Today marked the end of this trip to Las Vegas so we would be flying home and it has certainly been a good time with a couple plane-spotting trips to Harry Reid International Airport, not to mention the Aviation Nation Air Show, which was the main purpose of this trip.
But before we flew home, I got one more round of spotting in at Harry Reid International in and around the terminal after getting dropped off. For starters, I couldn't leave Las Vegas and NOT photograph a couple of Las Vegas plane-spotting staples seen here and honestly, I'm surprised I didn't get these shots sooner. For starters, I HAD to see the Boeing 747SP owned by the Las Vegas Sands Corporation as well as an unusual Boeing 737-600 that "does not exist!" Needless to say, it was a great way (at least for me!) to cap off an already-incredible trip.
Unfortunately, we ended up spending more time than expected in the terminal because our flight home ended up getting delayed by about an hour, which eventually turned into about two hours. I guess I couldn't complain too much since I was able to pass the time plane-spotting from the terminal.
Las Vegas (LAS) 4
Preview:
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| Las Vegas Sands Boeing 747SP-31 (VP-BLK) parked on the Las Vegas Sands Corporation ramp. My first time seeing a rare Boeing 747SP! |
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| Any 747SP will have some very interesting history given their rarity and this frame is no different. First delivered to Trans World Airlines-TWA as N58201 in March 1980; it would be the only point in its service life to fly commercially. After its time with TWA, it flew as a VIP platform for the United Arab Emirates Dubai Air Wing as A6-SMR starting in February 1985. |
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| Spirit Airlines Airbus A320-232 (N604NK) departing on 19L as NKS361 for Dallas/Fort Worth. |
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| Spirit Airlines Airbus A320-271N (N917NK) airborne off 19L as NKS1295 for Kansas City. |
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| After this airframe spent a considerable amount of time with the Dubai Air Wing, it was briefly transferred over to Interface Operations, LLC and re-registered as N992MS in June 2007 before being acquired by Las Vegas Sands Corporation in August of that same year and re-registered to the current VP-BLK tail code. |
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| Useless fact: this airframe was unofficially nicknamed "Yeezy Floating Office" when it was chartered by Kim Kardashian and Kanye West a few years back. Las Vegas Sands had another 747SP in its fleet registered as VQ-BMS, which was sadly scrapped in June 2021 after sustaining damage while undergoing maintenance at Lake Charles Louisiana due to Hurricane Laura in August 2020. |
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| Allegiant Air Airbus A319-111 (N301NV) parked on the remote stands. The first A319 ever delivered to Allegiant wasn't scheduled to go anywhere today. |
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| Delta Air Lines Boeing 757-351 (N588NW) airborne off of 26R as DAL419 for Atlanta. |
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| Spirit Airlines Airbus A320-271N (N964NK) departing on 19L as NKS264 for Burbank. |
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| EG & G Boeing 737-66N (N859WP) departing off of 19L as JANET33 for someplace unknown/classified. My first time photographing a Boeing 737-600! |
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| Airframe first delivered to China Southwest Airlines as B-2160 in September 2001. It was integrated into the Air China fleet in March 2003 after absorbing China Southwest. |
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| Airframe obtained by the United States Air Force in February 2009 and briefly re-registered as N645DM before transferring it to JANET a month later. |
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| Prior to operating 737-600s, JANET operated a fleet of 737-200s for their obscure government operations. |
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| The 737-600s wasn't as much of a commercial success compared to the rest of the 737NG family, so this particular model is a rare sight. Honestly, I'm kicking myself for not going after these more while in Vegas. But I'm glad I got to see one on this trip... |
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| These obscure 737-600s operate on the behalf of the United States Department of the Air Force as an employee shuttle to transport military, DOD civilians, and contractor employees to Special Access Program Facilities. |
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| The "JANET" call-sign is said to stand for "Just Another Non-Existent Terminal" or more appropriately "Joint Air Network for Employee Transportation." |
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| As far as who exactly is operating such flights, it's most likely a front company. |
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| Clearly it didn't take much for this flight to get airborne based the angle here! |
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| This "carrier" mainly serves the Nevada Test and Training Range and the Tonopah Test Range from a private terminal located at Las Vegas-Harry Reid International Airport. |
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| In addition to the "usual" military installations, JANET has been known to file flight plans to many other locations, including joint-use civilian/military airports. |
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| Deluxe Public Charter (d/b/a JSX Air) Embraer EMB-145LR ERJ-145LR (N244JX) departing on 19L as JSX200 for Oakland. My first time seeing a JSX ERJ-145! |
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| Airframe first delivered to Chautauqua Airlines as N273SK in November 2000 and flew under the Trans World Express (TWE) banner. When TWA folded, this airframe flew under the AmericanConnection banner starting in December 2001. In June 2002, it was re-painted again flying on the behalf of America West Airlines under the America West Express banner. |
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| In February 2003, it was again re-painted, this time in Delta Connection colors and maintained that livery, even after getting transferred over to Shuttle America in January 2015 when it absorbed Chautauqua Airlines. |
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| Airframe was acquired by Regional One in May 2018 before going into storage at Chicago-Rockford in October 2019. JSX obtained this airframe in November 2019 and had it re-registered to the current N-number in March 2020. |
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| JSX began picking up ERJ-145s in 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and began testing the seating configuration in conjunction with social distancing requirements at the time. Needless to say, it has worked out quite well and JSX is now acquiring more ERJ-145s and are growing eastward in their route network. |
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| Like their shorter ERJ-135s, JSX's ERJ-145s seat only 30 passengers in a rather luxurious configuration. |
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| Spirit Airlines Airbus A320-232 (N636NK) taxiing to the gate after arriving on 26L as NKS1720 from Los Angeles. |
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| Spirit Airlines Airbus A321-231 (N659NK) parked at A10. Arrived earlier in the day as NKS180 from Chicago O'Hare and scheduled to return there as NKS912. |
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| Deluxe Public Charter (d/b/a JSX Air) Embraer EMB-135LR ERJ-135LR (N254JX) arriving on 19R as JSX104 from Burbank. |
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| Air Canada Rouge Airbus A319-114 (C-GBHR) parked at D24. Arrived as ROU1707 from Montréal–Trudeau and scheduled to return there as ROU1706. |
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| Frontier Airlines Airbus A321-271NX (N603FR) "Frederick the Bald Eagle" parked at E10. My first time seeing an A321neo in Frontier colors! This is actually the first A321neo in Frontier's fleet. Arrived earlier in the day as FFT2126 from San Diego and scheduled to depart later on as FFT1978 for Buffalo, New York. |
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| Breeze Airways Airbus A220-300 (N211BZ) parked at D20. Arrived earlier today as MXY242 from Syracuse, New York and scheduled to return there MXY243. |
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| United Airlines Boeing 757-224 (N14102) sporting the east coast variant of the "Her Art Here" livery taxiing to the gate after arriving as UAL1525 from Newark. Thrilled to see this livery and finally catch a Boeing 757 in the new United colors! |
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| In 2019, United held a contest called "Her Art Here" to showcase female artists. This is the first of two 757s in United's fleet to bear such a livery. |
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| This airframe features a NY/NJ theme designed by artist Corinne Antonelli. |
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| The other Boeing 757 that features the "Her Art Here" livery features a California theme designed by San Francisco-based artist Tsungwei Moo. |
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| Airframe first delivered to Continental Airlines in June 1994. To think that this airframe has been in service for nearly three decades, is it any wonder the 757 is an airliner that airlines held on to? |
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| Personally, I wish United's 757s still served Portland on a frequent basis like they used to a decade ago... |
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| This is the second time I've seen a United 757 here at Vegas on this trip and my third time overall this year... |
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| Air Canada Rouge Airbus A321-211 (C-FJQL) pushing back from D26 for departure as ROU1700 for Toronto-Pearson. My first time seeing an A321 in the Rouge livery! |
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| Arrived earlier in the day as ROU1701 from Toronto-Pearson. |
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| Delivered new to Air Canada Rouge in May 2016, which is rather uncharacteristic as most Airbuses in the Rouge fleet are second-hand use or transfers from parent company Air Canada. |
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| Air Canada Rouge was forced to suspend its operations during the pandemic as a result of the Canadian government's (in my opinion, draconian!) restrictions on air travel. Being a leisure carrier, Rouge was definitely among the hardest hit during those difficult times. |
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| It's no surprise that Air Canada sends their Rouge fleet to Vegas considering that it's major leisure destination. |
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| Since the pandemic, Air Canada Rouge has been a lot slimmer in the past few years... |
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| What started as a mixed fleet consisting of the A320 family and the Boeing 767-300, Rouge is currently an all-Airbus operator as they've retired the 767s that they've used for long-haul routes. |
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| Apparently, some potential European routes are in the pipeline that would be within the range of the Rouge's narrow-body fleet in spite of losing the 767s, but as of right now, nothing has materialized. At this point, Air Canada Rouge is likely better off waiting for some A321XLRs before jumping back into the European market... |
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| JetBlue Airways Airbus A321-231 (N978JB) "Menta Azul" pushed back prior to departure as JBU448 for the return-trip to New York-JFK. Arrived earlier in the day from JFK as JBU411. |
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| WestJet Boeing 737-8CT (C-GWSV) bearing Disney's Frozen livery taxiing for departure as WJA1117 for Toronto-Pearson. |
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| Arrived earlier today from Toronto-Pearson as WJA1116. |
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| Honestly, I was not expecting to see this airframe and livery and was kind of surprised by it! |
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| This livery was unveiled back in 2015 and the "Frozen craze" was seven years ago now; I'm sorry to say, that I'm not much of a fan of Disney these days, so I don't get as excited about seeing special Disney liveries compared to other special liveries... |
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| N603FR taxiing for departure as FFT1978 for Buffalo. |
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| Frontier Airlines aims to become America's "greenest airline" as they pick up more A320neos and A321neos. |
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| Built at Airbus' Hamburg-Finkenwerder plant, this airframe was delivered to the Frontier just last month on October 1st. The special livery is in commemoration of Frontier Airlines' partnership with Pratt & Whitney and the selection of the Pratt & Whitney PW 1133G-JM engine, which will power the airline's A321neo fleet. For context, their A320neos use the CFM LEAP-1A26 engines. |
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| N14102 taxiing for departure as UAL1666 for Houston-Intercontinental. |
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| Unlike places like Portland, Oregon, Las Vegas definitely see's quite a bit of demand for United to justify sending their 757s from their major hubs. |
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| With the 757 being the subject of study for the "middle-of-the-market," it's only a matter of time before they're replaced by something more modern and fuel-efficient. |
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| In United's case, their 757-200s will be replaced by the Airbus A321XLR. |
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| WestJet Boeing 737 MAX 8 (C-GWLK) taxiing for departure as WJA1789 for Vancouver. |
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| Arrived earlier today as WJA1788 from Vancouver. |
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| WestJet is one Canadian carrier to keep an eye on as they seem to have some major changes in the pipeline. |
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| For starters, they intend to acquire Canadian vacation carrier, Sunwing Airlines. |
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| Something else WestJet announced this past summer plans to return to their roots and re-focus their efforts into western Canada and invest in leisure routes; this could have heavy implications for the ultra low-cost subsidiary, Swoop. |
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| Last month, WestJet announced a deepening partnership with the Alberta government and to make their Calgary homebase their sole global hub. This means no more trans-Atlantic services from their more eastern hubs such as Toronto. |
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| Making Calgary their only connecting hub could potentially mean more new routes to Europe and even Asia, a market currently untapped by WestJet. |
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| As part of their focused growth, WestJet ordered the Boeing 737 MAX 10, which has yet to be certified. |
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| This effort to re-focus on western Canada and Calgary in particular certainly implies that WestJet seems to be conceding eastern Canada to both rival Air Canada as well as the handful of new ultra low-cost start-ups that have either begun operations or are currently in the works. |
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| Only time will tell whether or not WestJet is successful in this shift of strategy. |
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| Frontier Airlines Airbus A320-251N (N303FR) "Poppy the Prairie Dog" taxiing up to the gate after arriving as FFT2087 from Salt Lake City. This would be the A320neo that would take my dad and I home to Portland on FFT2171. |
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| Unfortunately for us, this flight was already late, making this a long day for the both of us! |
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