX services is ideal because the airline has interline agreements with Icelandair and Condor, two European carriers that serve Portland seasonally.
In addition to catching the inaugural arrival and departure of Sun Country Airlines, I also saw quite a bit of military activity at PDX today (most likely because it's Fleet Week here in Portland as part of the Rose Festival). Here's the link:
Portland (PDX) 24
Photo preview and highlights:
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| Learjet 31A (N535PS) taxiing to the FBO ramp following arrival on 28R. |
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| Delta Air Lines Boeing 767-332/ER (N176DN) arriving on 28R as DAL423 from New York-John F. Kennedy International. Airframe was going to continue on as DAL623 for Tokyo-Narita later in the day. Good way to rotate -ER airframes around is by utilizing them on domestic flights en route! |
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| Delta Air Lines Boeing 767-332/ER (N174DZ) airborne after departure from 28R as DAL401 for New York-JFK. Arrived into PDX earlier that morning as DAL622 from Tokyo-Narita. Catching two Delta 767s one after the other; that never happens to me! |
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| Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-7H4 (N210WN) airborne after departure from 28R as SWA2890 for San Jose. |
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| United Airlines Airbus A320-232 (N449UA) just airborne after departing 28R as UAL830 for Denver. |
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| Delta Air Lines McDonnell Douglas MD-90-30 (N944DN) clearing 28R as DAL2163 from Minneapolis/St. Paul. Former JA004D of Japan Air System-JAS and then Japan Airlines-JAL before acquisition by Delta. |
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| Bombardier BD-100-1A10 Challenger 300 (N772JS) airborne after departing 28R for Santa Rosa. |
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| Jazz Air (d/b/a Air Canada Express) De Havilland Canada Dash 8 DHC-8-311 (C-FACF) beginning taxi for departure as JZA8118 for Vancouver. |
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| Virgin America Airbus A320-214 (N623VA) "three if by air" arriving on 28R as VRD810 from San Francisco. |
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| JZA8110 airborne after departure from 28R heading out for Vancouver. |
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| Cessna 180J Skywagon (N52145) airborne after departure from 28R. As soon as this aircraft got sufficient altitude, it immediately made a left turn right over where I was shooting from, allowing me this unique angle at PDX of all places! |
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| Cessna 560XL Citation Excel (N491JL) airborne after departure from 28R for Coeur D'Alene, ID. |
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| United Airlines Boeing 737-924/ER (N68453) arriving on 28R as UAL1938 from Houston. |
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| Horizon Air Bombardier DHC-8-402 Q400 (N451QX) arriving on 28L as QXE2502 from Boise. |
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| Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-4Q8 (N756AS) departing on 28L as ASA408 for San Jose. |
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| Horizon Air Bombardier DHC-8-402 Q400 (N440QX) in the Oregon State University Beavers livery departing on 28L as QXE2095 for Medford. |
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| Horizon Air Bombardier DHC-8-402 Q400 (N431QX) airborne after departure from 28L. |
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| SkyWest Airlines (d/b/a Alaska Airlines) Embraer ERJ-170-200LR) E-175LR (N173SY) departing on 28L as SKW3384 for Minneapolis. |
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| SkyWest Airlines (d/b/a Alaska Airlines) Bombardier CL-600-2C10 CRJ-700 (N217AG) arriving on 28L from Burbank. |
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| Bombardier BD-100-1A10 Challenger 300 (N300AV) taxiing to the FBO ramp after arriving on 28R. Note the design of the nose and cockpit windows that distinguishes the Challenger 300/350 as a completely different model compared to other Bombardier business jets. |
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| Frontier Airlines Airbus A319-111 (N919FR) "Lance the Ocelot" taxiing for departure as FFT788 for Denver. |
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| FFT788 airborne after departing 28R. |
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| Cessna 525 CitationJet (N328CJ) taxiing to the FBO ramp. Note the missing engine cowlings; I don't think this aircraft went anywhere far, rather this was just a taxi test after some routine maintenance. |
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| Sun Country Airlines Boeing 737-8BK (N808SY) arriving on 28R as SCX295, the inaugural arrival from Minneapolis/St. Paul. Aircraft is leased from New York-based CIT Group, Inc., as indicated by the Boeing customer code (-BK). |
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| This is Sun Country's standard livery. The airline also leases additional 737s from Dutch holiday airline Transavia Airlines in a hybrid livery during the latter's slow winter season. Likewise, Sun Country leases their planes during their slow summer months to Transavia. |
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| Sun Country used a 737-800 for the inaugural flight but plans to use a mix between the 700 and 800 models of their all-737 fleet. Considering that this is my first time seeing the airline's livery and they're hard to spot because of their business model, I'll go after any of their plane I can photograph. |
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| N944DN taxiing for departure back to Minneapolis/St. Paul as DAL2163. With Delta, Sun Country, and Alaska (via SkyWest) all serving this route from PDX, it's becoming a crowded market! |
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| Delta Air Lines Airbus A330-323 (N811NW) arriving on 28R from Amsterdam Schiphol as DAL179. Formerly with Northwest Airlines. |
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| United Airlines Boeing 737-924/ER (N66837) arriving on 28R as UAL569 from Chicago O'Hare. |
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| United States Air Force/Nevada Air National Guard Lockheed C-130H Hercules (92-0547) of the 152nd Airlift Wing, the "High Rollers" from the Reno Air National Guard Base taxiing to the FBO ramp. |
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| DAL2163 rotating on 28R for Minneapolis/St. Paul. |
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| Jazz Air (d/b/a Air Canada Express) Bombardier CL-600-2B19 CRJ-200ER (C-GJZJ) still in Air Canada Jazz colors having just been parked at the terminal after arrival as JZA8315 from Calgary. It certainly has been a while since I've seen a CRJ-200 from this airline here, as they have been putting the longer CRJ-705s and Dash 8 Q400s on the Calgary route. |
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| Cirrus SR-22 G3-GTS Turbo (N781SR) airborne after departure from 28R heading for Bend. |
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| Delta Air Lines Boeing 757-351 (N596NW) arriving on 28R as DAL510 from Atlanta. |
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| Beechcraft 200 Super King Air (N501EB) airborne after departure from 28R for Burley, ID. |
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| Delta Air Lines Boeing 737-832 (N381DN) in SkyTeam colors arriving on 28R as DAL373 from Seattle. |
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| Delta Air Lines Airbus A320-212 (N348NW) arriving on 28R as DAL623 from Salt Lake City. |
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| Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-890 (N570AS) in the "Adventure of Disneyland Resort" special livery arriving on 28L as ASA587 from Santa Ana-John Wayne. |
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| Delta Air Lines Boeing 717-2BD (N896AT) arriving on 28R as DAL753 from Los Angeles. Formerly with Air Tran Airways. |
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| Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-7H4 (N298WN) departing on 28L as SWA661 for Austin, TX. |
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| Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-790 (N625AS) arriving on 28L as ASA627 from Las Vegas. |
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| Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-7H4 (N774SW) arriving on 28L as SWA2988 from Dallas-Love. |
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| Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-490 (N794AS) arriving on 28L as ASA599 from San Diego. |
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| United States Air Force/Oregon Air National Guard McDonnell Douglas F-15C Eagle (84-0021) rotating on 28R, the first of five Eagles to depart. |
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| The second fighter to depart on 28L, another McDonnell Douglas F-15C Eagle (78-0492). |
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| The third to depart on 28L, another McDonnell Douglas F-15C Eagle (78-0473). |
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| The fourth to depart on 28L, another McDonnell Douglas F-15C Eagle (84-0002). |
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| Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-890 (N594AS) departing on 28L as ASA809 for Kahului in between the F-15s. |
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| The fifth Eagle to depart, a McDonnell Douglas F-15D Eagle (85-0130). |
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| Quickly retracting the landing gear. |
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| This one went out in afterburners!!! |
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| I just LOVE the smell of afterburners in the mornings! |
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| This angle shows more clearly the afterburner plume. |
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| I never get tired of this sight (or sound!)! |
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| The awesome power of the F-15 Eagle! |
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| Afterburner means a large heat haze trail. |
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| Unrestricted climb! Photo artistically modified to bring out the F-15's silhouette and contrails emitted from the wings. |
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| Cessna 750 Citation X (N229CE) taxiing to the FBO ramp after arrival on 28R. |
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| United Airlines Boeing 737-824 (N24224) arriving on 28R as UAL550 from San Francisco. |
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| SkyWest Airlines (d/b/a Alaska Airlines) Bombardier CL-600-2C10 CRJ-702 (N219AG) departing 28L. |
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| Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-990/ER (N467AS) departing 28L as ASA137 for Anchorage. |
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| United States Air Force/Kentucky Air National Guard Lockheed C-130H Hercules (91-1235) from the 165th Airlift Squadron out of Louisville departing 28L. |
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| Delta Air Lines Airbus A320-212 (N335NW) arriving on 28R as DAL1073 from Minneapolis/St. Paul. |
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| N623VA airborne after departure from 28R for the return trip to San Francisco as VRD801. |
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| N808SY taxiing for departure as SCX296 for the return trip to Minneapolis/St. Paul, the inaugural scheduled departure. |
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| A good look at the livery profile of this airframe. |
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| Gulfstream Aerospace G-IV-X Gulfstream 450 (N435QS) arriving on 28R from Santa Ana. |
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| N435QX taxiing to the FBO ramp. Very sleek-looking business jet! |
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| SCX296 airborne after departure from 28R heading for Minneapolis/St. Paul. |
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| I sure wished the weather was better, but that's Oregon for ya! |
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| Hope Sun Country is profitable on the PDX-MSP route enough for them to maintain flights because it's always great to see a new airline here! |
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