Gallery Update: One Last ATR-72 Sighting in McMinnville...

Well, I did it. This was a rather bittersweet success as a plane-spotter, but a look at FlightRadar24 today informed me that another ATR-72 that was formerly operated by the now-defunct 'Ohana by Hawaiian was flying into McMinnville, and it was the airframe I haven't photographed yet. So as of this evening, I have photographed every ATR turboprop (which consists of four ATR-42s and three ATR-72s) that wore the 'Ohana by Hawaiian livery. When Hawaiian Airlines established the 'Ohana by Hawaiian subsidiary, I never expected to have any opportunities to photograph any of their ATR turboprops, let alone all of them within a three-year timespan, considering where the planes were operating. As a plane-spotter, I'm grateful that I got to see them all in McMinnville from 2018 onwards. Still, it's sad that the 'Ohana by Hawaiian brand was short-lived and ultimately killed off by the repercussions that resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic.

McMinnville (MMV) 10

Preview:

Hillsboro Aero Academy Cessna 152 (N25233) doing a touch-and-go on 22 after flying down from nearby Portland-Hillsboro.

Southern Cross Aviation (d/b/a Empire Airlines/'Ohana by Hawaiian) ATR-72-212(F) (N810HC) arriving on 22 as SXA665 from Honolulu. My third and likely final time seeing the ATR-72 in the 'Ohana by Hawaiian livery! 

So as of today, I've photographed all three ATR-72s that were a part of the 'Ohana by Hawaiian fleet! I've also photographed all four passenger ATR-42s that were a part of the 'Ohana fleet as of last month.

Airframe first delivered as EI-CLB in February 1995 to Avianova flying on the behalf of Alitalia. Taken up by Alitalia in November 1996 after absorbing Avianova before being transferred over to Alitalia Express in October 1997. Re-registered as I-ATRO in December 2005 continued to operate for Alitalia Express. Re-registered back to EI-CLB in November 2010 and under ownership of Magellan Aviation Services, and Italian aircraft leasing company.

SXA665 taxiing to the ramp. After it's stint in Italy and Europe, airframe was re-registered as C-GLHR and taken up by First Air in March 2011.

Face-to-face with the ATR-72. Acquired by Hawaiian Airlines for their 'Ohana operations in August 2015 after being converted into a freighter, with Empire Airlines contracted to operate the interisland cargo flights. Went into long-term storage in Honolulu on October 16, 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resultant repercussions.

Managed to get some decent prop-blur on this shot!

SXA665 just moments away from parking. Like any ferry flight, the aircraft will stay on the ground in McMinnville all day tomorrow so the ferry crew can get some rest and un-install the ferry tanks. Will likely depart on Saturday morning for Coeur D'Alene, where Empire Airlines is headquartered. There, the airframe will undergo maintenance inspections and be stripped of it's 'Ohana by Hawaiian livery before being prepped for sale hopefully to a new owner.

Definitely had some great lighting to photograph this ATR-72!

SXA665 shutting down its engines.

Propellers have stopped, however, the right engine was in "Hotel Mode," where a propeller brake keeps the prop stopped, but the turbine continued to run, providing airflow and electrical power to the aircraft during the shutdown process in lieu of an auxiliary power unit (APU).

Again, a bittersweet sight knowing that this is the last 'Ohana by Hawaiian airframe that I haven't photographed until today, so this occasion is likely my last to see this livery since I've already photographed the other ATR-42s and 72s.

Embraer EMB-505 Phenom 300 (N66J) parked on the ramp. Arrived yesterday morning from Montrose, Colorado and scheduled to return there tomorrow morning.

The 'Ohana operations was never profitable for Hawaiian Airlines, but they did it to compete with other smaller airlines in Hawaii on the interisland routes and provide a seamless connection to the rest of the Hawaiian Airlines network from the communities they served.

The last bit of light as the sun sets for the day, and the sun permanently sets for this airline livery... 

One final look at this beautiful livery... Good-bye, 'Ohana by Hawaiian...

Gallery Update: Chasing Avelo Airlines at Eugene!

I should've made this spotting trip a month ago! It has been five years since I last spotted at Eugene Airport and I've been wanting to return for the past month or so mainly because of a brand-new airline that started up service there. The airline in question is Avelo Airlines, which happens to America's newest mainline carrier in nearly 15 years. Actually, we knew Avelo Airlines under it's previous name when it was still a charter carrier, namely, Xtra Airways.

Avelo Airlines today is the brainchild of Andrew Levy, former CFO of United Airlines and former CFO and president and chief operations officer of Allegiant Air, who acquired Xtra Airways and it's operating certificate in August 2018; he intended to transform Xtra Airways into a scheduled low-cost airline. By this point, Xtra Airways sold off most of it's fleet of Boeing 737 Classics to Swift Air (now iAero Airways), but kept a single 737-400 in order to retain the airline's Air Carrier Certificate. In February 2020, Levy announced the name of the new holding company for Xtra, which would be Houston Air Holdings, Inc., which reflected the company's headquarters location in Houston, Texas. That same month, the company raised enough financial funding and received its first airplane, a Boeing 737-800 to be used to formally launch the airline later in 2020. Of course, with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic ravaging the airline industry that year, plans to launch were delayed.

Fast-forward a year to April 8, 2021, Houston Air Holdings, Inc. announced that the airline would be named Avelo Airlines, and began selling tickets for flights out of it's base at Hollywood Burbank Airport in Burbank, California; Avelo initially was going to start up operations somewhere on the east coast, but an opportunity presented itself in Burbank and on the west coast when route planners realized there were several unserved markets there. Avelo Airlines commenced commercial operations on April 28, 2021 with a flight from Burbank to Santa Rosa, California; all of Avelo's routes currently focus on leisure destinations that feature outdoor attractions, which would end up being a smart move to capitalize COVID-weary customers and travelers wanting to get out and about after a year spent in isolation and quarantine. Delaying the formal launch of operations certainly helped as well. From late-April and throughout May 2021, Avelo launched several routes throughout the west coast, including Eugene, Oregon, where I got spot their livery for the first time today!

As of right now, Avelo Airlines uses Burbank as it's west coast hub, flying a fleet of three 737-800s to Phoenix-Mesa (Arizona), Arcata-Eureka, Redding, Santa Rosa (California), Grand Junction (Colorado), Bozeman (Montana), Eugene, Medford, Redmond (Oregon), Ogden (Utah), and Pasco/Tri-Cities (Washington); three additional 737-800s will join their fleet later this year. And on May 6, 2021, Avelo Airlines announced that they would establish an east coast base in New Haven, Connecticut and base a sub-fleet of Boeing 737-700s there. After historic year where much of the airline industry was decimated by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, it'll be refreshing to see a new player in the market to give the long-established airlines a run for their money and keep them on their toes. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing how well Avelo Airlines will fare in the months and years ahead!

Eugene (EUG) 5

Preview:

Lane Community College Piper PA-44-180 Seminole (N39669) airborne off 16R for a local flight

Allegiant Air Airbus A319-112 (N307NV) arriving on 16R as AAY29 from Las Vegas.

AAY29 clearing the active. I haven't photographed Allegiant since my days living in Provo! And I haven't seen this airframe since 2017.

AAY29 taxiing to the gate. Scheduled to depart later in the morning back to Las Vegas as AAY30.

Avelo Airlines Boeing 737-86N(WL) (N801XT) arriving on 16R as VXP117 from Burbank. One of the newest airlines here in the United States and my first time seeing it since commencing commercial operations at the end of April!

Airframe first delivered to AMC Aviation as SU-BQA in October 2007 under lease from GECAS. Re-registered to EI-EPO in May 2011 upon return to GECAS. It then went to ArkeFly as PH-TFF in August 2011 (later known as just Arke in October 2013). Airframe fell under operations of TUI Airlines Netherlands in October 2015 before being withdrawn and stored in January 2020. Taken up by Avelo Airlines' parent company, Houston Air Holdings, Inc. in February 2020 while the airline was in the process of getting established.

Note the split-scimitar winglets. As of right now, this is the only 737-800 in the Avelo fleet to sport the split-scimitar winglets; the other two (which I fully intend to photograph in the future!) have the standard blended winglets.

VXP117 clearing 16R. Very attractive livery and very refreshing to see a new airline in the market!

While it would seem risky and ill-advised to start up and launch an airline while the industry was severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, it was actually smart of Avelo to launch when it did because domestically, air travel is recovering. Not only that, but Avelo has been able to focus on leisure and outdoorsy destinations and appeal to COVID-weary customers who wanted to get out and about. And because it's a fairly-new player in the market, Avelo Airlines doesn't have the issues and challenges that long-established airlines had to deal with in the past year, allowing them to take a share of the current market. And because they're intending on serving a lot of unserved routes, they'll have little to no competition. And in the end, Avelo Airlines is another choice of airline an air traveler can consider.

VXP117 taxiing to the terminal. It was exciting to see this new airline up close!

SkyWest Airlines (d/b/a United Express) Embraer ERJ-170-200LR E-175LR (N163SY) airborne off 16R as SKW5308 for Denver.

VXP117 taxiing to the gate. Upon turn-around, N801XT will depart Eugene to return to Burbank as VXP118.

SkyWest Airlines (d/b/a United Express) Bombardier CL-600-2B19 CRJ-200LR (N919SW) clearing 16R after arriving as SKW5969 from San Francisco. My first time seeing a CRJ-200 in the United "evo-blue" livery!

SKW5969 taxiing to the gate.

Gallery Update: Vashon Ranger Sighting in McMinnville!

I had some business to attend to throughout the valley today, which included stops in Aurora and McMinnville, so I flew to those destinations to save time on driving. During a stopover in McMinnville, I was surprised to see the new Vashon Ranger light-sport aircraft that was introduced just a few years ago parked on the ramp. Of course, I had to photograph it since I've never seen one until today!

McMinnville (MMV) 9

Preview:

Vashon Ranger R7 (N321VR) parked on the ramp. Arrived earlier this morning from Orcas Island.

The Vashon Ranger is a light-sport aircraft produced by Vashon Aircraft in Woodinville, Washington and is supplied as a complete, ready-to-fly aircraft. Development started in 2013, but wasn't formally introduced until 2018 at the 2018 AirVenture air show in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

The idea for the Ranger was to provide a cheap and affordable aircraft for the flight training market; to accomplish this, Vashon Aircraft manufactures the majority of parts itself to reduce costs and shorten the supply chain. Another unique market the Vashon Ranger supposedly serves is for bush flying, and one of the interior design features include seats that fold flat to allow sleeping in the cabin when camping. In spite of all the hype for the airplane however, it does apparently suffer from a low useful load due to the choice of engine, which is the Continental O-200D, which is considered old technology and is at least 50 lbs. heavier than other newer engines that are now available. Even so, I'd like to fly the Ranger one day just to see what it's like!

Gallery Update: TBM-930 Sighting in Salem

Before I embarked on a little Dawn Patrol cross-country flight this morning, I got a chance to see and photograph a TBM-930 that was parked by the fuel pumps as I was getting some fuel. I don't think I've photographed a TBM-930 before and I haven't photographed much of the SOCATA/Daher family of turboprops in general, so it was good to see one. Plus, I've only started to learn more about this French-built high-performance turboprop thanks in part to the YouTuber Steveo1Kinevo!

Salem (SLE) 86

Preview:

SOCATA TBM-930 (N930GE) parked on the ramp. Arrived yesterday from Bandon on the Oregon coast and scheduled to depart for Santa Rosa later this morning.

Gallery Update: Another ATR-72 Sighting in McMinnville!

As mentioned on a previous post, 'Ohana by Hawaiian officially ceased operations (or in other words, Hawaiian Airlines announced that they were permanently discontinuing their 'Ohana by Hawaiian brand and service after suspending operations earlier this year on what was then assumed to be temporary) as of May 27, 2021 due to extended repercussions that have been the result of the COVID-19 pandemic. On my last outing to McMinnville, I photographed one of their ATR-42s, just days before the somewhat surprising announcement made by Hawaiian Airlines. After looking up the tail numbers of the small fleet of ATRs of the former 'Ohana by Hawaiian fleet on flight trackers and having recent see a few already moved to the mainland in the past several months, I noticed that some of haven't flown since their last revenue service and were sitting on the ground (as far as flight trackers are concerned) in Hawaii. 

Knowing that any remaining ATR-42s and ATR-72s in the islands will most likely be ferried over to the mainland in the weeks ahead, I'm keeping an eye on FlightAware and FlightRadar24 in hopes of catching what airframes I haven't photographed yet and my hunch paid off today! Having already photographed all four ATR-42s that 'Ohana by Hawaiian used for their passenger interisland services, I was after their three ATR-72 freighters. Counting the one I already photographed at the beginning of last year, I only had two left to photograph. And now as of today, I only have one more ATR in the 'Ohana livery today! And that's because Southern Cross Aviation ferried an ATR-72 across the Pacific into McMinnville from Honolulu! So I flew up to McMinnville not only to photograph the ATR-72, but to also watch it arrive.

McMinnville (MMV) 8

Preview:

SOCATA TBM-900 (N900TW) parked on the ramp. Arrived this past weekend from Sun Valley, Idaho.

Twin Oaks Airpark Cessna 172M Skyhawk (N959HC) taxiing for departure back to Stark's Twin Oaks.

Southern Cross Aviation (d/b/a Empire Airlines) ATR-72-212(F) (N807HC) arriving on 22 as SXA656 from Honolulu. Formerly part of Hawaiian Airlines' 'Ohana by Hawaiian subsidiary until the permanent shutdown of 'Ohana last month.

While I've photographed the ATRs while they were parked here in McMinnville on past occasions, this is actually my first time seeing one of these ATRs in action.

SXA656 taxiing to the ramp. As is the case with any of the ferry flights that passed through McMinnville in the past, N807HC will spend the night and all day tomorrow parked to allow the ferry crew to rest and to uninstall the long-range ferry tanks before continuing on to Coeur D'Alene, Idaho come Friday morning.

Face-to-face with the ATR-72.

Airframe started life hauling passengers in Europe as EI-CLD for Avianova in Italy, having been delivered in March 1995. Italian flag carrier Alitalia took on the airframe in November 1996 after absorbing Avianova. It was then transferred over to subsidiary Alitalia Express in October 1997 and re-registered as I-ATRR in December 2005.

After flying for Alitalia, the airframe ownership was transferred over to Magellan Aviation Services in March 2010; it was re-registered back to EI-CLD in September that same year. In March 2011, this ATR-72 went to Canadian bush airline First Air and operated combi services as C-GRMZ. 

And finally, Hawaiian Airlines acquired this airframe in June 2015 after being converted into a full-freighter and operated by Empire Airlines (d/b/a 'Ohana by Hawaiian) until it went into what was then thought to be temporary storage at Honolulu in October 2020, which was when 'Ohana's all-freight services were suspended due to repercussions from the COVID-19 pandemic.

It was surprising that the 'Ohana by Hawaiian freighter flights were suspended a few months before passengers flights stopped as it would've made sense to utilize the ATR-72s to move around critical cargo around the islands even in the midst of the pandemic. However, due to a contract clause that Hawaiian Airlines had with the mainline pilots, 'Ohana by Hawaiian flights could not be operated if interisland flights operated by their Boeing 717s and Airbus A321neos were reduced as well (a bid to protect interisland flying jobs operated by the mainline company, no doubt!); the wording in said contract likely barred the 'Ohana flights in general, regardless if it was passenger or cargo.

It wouldn't be too surprising if Empire Airlines took on the ex-'Ohana fleet of ATR-72 freighters themselves to be used in their feeder operations for FedEx. The passenger ATR-42s however, we're not too sure about...

Trimble Aviation Cessna 172M Skyhawk II (N1366U) parked on the ramp.

Cessna A185F Skywagon (N2678S) parked on the ramp.

Including the ATR-72 I photographed at the beginning of last year, I only have one more airframe to photograph when it comes to the former 'Ohana by Hawaiian fleet.

One last look at N807HC. As the rest of the former 'Ohana by Hawaiian fleet will most-likely pass through here in the weeks and months ahead, it's bitter-sweet knowing that this will be the last time we'll be seeing these planes and this livery here...

Bombardier CL-600-2B16 Challenger 605 (N633AB) parked on the ramp. Formerly based in the U.K. and registered in the Isle of Man as M-ERCI.