Gallery Update: Chasing a 787-10 Dreamliner at PDX!!!

I noticed that British Airways has been periodically up-gauging their equipment on certain days of the week from the typical 787-8 Dreamliner that they started services with. They've put the longer 787-9 on the route to PDX not too long after the inaugural on a few occasions, and as of recently, the even-longer 787-10 started making an appearance! I knew I had to go and chase one of those down, so I made a spotting trip this evening as Fridays and Sundays have been seeing the 787-10 (which was of course the case today!). I'll definitely be keeping an eye on British Airways' PDX services next year because they are apparently planning on sending Boeing 777s to add even more capacity (which would indicate the route is doing fairly well!).

In addition to the British Airways Boeing 787-10, I also had the opportunity to see another Icelandair 737 MAX today as they've recently scaled back to their brief winter-time service, this time sporting the airline's newest livery which they introduced earlier this year. 

Portland (PDX)

Preview:

British Airways Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner (G-ZBLF) arriving on 10L as BAW267 from London-Heathrow. My first time seeing a 787-10!

Delivered to British Airways in September of this year, so this is a fairly new airframe. Delivery was likely delayed up until recently due to the production issues Boeing faced with their Dreamliners during the past year.

The 787-10 became the subject of study for Boeing after Emirates and Qantas both expressed interest for an even longer stretch of the 787-9 in December 2005, with customer discussions beginning in 2006.

Singapore Airlines "officially" became the launch customer of the 787-10 on May 30, 2013 (provided that Boeing would launch the program) and Boeing formally launched the longest variant of the Dreamliner on June 18, 2013 at the Paris Air Show.

Delta Air Lines Airbus A220-100 (N138DU) arriving on 10L as DAL1610 from Seattle-Tacoma.

BAW267 taxiing to the gate. Similar in capacity to the Airbus A350-900, the 787-10 has been envisioned to be a replacement platform for the Boeing 777-200 as well as the Airbus A330 and A340.

Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 (N919AK) departing on 10L as ASA100 for Phoenix-Sky Harbor. This is the fourth 737 MAX 9 to be delivered to Alaska Airlines.

The 787-10 is assembled exclusively at Boeing's Charleston factory in South Carolina due to the aircraft's mid-fuselage sections being too large to be able to transport to the Everett, Washington factory. As such, the 787-10 holds the distinction of being the first Boeing airliner assembled exclusively there; this likely played a role in Boeing eventually moving all 787 assembly to Charleston.

Scheduled to depart back to London-Heathrow as BAW266 later this evening. The Boeing completed detailed-design work on the 787-10 in December 2015 and assembly began in March 2016. It shares 95% commonality with the 787-8 and -9 models. The 787-10 first rolled out on February 17, 2017 and first flight took place on March 31, 2017. FAA certification was achieved in January 2018 with deliveries commencing later that same year.

DAL1610 taxiing to the gate.

Jazz Air (d/b/a Air Canada Express) Bombardier DHC-8-402Q Dash 8 Q400 (C-GXJZ) taxiing for departure as JZA8655 for Vancouver.

Icelandair Boeing 737 MAX 8 (TF-ICU) "Dyrhólaey" arriving on 10L as ICE665 from Reykjavík–Keflavík. Only my second time seeing a 737 MAX 8 operated by the flag carrier of Iceland. Also my first time seeing the new livery!

In typical European fashion, this new livery (which was unveiled at the beginning of the year) has been criticized for the lack of creativity and for following a trend that leans toward being more generic (in other words, boring Euro-white fuselage with only the tail section, engines (sometimes) and winglets getting colors as well as billboard-style name painted across the fuselage.

Despite what critics may say, this is the first time since 2006 that Icelandair has completely refreshed their branding and livery.

AirLink Critical Care Transport Pilatus PC-12/45 (N852AL) arriving on 10L from Klamath Falls.

ICE665 taxiing to the gate. 

While this is the new standardized livery for the airline, the only subtle difference will be the varying colors each airframe will sport on the leading-edges of the vertical stabilizer (note the magenta on this airframe).

Each color will represent a different part of Iceland. Magenta will represent the creative power of Iceland. Now I've got to go photograph the four other colors!

Scheduled to return to Reykjavík–Keflavík tomorrow afternoon as ICE664. The aircraft's nickname "Dyrhólaey" refers to a small promontory located on the south coast of Iceland, not far from the village Vík. The name literally translates to "door hill island" and is formerly known by seamen as Cape Portland.

JZA8655 departing on 10L for Vancouver.

Gallery Update: Classic Dash 8 Sighting in McMinnville!

It has been a while since I chased down a "one-off airliner visitor" at McMinnville as today provided a rather unusual opportunity. I noticed on FlightRadar24 that a Dash 8 Q300 was en route, so I decided to make a brief stop in McMinnville while taking advantage of a rare sunny November afternoon to fly. Needless to say, I was surprised at what I saw regarding this particular "Classic Dash 8" airframe. I'll let the photos speak for themselves.

McMinnville (MMV) 

Preview:

Skytrans Bombardier DHC-8-311Q Dash 8 Q300 (C-FNCU) parked on the ramp after arriving from Sault Ste Marie-Chippewa County International in Michigan, where the plane and crew cleared customs after crossing the border from North Bay, Ontario. First time seeing this livery from a lesser-known Australian airline!

This "Classic Dash 8" was first delivered to Brymon Airways as G-NVSB in January 1999 on the behalf of British Airways. Airframe continued to operate for British Airways after it was transferred to British Airways CitiExpress in March 2002 and again when transferred to BA Connection in February 2006.

Airframe went to the Canadian register starting in May 2007 with Voyageur Airways, an Ontario-based charter airline, primarily operating on the behalf of the United Nations for the past 15 years.

Now the airframe is being prepped for its next chapter with Australian charter airline, Skytrans and will be registered as VH-QQL.

Skytrans is based in Cairns, Queensland and was founded in 1990. They suspended operations and briefly went into administration on January 2, 2015 and eventually rebranded and returned to service on March 31 that same year.

Face-to-face with the "Classic Dash 8" with the setting sun! Skytrans currently operates a fleet of Dash 8 100s, so the addition of this Dash 8 300 is considered a significant upgrade for them

The "Classic Dash 8" is already a rare sight and the overall Dash 8 family is going to be an even rarer sight now that Alaska Airlines is retiring their Q400s in the coming months.

Flight Critique: Frontier Airlines Flight 2171 (LAS-PDX)

1.) Aircraft: Airbus A320neo. Second time flying the A320neo, second time flying a Frontier Airlines flight, second time experiencing an ultra low-cost carrier. Originally, this flight was slated to utilize an older A320ceo, but has since seen an equipment substitution. Again, with this being a flight on a ULCC, expectations had to be managed regarding the type of service from this airline and catered to my needs and travel style by paying for the extras on top of the base fare; in my case, I paid for seat selection as well as for a checked bag.

2.) Flight Time: Approximately 1 hour, 50 minutes

3.) Flight delayed by nearly two hours due to late-arriving aircraft. Thanks to my seat selection, I didn't get bored and enjoyed the views. Flight was relatively smooth and enjoyable. And thanks to cooperative fellow passengers, who quickly got seated and settled (something the captain of the flight remarked on with appreciation), we were able to get underway and make up some time in the air.

4.) Courtesy of my dad, we got something to drink from the buy-onboard menu. We're firm believers in the fact that flying commercial (whether it be full-service or low-cost carriers) is much more enjoyable with at least a drink to enjoy while en route!

5.) Flight was full but given the short duration, it was tolerable. And the crew were pleasant people. Overall, the flight did it's job of getting us back to Portland following a weekend trip for fun. Wasn't too thrilled by the delay as it put us into Portland well-after dark, but the communication from the airline was appreciated.

Photos from the flight:

Frontier Airlines Airbus A320-251N (N303FR) "Poppy the Prairie Dog," the A320neo that would take my dad and I back home to Oregon. Photographed yesterday while plane-spotting at Las Vegas as it departed for Salt Lake City! And as it turns out, between seeing it depart yesterday and our flight today, it appears to have sat idle at Salt Lake City.

The same plane taxiing up to the gate upon arriving from Salt Lake City prior to us boarding. Unlike the A320neo we flew into Las Vegas on, this airframe was built in Toulouse, France.

Leaving the Las Vegas desert behind after getting airborne.

Downside to sitting on the left side of the plane was the setting sun.

Sun finally set.

Passing by Crater Lake near Klamath Falls as we began our approach into Portland.

Honestly, it was surprising to see Crater Lake at all considering the overcast layer around it!

Definitely a cloudy evening around Crater Lake!

You know you're back in Oregon once you've seen Crater Lake!

Too bad we departed nearly two hours behind schedule, otherwise we could've seen Crater Lake a little more clearly!

Gallery Update: Spotting On the Go at Las Vegas

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:

Las Vegas Sands Boeing 747SP-31 (VP-BLK) parked on the Las Vegas Sands Corporation ramp. My first time seeing a rare Boeing 747SP!

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.

Spirit Airlines Airbus A320-232 (N604NK) departing on 19L as NKS361 for Dallas/Fort Worth.

Spirit Airlines Airbus A320-271N (N917NK) airborne off 19L as NKS1295 for Kansas City.

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. 

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.

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.

Delta Air Lines Boeing 757-351 (N588NW) airborne off of 26R as DAL419 for Atlanta.

Spirit Airlines Airbus A320-271N (N964NK) departing on 19L as NKS264 for Burbank. 

EG & G Boeing 737-66N (N859WP) departing off of 19L as JANET33 for someplace unknown/classified. My first time photographing a Boeing 737-600!

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.

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.

Prior to operating 737-600s, JANET operated a fleet of 737-200s for their obscure government operations.

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...

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.

The "JANET" call-sign is said to stand for "Just Another Non-Existent Terminal" or more appropriately "Joint Air Network for Employee Transportation."

As far as who exactly is operating such flights, it's most likely a front company.

Clearly it didn't take much for this flight to get airborne based the angle here!

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

Like their shorter ERJ-135s, JSX's ERJ-145s seat only 30 passengers in a rather luxurious configuration.

Spirit Airlines Airbus A320-232 (N636NK) taxiing to the gate after arriving on 26L as NKS1720 from Los Angeles.

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. 

Deluxe Public Charter (d/b/a JSX Air) Embraer EMB-135LR ERJ-135LR  (N254JX) arriving on 19R as JSX104 from Burbank.

Air Canada Rouge Airbus A319-114 (C-GBHR) parked at D24. Arrived as ROU1707 from Montréal–Trudeau and scheduled to return there as ROU1706.

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.

Breeze Airways Airbus A220-300 (N211BZ) parked at D20. Arrived earlier today as MXY242 from Syracuse, New York and scheduled to return there MXY243.

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!

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.

This airframe features a NY/NJ theme designed by artist Corinne Antonelli.

The other Boeing 757 that features the "Her Art Here" livery features a California theme designed by San Francisco-based artist Tsungwei Moo.

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?

Personally, I wish United's 757s still served Portland on a frequent basis like they used to a decade ago...

This is the second time I've seen a United 757 here at Vegas on this trip and my third time overall this year...

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!

Arrived earlier in the day as ROU1701 from Toronto-Pearson.

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.

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.

It's no surprise that Air Canada sends their Rouge fleet to Vegas considering that it's major leisure destination.

Since the pandemic, Air Canada Rouge has been a lot slimmer in the past few years...

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.

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...

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.

WestJet Boeing 737-8CT (C-GWSV) bearing Disney's Frozen livery taxiing for departure as WJA1117 for Toronto-Pearson.

Arrived earlier today from Toronto-Pearson as WJA1116.

Honestly, I was not expecting to see this airframe and livery and was kind of surprised by it!

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...

N603FR taxiing for departure as FFT1978 for Buffalo.

Frontier Airlines aims to become America's "greenest airline" as they pick up more A320neos and A321neos.

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.

N14102 taxiing for departure as UAL1666 for Houston-Intercontinental.

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.

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.

In United's case, their 757-200s will be replaced by the Airbus A321XLR.

WestJet Boeing 737 MAX 8 (C-GWLK) taxiing for departure as WJA1789 for Vancouver.

Arrived earlier today as WJA1788 from Vancouver.

WestJet is one Canadian carrier to keep an eye on as they seem to have some major changes in the pipeline.

For starters, they intend to acquire Canadian vacation carrier, Sunwing Airlines.

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.

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. 

Making Calgary their only connecting hub could potentially mean more new routes to Europe and even Asia, a market currently untapped by WestJet. 

As part of their focused growth, WestJet ordered the Boeing 737 MAX 10, which has yet to be certified.

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.

Only time will tell whether or not WestJet is successful in this shift of strategy.

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.

Unfortunately for us, this flight was already late, making this a long day for the both of us!