M. Wynn: "Wild Card" Aviation Photography & Images: Gallery Update: Chasing Amazon's "New" 737 Freighter in Portland!

About This Blog:

The primary purpose of this blog is to showcase the best of my aviation photography. As such, you will find links to my main aviation gallery on Facebook containing photos from aircraft spotting, some kind of aviation event such as air shows and fly-in events, as well as aviation museums. I also critique my flights on commercial airlines and the services they provide. Occassionally, you'll find personally written, independent articles based on news and current events involving aviation. And of course, I'll put up links to official and unofficial aviation-related websites when I find them. And when time permits, I'll talk and discuss about anything involving aviation. But most importantly, this is my way to document my journey into the aviation industry!

Wednesday, September 4, 2019

Gallery Update: Chasing Amazon's "New" 737 Freighter in Portland!

It's been a few months since I last spotted at Portland; in fact, the last time I spotted at PDX was when I went after the inaugural Air Canada Rouge flight! I drove up to pick up my aunt and uncle, who were flying home from Utah via Los Angeles this afternoon, so it was another opportunity to get some spotting in for a few hours while I waited for their flight to arrive. Since I last spotted at Portland, there has been one new sighting that I've been wanting to get, and that would be a Boeing 737-800BCF freighter operated by Southern Air on the behalf of Amazon Prime Air!

At the beginning of the year, Amazon announced that it planned to expand its U.S. domestic freighter network with additional planes. News broke out this past spring that Amazon would commence Boeing 737-800 freighter operations following confirmation from Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings (parent company Atlas Air) that its subsidiary Southern Air will operate the flights under a CMI (crew, maintenance, issuance) agreement. The initial call was for the current fleet of five 737-800 freighters, with an option to add up to an additional 15 converted 737s (at the discretion of Amazon). Southern Air began Amazon Prime Air operations into PDX in May of this year, flying solely from Chicago Rockford International Airport; the start of Amazon 737 operations also led to adjustments to the usual Amazon 767 operations we've been seeing.

The 737-800BCF passenger-to-freighter conversion program was launched by Boeing in February 2016 with an order for 55 conversions; the first delivery of a cargo-converted 737-800 took place with a European operator in April 2018. Needless to say, I was quite thrilled to see a converted 737-800 freighter for the first time!

Portland (PDX) 47

Preview:

American Airlines Boeing 737-823 (N338PK) taxiing for departure as AAL2714 for Dallas-Fort Worth.

AAL2714 departing on 28L for Dallas-Fort Worth.

Delta Air Lines Boeing 757-232 (N689DL) taxiing for departure as DAL2633 for Atlanta.

United Airlines Airbus A319-131 (N836UA) airborne off 28R as UAL1833 for San Francisco.

DAL2633 departing on 28R for Atlanta.

Alaska Airlines Airbus A319-115 (N522VA) taxiing for departure as ASA1640 for Las Vegas.

Alaska Airlines Airbus A320-214 (N629VA) taxiing for departure as ASA1901 for Seattle-Tacoma.

United Parcel Service - UPS Airlines Boeing 757-24A/PF (N439UP) making a rare arrival on 28R as UPS2972 from Ontario, California. Normally, the big freighters land on the longer south runway, but 28L was temporarily closed when this flight arrived.

Delta Air Lines Boeing 737-932/ER (N905DN) taxiing for departure as DAL1503 for Minneapolis/St. Paul.

ASA1640 departing on 28R for Las Vegas.

Horizon Air (d/b/a Alaska Airlines) Bombardier DHC-8-402 Dash 8 Q400 (N452QX) airborne off 28R as QXE2750 for Seattle-Tacoma. Formerly painted in the Employee-powered special livery.

Horizon Air (d/b/a Alaska Airlines) Embraer ERJ-170-200LR E-175LR (N633QX) taxiing in after arriving on 28R as QXE2600 from Vancouver.

ASA1901 airborne off 28R for the short hop up to Seattle-Tacoma.

United Airlines Airbus A319-131 (N832UA) taxiing for departure as UAL2177 for Chicago/O' Hare.

DAL1503 departing on 28R for Minneapolis/St. Paul.

Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-8H4 (N8318F) arriving on 28R as SWA1640 from Denver.

Southern Air (d/b/a Amazon Prime Air) Boeing 737-83N/BCF (N5153A) taxiing for departure as SOO3601 for Chicago/Rockford. Finally I get to see one of the newest members of the Amazon fleet!

Horizon Air (d/b/a Alaska Airlines) Embraer ERJ-170-200LR E-175LR (N620QX) arriving on 28R as QXE2693 from Dallas/Love.

UAL2177 airborne off 28R for Chicago/O' Hare.

Horizon Air (d/b/a Alaska Airlines) Embraer ERJ-170-200LR (N626QX) taxiing in after arriving on 28R as QXE2647 from Santa Barbara.

A pair of Oregon Air National Guard F-15Cs from the local 142nd Fighter Wing, 123rd Fighter Squadron, the Redhawks making their entrance over 28R following a sortie prior to entering the pattern!

SkyWest Airlines (d/b/a Delta Connection) Embraer ERJ-170-200LR E-175LR (N297SY) taxiing in after arriving on 28R as SKW3641 from Seattle-Tacoma. SkyWest E-175s in Delta Connection branding will become a very common sight on the west coast as Delta consolidates regional flying down to just three regional airlines.

Oregon Air National Guard McDonnell Douglas F-15C Eagle (78-0482) arriving on 28R. Again, it's a rare sight to see the F-15s use the north runway, so the temporary closure of 28L today made this shot possible.

Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-890 (N566AS) taxiing for departure ASA400 for San Jose.

Oregon Air National Guard McDonnell Douglas F-15C Eagle (78-0521) arriving on 28R.

SkyWest Airlines (d/b/a Alaska Airlines) Embraer ERJ-170-200LR E-175LR (N174SY) arriving on 28R as SKW3377 from Minneapolis/St. Paul.

SOO3601 departing on 28R for Chicago/Rockford. This is the third converted 737-800BCF Southern Air took delivery of. First delivered as N325TZ to American Trans Air - ATA and then to China Southern Airlines as B-5129 before getting converted.

Horizon Air (d/b/a Alaska Airlines) Embraer ERJ-170-200LR E-175LR (N635QX) taxiing in after arriving on 28R as QXE2710 from Seattle-Tacoma.

Boutique Air Pilatus PC-12/47 (N478SS) airborne off 28R as BTQ354 for Pendleton.

Alaska Airlines Airbus A320-214 (N836VA) taxiing in after arriving on 28R as ASA1795 from Los Angeles.

Alaska Airlines Airbus A320-214 (N281VA) arriving on 28R as ASA1801 from San Francisco.

ASA400 getting airborne off 28R for San Jose.

Horizon Air (d/b/a Alaska Airlines) Bombardier DHC-8-401 Dash 8 Q400 (N412QX) taxiing in after arrival on 28R as QXE2608 from Eugene.

Alaska Airlines Airbus A320-214 (N361VA) arriving on 28R as ASA1659 from Phoenix Sky Harbor.

Gulstream Aerospace G-VI G650 (N235BH) airborne off 28R.

Horizon Air (d/b/a Alaska Airlines) Embraer ERJ-170-200LR E-175LR (N625QX) taxiing in after arriving on 28R as QXE2460 from Santa Rosa.

NetJets Cessna 680A Citation Latitude (N671QS) airborne off 28R as EJA671 for San Jose.

United Airlines Airbus A320-232 (N432UA) arriving on 28R as UAL2055 from San Francisco.

Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-800 (N8564Z) taxiing for departure as SWA314 to Chicago/Midway.

American Airlines Boeing 737-823 (N959NN) taxiing for departure as AAL1442 for Chicago/O' Hare.

Compass Airlines (d/b/a Delta Connection) Embraer ERJ-170-200LR E-175LR (N605CZ) taxiing for departure as CPZ5688 for Seattle-Tacoma. Delta Air Lines will soon be terminating their partnership with Compass Airlines for regional flights as the former consolidates all Delta Connection flights solely to SkyWest, Endeavor, and Republic Airlines. The majority of the E-175s flying for Delta will be transferred to Republic while a handful of them will remain on the west coast and be sold to SkyWest.

United Airlines Boeing 737-924/ER (N69818) arriving on 28R as UAL549 from Chicago/O' Hare. Note the special "One Hundred" sticker adorned next to the titles. The sticker honors United's top 100 employees.

Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-8H4 (N8620H) taxiing for departure as SWA1489 for Denver.

Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-7H4 (N407WN) taxiing for departure as SWA1464 for San Jose.

SWA314 airborne off 28R for Chicago/Midway.

Empire Airlines (d/b/a FedEx Feeder) Cessna 208B Super Cargomaster (N700FX) taxiing in after arriving on 28R as CFS7698 from Eugene.

Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-7H4 (N476WN) taxiing in after arriving on 28R as SWA1279 from Oakland.

AAL1442 departing on 28R for Chicago/O' Hare.

Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-7H4 (N205WN) taxiing in after arriving on 28R as SWA1705 from San Jose.

CPZ5688 airborne off 28R for Seattle-Tacoma.

Delta Air Lines Boeing 767-332/ER (N174DZ) arriving on 28R as DAL37 from London-Heathrow.

Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-7K9 (N7813P) arriving on 28R as SWA1719 from Phoenix Sky Harbor. Formerly B-2162 with China Southern Airlines.

Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-900/ER (N281AK) taxiing for departure as ASA374 for San Diego.

SWA1489 just getting airborne off 28R for Denver.

Alaska Airlines Airbus A320-214 (N853VA) arriving on 28R as ASA1153 from Santa Ana.

Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-7H4 (N240WN) taxiing for departure as SWA203 for Phoenix Sky Harbor.

SWA1464 airborne off 28R for San Jose.

Horizon Air (d/b/a Alaska Airlines) Embraer ERJ-170-200LR E-175LR (N649QX) taxiing for departure as QXE2711 for Seattle-Tacoma.

Jazz Air (d/b/a Air Canada Express) Bombardier DHC-8-402 Dash 8 Q400 (C-FSRW) arriving on 28R as JZA8125 from Vancouver.

SkyWest Airlines (d/b/a Alaska Airlines) Embraer ERJ-170-200LR E-175LR (N405SY) arriving on 28R as SKW3478 from Seattle-Tacoma.

Another pair of local F-15s making their entrance for the traffic pattern, this time over 28L as the south runway reopened!

Oregon Air National Guard McDonnell Douglas F-15C Eagle (84-0030) arriving on 28L following a sortie.

Oregon Air National Guard McDonnell Douglas F-15C Eagle (86-0151) arriving on 28L following a sortie.

United Parcel Service - UPS Airlines Boeing 757-24A/PF (N419UP) arriving on 28L as UPS2912 from Chicago/Rockford.

N439UP departing on 28L as UPS9707 for Reno/Tahoe.

American Airlines Airbus A321-232 (N543UW) departing on 28L as AAL1083 for Phoenix Sky Harbor.

United Parcel Service - UPS Airlines Boeing 767-34AF/ER (N351UP) arriving on 28L as UPS2970 from Louisville.

Frontier Airlines Airbus A319-111 (N941FR) "Lobo the Wolf" arriving on 28R as FFT793 from Denver. Frontier is currently phasing out their A319s and selling them to American Airlines.