Gallery Update: CRJ-200 Sighting in Corvallis!

Weather was decent enough to get a quick flight in, even if I stayed local. Actually, I noticed something worth chasing down as I noticed that it flew into Corvallis via FlightRadar24, so I flew down to Corvallis specifically to go see it. What I was after was a CRJ-200 operated by regional powerhouse SkyWest Airlines' newest subsidiary, SkyWest Charter (SWC).

SkyWest Charter was launched by the parent company earlier this year after unveiling the concept last year as a solution to address the so-called ongoing pilot shortage by getting around pilot training hour requirements to alleviate said shortage and continue subsidized flights to small communities across the U.S.; this was a result of SkyWest themselves requesting to terminate routes for over 30 communities served by the government-subsidized Essential Air Service (EAS) program, intended to provide small communities with regular air connectivity around the country back in March 2022, again, blaming the pilot shortage. SkyWest Charter intends to emulate operators like Contour Airlines and JSX, which already operate under Part 135, which are different regulations under Federal Aviation Administration rules as “public charters” rather than “scheduled passenger flights.” As a result, the company can get around certain pilot certification requirements and hire crew with fewer hours to fly these planes. Another important aspect is that the public charter regulations dictate no more than 30 seats, so the SkyWest Charter CRJ-200s, normally a 50-seater would only have 30 passenger seats.

Corvallis (CVO)

Preview:

SkyWest Charter Bombardier CL-600-2B19 CRJ-200LR (N916SW) parked on the ramp. My first time seeing the SkyWest Charter livery and logo!

Arrived last night from Eugene as SCW3085 for a short hop after working a charter into Eugene from Los Angeles as SCW4020.

Airframe has a rather unremarkable history. It was first delivered to SkyWest Airlines in April 2002 and flew solely on the behalf of United Airlines' United Express branding.

During the pandemic, the airframe went into storage at Tucson for two years from November 2020 until November 2022, when it returned to service.

Airframe was transferred over to SkyWest Charter in June of this year and has been flying regularly around the country. While the airline has received all the necessary regulatory approvals to operate on-demand charter flights, they are still awaiting FAA commuter authority that allows them to operate scheduled charter flights like Contour or JSX.

SkyWest Charter operates under their own code and call-sign, which is "Charter West." While SkyWest Airlines' solution of going the public charter route with 20 less seats seem sound, this isn't without controversy.

SkyWest Charter has drawn criticism from the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), the largest airline pilots union, as they have repeatedly objected to the certification of this subsidiary, claiming that this strategy roll back the clock and skirt the aviation safety rules regarding pilot hiring minimum requirements and qualifications.

ALPA also argues that Part 135 certified carriers should be barred from receiving contracts to operate government-subsidized essential air service routes, and should instead have the DOT substantially increase funding for the program to ensure air service continues.

Face-to-face with the specially-configured CRJ-200. Another restriction SkyWest Charter will have to adhere to is that their operations must remain independent and outside of the capacity purchase agreements that SkyWest Airlines flies under Part 121 with major carriers, which means no codeshares; interline agreement partnerships should be okay though.

Flight Design CTSW (N306CT) parked on the ramp.

One last look at the SkyWest Charter CRJ-200. Regardless of the controversies this new regional subsidiary generated, SkyWest Charter will need to get their commuter approval from the FAA before they can even start to think about applying for EAS contracts.

Gallery Update: A Foggy Day in Salem

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas yesterday!

My brother in-law was down in Los Angeles, California with his parents and siblings and decided to fly up to Oregon to spend New Years with us and my sister here in Salem and I ended up picking him up after getting off work. Better yet, since he was in the Los Angeles area, he ended up taking the new Avelo Airlines service between Burbank and Salem, which as you recall was inaugurated this past October! My brother in-law picked the two most convenient airports on the west coast to fly in and out of! Unfortunately for him, what should've been convenient a two hour flight ended up being a seven hour ordeal on the plane due to fog here in Salem, which brought visibility down to a half-mile and his flight ended up diverting.

Today's flight to and from Salem out of Burbank was one of those special extra Tuesday flights for the holiday season that should've been a mid-morning arrival (as the regularly-scheduled Burbank flights have since switched to evening flights on Thursdays and Sundays). However, due to half-mile visibility from the fog this morning, my brother in-law's flight ended up going missed after shooting an approach and the flight crew decided to divert to Redmond; from what I could tell, the visibility was below landing minimums for any of the instrument approaches Salem-McNary Field has. This of course, put a damper on things and I ended up sticking around the airport getting updates on this Avelo Airlines flight's status. In the end, I killed time by going out for lunch and working/helping on a few small projects at the club hangars until my brother in-law's flight eventually managed to get into Salem four hours later.

So while my brother in-law did pick two of the most convenient airports to fly in and out of on the west coast, he picked a pretty bad day to fly into Salem! And seven hours onboard a Boeing 737-700 is pretty brutal for domestic flight standards here in the U.S., so I can certainly empathize there. But from a pilot's perspective, it was standard operating procedures for the flight to divert to an alternate airport, a standard practice when flying IFR...

Salem (SLE)

Preview:

Avelo Airlines Boeing 737-752 (N705VL) arriving on 31 after shooting an ILS approach as VXP185 from Redmond after initially diverting from Burbank with my brother in-law on board.

This flight should've touched down in Salem four hours earlier but ended up going missed after shooting an ILS approach and visibility was unfortunately down to half a mile.

Using a combination of FlightRadar24, Foreflight, and my air band radio, I was able to track this flight rather religiously and quickly figure out what would end up happening.

The reason why the flight ended up diverting to Redmond-Roberts Field out of any other potential alternate airport is because Redmond happens to be Avelo's largest outstation in Oregon; the airline currently provides flights to Burbank, Las Vegas, Santa Rosa, and Palm Springs out of Redmond.

Thankfully, visibility increased and fog lifted enough several hours later for the flight to come in...

VXP185 taxiing to the gate. Seven hours in a 737 for what should've been a simple two hour domestic flight is pretty brutal. As one aviation YouTuber would put it, "Weather is the great equalizer."

While inconvenient for everyone else, the diversion was standard operating procedures for IFR flying. And this was still one of my easier (not to mention convenient!) airport runs I've done for someone! No hour drive to Portland or Eugene for me today!

Scheduled to return to Burbank as VXP186 four hours late. I'm sure the outbound passengers were happy to see the plane finally arrive and they would soon be underway after getting delayed. Avelo needs to claim Salem as their next west coast hub and base some planes here fast!

Gallery Update: Chasing an Avelo Airlines 737-700 in Salem

Well, it's finally happening! I'm chasing down new (at least new to me!) 737 airframes Avelo Airlines sends up to Salem and I bagged another today. Today is Tuesday, and per Avelo's schedule, this isn't a normal day for Avelo to be sending flights up to Salem. However, in anticipation of increased demand due to the holiday travel season and considering that we're only six days away from Christmas, Avelo has added an extra frequency between Salem and Burbank, making this particular route temporarily thrice-weekly; the extra flights are scheduled on the weeks before and after Christmas (they did the same thing for Thanksgiving last month as well).

And with the current schedule, Avelo's regular Thursday and Sunday flights to/from Burbank are currently in the evening, which would normally make it difficult to photograph any Burbank-based aircraft this time of year. But the Tuesday Burbank flights happen to take place in the morning, making this particular opportunity possible.

Salem (SLE)

Preview:

Dassault Falcon 7X (N150BC) airborne off of 13 for Scottsdale, Arizona.

Avelo Airlines Boeing 737-7H4 (N708VL) arriving on 13 as VXP185 from Burbank. I think this is my first time seeing an arrival on 13...

Weather is lousy, but shots depicting the visual effects the reverse thrust has on the wet wet runway is pretty spectacular!

This nearly-20-year old airframe has a relatively unremarkable and simple history.

VXP185 clearing the active and taxiing to the gate.

Face-to-face with the 737-700.

VXP185 crossing Runway 16/34.

After rolling off the assembly line, airframe was first delivered to Southwest Airlines in June 2004 as N466WN.

This was one of many -700 airframes Southwest operated under lease from a lessor.

Airframe stayed with Southwest Airlines until its withdrawal from the fleet in May 2022.

Airframe went into storage at Dothan Regional Airport in Alabama from September until November of 2022.

Avelo scooped up this airframe in November 2022 and put into service that same month, so this airframe has been with the airline for just over a year.

After acquiring this airframe, Avelo Airlines initially utilized it for their now-larger east coast network from their New Haven base.

N708VL only just recently got rotated over to the west coast, being based out of Burbank.

As previously mentioned, the regular Burbank flights are currently scheduled to take place in the evening, which made it hard to catch this airframe until this opportunity presented itself, thanks to the holiday season.

VXP185 turning towards the terminal.

I've been inside the Salem Airport terminal and got to go behind the post-security waiting area last month (by invitation as part of a club-wide application process) when I had to go get my new airport badge. Long-story-short, Avelo's 737-700s seats 147 passengers; the post-security waiting area in the tiny terminal doesn't even come close to seating that many! So one could only imagine what it's like if the flight is full, or worse, two flights worth of passengers in the terminal at the same time!

VXP185 pulling up to the terminal.

N708VL departing on 13 for the return-trip to Burbank as VXP186.

The sun broke out of the clouds to brighten up these shots!

With 13 in use, this is also my first time seeing one of Avelo's departures going in this direction.

I'm sure the pilots appreciate the more-direct southbound departure using 13 as both of Avelo's current destinations out of Salem are south of here!

Rotate!

VXP186 airborne off of 13.

Flights to Burbank must be popular out of Salem for Avelo to temporarily add a second weekly flight. Shouldn't be surprising because the Los Angeles Basin has a lot to offer.

From what I've heard, Avelo has been pleased so far with the current load factors they've seen on both their Vegas and Burbank flights (which is cautiously-optimistic good news for the city!), with Burbank flights faring a little better than Vegas.

As it turns out, this round-trip between Burbank and Salem are the only legs scheduled for this airframe today, which shows that Tuesday in general are a low-utilization day for Avelo.

Gallery Update: Falcon 10 Sighting in Salem!

It has been a while since I specifically chased after rare and unusual corporate jets. Despite today's crappy weather, a business jet worth chasing did fly into Salem today, the Dassault Falcon 10!

The Mystère/Falcon 10 family is a light business jet based off the larger Falcon 20. Despite its numbering sequence it was actually developed after the Falcon 20. While the Falcon 10 is sometimes considered as a scaled-down version of the Falcon 20, it was totally redesigned with a non-circular fuselage, a new wing with slotted flaps, a split passenger door and many simplified circuits compared to the Falcon 20; in essence, it's a miniaturized Falcon 20 and was originally known as the Minifalcon.

Salem (SLE)

Preview:

Dassault Falcon 10 (N42G) arriving on 31 from Missoula. My first time seeing the Falcon 10!

N42G taxiing up to the ramp.

The Falcon 10 had a roughly 19-year production run from 1970 to 1989 and 226 airframes were built, making this type a somewhat uncommon sight.

The Falcon 10 remains a fairly popular business jet on the second-hand market priced from low to mid six-figure sums.

N42G parked on the ramp.

N42G taxiing for departure for the return-trip to Missoula.

N42G departing on 31 for Missoula.

The Dassault Mystère/Falcon 10 family is not to be confused with the new Falcon 10X currently under development by Dassault Aviation.