Gallery Update: Chasing Portland's Cargo Heavies

NOTE: Appropriate social distancing measures were practiced for the duration of this spotting trip and such practices are continued to be encouraged in the midst of this global crisis if anyone wishes to do their own plane-spotting at their own risk.

Alright, I decided to spend a Friday evening up at PDX for a quick spotting trip because it's been a while and frankly, I was starting to get a little stir-crazy and bored from all the isolation. Between working slightly-longer hours, flying when I could, and my studying, there isn't much else going on!

While passenger airlines are still suffering and operating at a reduced capacity because of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, cargo airlines are still going strong, which shouldn't come as a surprise since they're playing a vital role in transporting essential supplies, equipment, as well as medicine to help combat the Coronavirus. And that's what I wanted to focus on during this spotting trip as there were a few things I wanted to specifically go after. I also took comfort in knowing that I wasn't alone today as there were a few spotters and families watching what air traffic there was at the usual vantage point on top of the short-term parking garage. Again, it shouldn't be a surprise, since plane-spotting is an activity where social distancing is easy to do; of course, I kept my distance from fellow spotters and had no close interaction with anyone for the duration of this trip!

Honestly, it was a sad sight at PDX though with the terminal pretty much empty and lots of passenger airliners (mainly from Alaska Airlines, United Airlines, and Southwest Airlines) parked for long-term storage. And I should've had at least two previous spotting trips up to Portland already, which were supposed to be the inaugural Delta Air Lines flight to Tokyo-Haneda with Airbus A330-200s and then the inaugural flight(s) between Portland and Seattle-Boeing Field by JSX (formerly JetSuite X) and their Embraer ERJ-135s/145s respectively. Not surprisingly, the Delta flights between Portland and Tokyo-Haneda have not started at all after passing the transition date (March 28, 2020) from the Tokyo-Narita operations, and the JSX flights seems to have been removed from the carrier's route network completely. Hopefully, these flights will start up in the future once the current crisis is finally behind us. The British Airways inaugural flight between Portland and London-Heathrow is still scheduled as planned in June.

Today, I went after mainly the cargo heavies that are serving PDX. The main highlight of this trip was a Boeing 747-8F operated by UPS Airlines. I also noticed that FedEx Express was sending their older Airbus A300s into PDX and I definitely wanted to photograph one of those! Another surprise catch that I kind of forgot about was ABX Air; they usually send one of their Boeing 767-200s in the DHL livery, but this time, I got one in the standard ABX livery! The one thing I couldn't get this trip due to the winds blowing in the wrong direction was an Empire Airlines ATR-72 in the FedEx livery; I've seen several of their ATR-42s before and even got one of their ATR-72s in the 'Ohana by Hawaiian livery earlier this year, but I have yet to catch one in the standard FedEx Feeder livery. I'll get it next time! Aside from one exception, this is probably the first spotting trip I've done at PDX where I photographed only the cargo airlines!

Portland (PDX) 51

Preview:

FedEx Express McDonnell Douglas MD-11F (N590FE) clearing the active after arriving on 10R as FDX781 from Memphis. First delivered to American Airlines as N1757A in August 1991. Leased to USAfrica Airways in April 1994 before returning to American in February 1995. Acquired by FedEx in January 1998.

Atlas Air (d/b/a Amazon Prime Air) Boeing 767-3Q8/ER/BDSF (N1361A) arriving on 10R as GTI3736 from Cincinnati. After seeing a few 767s in the Amazon colors, I finally catch one sporting the blended winglets!

GTI3736 taxiing to the cargo ramp. First delivered as HL7249 to Asiana Airlines in March 1995. Then went to Southern Winds Airlines in Argentina as TF-ARB in September 2002. Airframe then spent the rest of its time in passenger configuration with LAN Airlines amongst its subsidiaries. Transferred to LAN Chile as CC-CEN in October 2003. Re-registered as LV-BFD for LAN Argentina in July 2006. Returned to LAN Chile in March 2008 and re-registered again to CC-CXL and transferred to LATAM Airlines Chile in May 2016. Acquired by Atlas Air in June 2016 for conversion to cargo. Re-registered as N1361A in April 2017 to be used for Amazon operations.

UPS Airlines Boeing 747-8F (N611UP) arriving on 10R as UPS2998 from Louisville. My first time seeing a 747-8F operated by UPS!

UPS2998 taxiing to the cargo ramp. Scheduled to depart later in the evening to Anchorage carrying the same flight number.

Ameriflight Embraer EMB-120RT Brasilia (N201YW) clearing the active after arriving on 10R as AMF1977 from Medford.

FedEx Express McDonnell Douglas MD-11F (N625FE) clearing the active after arriving on 10R as FDX382 from Memphis.

West Air Cessna 208B Grand Caravan (N619MA) taxiing to the FBO ramp after offloading on the FedEx ramp. Arrived earlier in the evening as PCM1911 from Astoria. Formerly with Maverick Airlines, a tour operator that offers scenic flights of the Grand Canyon.

ABX Air Boeing 767-223F (N312AA) airborne off 10R as ABX903 for Cincinnati via Seattle/Tacoma. My first time seeing the standard ABX Air livery on the shorter 767-200!

First delivered to American Airlines in June 1984. Went to ABX Air in November 2008 and then transferred to Air Transport International in January 2011. Leased to Cargojet Airways as C-GCJO in July 2014 before returning to ABX Air in July 2015. Impressive to see that this 36 year old frame is still soldiering on, not to mention a rare Boeing 767-200!

Frontier Airlines Airbus A320-251N (N341FR) "Fran the Sea Lion" arriving on 10L as FFT394 from Denver.

FedEx Express Airbus A300F4-605R (N663FE) arriving on 10R as FDX591 from Memphis. My first time seeing an A300 operated by FedEx!

First delivered to FedEx Express in November 1995. FedEx is the world's largest operator of the A300 and their fleet includes the very last A300 built. Over time, they'll replace these old workhorses with newer 767-300Fs straight from the Boeing factory. Sadly, my biggest regret was not getting a chance to see any of FedEx's Airbus A310s, which were all retired earlier this year...

FDX591 taxiing to the ramp. FedEx A300s have been a rare sight to PDX, but most-likely because of the current crisis and the increased demand for ever-essential freight, FedEx is using these old workhorses to increase capacity.

West Air Cessna 208B Super Cargomaster (N228DA) taxiing to the FBO ramp after offloading on FedEx ramp. Arrived earlier in the evening as PCM1973 from Eugene. Other than the fact that this Caravan was previously based in North Las Vegas, it's history is a bit of mystery...

Gallery Update: Chasing a Falcon 50 in Salem

There's a locally-based Falcon 50 tri-jet that I've seen on previous occasions but never had a chance to photograph. That changed today as it was making hops up and down the West Coast today and I managed to see it arrive back in Salem allowing for a perfect opportunity to photograph it during an otherwise lackluster time in aviation with the COVID-19 crisis still at the forefront of current events. I'll probably start looking out for other locally-based and visiting biz jets that might be worth chasing down...

Salem (SLE) 40

Preview:

Dassault Falcon 50 (N629EP) taxiing to the ramp after arriving on 34 from Palm Springs.

The jet started the day by flying up to Arlington, Washington and then down to Astoria. From there, the jet flew down to Palm Springs, California before returning to Salem.

Always a treat to see a tri-jet and something larger than the typical GA aircraft seen at Salem!

Gallery Update: Some Post-flight Spotting

After getting back from a local flight, a few aircraft caught my eye and I had my camera on me, so I did a little impromptu spotting. With the COVID-19 crisis still prevalent, social distancing measures still in-effect, and air travel at an all-time low, there's not much worthwhile spotting opportunities to jump on but I still keep an eye out.

Salem (SLE) 39

Preview:

Cessna 525 CitationJet (N529FD) taxiing for departure to Medford. Arrived earlier in the day from Eugene. This is a base-model CitationJet with retrofitted winglets!

N529FD departing on 34 for Medford.

Piper PA-31T-1 Cheyenne I (N939JB) parked by the FBO. Arrived earlier in the day from Pasco/Tri-Cities.

Empire Airlines (d/b/a FedEx Feeder) Cessna 208B Super Cargomaster (N956FE) taxiing for departure as CFS7686 to Portland. Arrived from North Bend/Coos Bay earlier for a brief stop followed by a quick turn-around.

Ameriflight Beechcraft C99 Airliner (N997SB) arriving on 34 as AMF1967 from Newport.

AMF1967 taxiing to the ramp to pick up addition cargo on the behalf of UPS before continuing on to Portland. Due to increased demand to keep commerce moving and delivering critical and essential items in response to the fight against the COVID-19 crisis, cargo carriers of all sizes have been working constantly and overtime while passenger carriers have suffered.

CFS7686 airborne off 34 for Portland.

A Sight No More: Trans States Airlines & Compass Airlines

The year 2020 is turning out to be a horrible year for aviation worldwide due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that has been affecting everyday life and routines around the world. Aviation was one of the industries that have been hit the hardest due to significant decrease in demand for air travel and the number of airlines ceasing operations have only increased just recently, continuing the trend from 2019 where several European carriers have since folded. Now, two regional airlines here in the United States has ceased operations just within days of each other; Trans States Airlines officially ceased operations on April 1, 2020 and Compass Airlines operated their last revenue flight today, April 5, 2020. Both regional carriers were a part of the parent company, Trans States Holdings, Inc., which still remains in business and operating one surviving regional carrier, GoJet Airlines.

Trans States Airlines
Trans States has roots going back to 1982, when it was operating as an independent commuter air carrier known as Resort Air. The airline's "Waterski" call-sign and the ICAO 3-letter identifier "LOF," (which stands for 'Lodge of the Four Seasons'), stayed with Trans States all the way until shutdown and is from the early days when the company and took visitors to the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri as Resort Air. Historically, Resort Air and later Trans States Airlines operated on the behalf of the following carriers:

• Starting in 1985, Resort Air entered into an agreement with Trans World Airlines (TWA) to operate as Trans World Express serving six cities in Missouri and Illinois. After TWA and American Airlines merged, Trans States continued flying under the American Connection banner.
• In 1989, Resort Air was renamed to Trans States Airlines; they also began operations on the west coast out of Los Angeles for intra-state service to several California cities on the behalf of USAir (later US Airways) under the USAir Express (later US Airways Express) banner. Trans States continued this partnership under the American Eagle banner after US Airways and American Airlines merged. Trans States and American ended their partnership in 2019.
• In 1995, Trans States Airlines began operating on the behalf of United Airlines under the United Express banner into New York-JFK as a codeshare feeder carrier. 
• In 1999, the regional carrier began Delta Connection operations for Delta Air Lines also out of New York-JFK and flew to several destinations along the east coast.

Trans States Airlines started becoming a victim to an emerging trend in 2019, where major mainline airlines began streamlining and reducing the number of regional partners flying the respective express or connection brands; 2019 was also a difficult financial year for the airline. And in February 2020, it was announced that Trans States Airlines would gradually cease operations through 2020 and transfer their what was left of their fleet to ExpressJet Airlines per an agreement with United Airlines, as United decided not to renew it's contract with Trans States in an effort to consolidate regional flying to just a handful of operators. However, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resultant impact on demand in air travel, it was announced on March 17, 2020 that Trans States Airlines would cease operations much earlier than expected. The final Trans States Airlines flight was on April 1, 2020, from Springfield, Missouri to Denver, Colorado operating as United Express Flight 4695. The cessation of Trans States Airlines marks the end of a nearly 40-year history that included partnerships with storied names like Trans World Airlines (TWA), and USAir/US Airways.

Compass Airlines

The formation of Compass Airlines in 2006 was the result of a contract dispute between Northwest Airlines and its pilots' union, the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) regarding scope clause (a contract between a major airline and the trade union of its pilots that limit the number and size of aircraft that may be flown by the airline's regional airline affiliate). After coming to a series of agreements from the dispute, Northwest purchased the operating certificate of Independence Air on March 10, 2006; Independence Air was an east coast-based low-cost airline that went bankrupt and out of business in January 2006. Compass Airlines began operations on May 2, 2007 with a single CRJ-200 under the Northwest Airlink banner as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Northwest Airlines. The airline has been an all-E-170/175 operator since August 21, 2007. Following the merger between Delta Air Lines and Northwest in 2009/2010, Compass Airlines became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Delta and flew under the Delta Connection banner. Delta would later sell Compass Airlines to Trans States Holdings, Inc. in July 2010.

In March 2015, Compass Airlines began flying E-175s on the behalf of American Airlines under the American Eagle banner out of Los Angeles and Houston. Much of the Compass-operated American Eagle flights focused on the west coast.

In August 2019, Delta Air Lines made the decided to reduce the number of regional airline partners that fly under the Delta Connection brand and terminated it's agreement with Compass Airlines. All the E-175s that flew as Delta Connection were owned by Delta Air Lines, and the majority of the fleet (26 to be exact) was to be transferred to Republic Airways while ten of them to be sold to SkyWest. Originally to be completed by June 2020, Compass agreed to accelerate the removal of all Delta-owned E-175s to April 1, 2020 due to the COVID-19 crisis.

Sadly, in March 2020, Compass Airlines announced that it would cease operations after it's remaining mainline partner American Airlines began cutting and consolidating the majority of its contract flying as a result of the decline in air travel demand stemming from the COVID-19 crisis. The loss of American Airlines left Compass with no partner or affiliate to fly for. Like with Delta, the 20 American Eagle-branded E-175s were owned by American Airlines and will be later placed with Envoy Air (a wholly-owned subsidiary of American Airlines). Compass Airlines operated their final flight today as American Eagle 6047 from Tulsa, Oklahoma to Los Angeles, California. The cessation of Compass Airlines marks the end of the last surviving entity of Northwest Airlines, storied airline that dates back to 1926.

Here's a photo montage of all the Compass Airlines E-175s as well as the single ERJ-145 of Trans States Airlines I managed to photograph:

(N620CZ)

(N635CZ)

(N616CZ)

(N602CZ)

(N630CZ)

(N621CZ)

(N208AN)

(N610CZ)

(N218NN)

(N632CZ)

(N203NN)

(N16151)

(N622CZ)

(N614CZ)

(N617CZ)

(N613CZ)

(N215NN)

(N217NN)

(N204NN)

(N210NN)

(N631CZ)

(N626CZ)

(N628CZ)

(N219NN)

(N605CZ)

(N202NN)

Times are sure to be tough for the employees of both Trans States and Compass Airlines, especially during this time where COVID-19 has put a hurt on the industry. Best of luck to the employees of Trans States Airlines and Compass Airlines.