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.