Hope you're all having an enjoyable holiday season. I've been back in Oregon with my family since late last week getting some much-needed R&R. This will be my final gallery update for 2017, one of the most eventful, yet hellish years I've had. I did this last year and I did it again this year; I went spotting at PDX on New Years weekend. I've been doing some research and keeping an eye on social media platforms for aviation in the Pacific Northwest in order to plan a worthwhile spotting trip to Portland International Airport while I was home for the holidays. Looking at FlightAware, I noticed a few incoming flights might have been worthwhile chasing, but in typical airline fashion, things changed! For starters, the Cathay Pacific Cargo flight was scheduled to be using a 747-400, but it ended up being the wet-leased Atlas Air 747-8F that I photographed earlier this summer! And a Southwest Airlines flight from Kansas City was scheduled to fly a 737 MAX 8 (THAT would've been quite a catch for me at the end of the year!), but it ended up being a regular 737 NG.
But the trip wasn't a total waste, as I was able to catch a few things; the first (and perhaps the main reason for going!) was an opportunity to catch Mexican low-cost carrier Volaris at PDX in daylight! Volaris began thrice-weekly flights between Guadalajara, Mexico and Portland on December 3, 2014. The only reason I never chased Volaris since then was mainly due to the fact that all their flights to and from Guadalajara were red-eye flights, so I would never have been able to get a decent shot of one of their planes. It was only recently I found out that Volaris' Saturday flights were conducted in the afternoon, so I knew I had to jump at the opportunity!
The second reason why I wanted to go spotting in Portland again was because of Horizon Air. The Alaska Airlines regional subsidiary only just recently started applying the new livery onto their DHC-8-400s and I wanted to see if I could catch one. I caught TWO Q400s in the new Alaska livery! Along with two Q400s in the new livery, I got a few more E-Jets operated by Horizon, and a retro livery from American Airlines!
Here's the link:
Portland (PDX) 30
Preview:
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| Horizon Air (d/b/a Alaska Airlines) Bombardier DHC-8-402 Dash 8 Q400 (N437QX) in Boise State Broncos colors departing via 28L as QXE2469 for Santa Rosa. |
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| United Airlines Airbus A319-131 (N834UA) arriving on 28R from Houston Intercontinental as UAL1938. |
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| NetJets Cessna 560XL Citation XLS (N579QS) taxiing to the FBO after arrival on 28R as EJA579 from Santa Ana. |
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| Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-7Q8 (N7863A) arriving on 28L as SWA4473 from San Jose. Formerly LV-CWL with Aerolineas Argentinas. |
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| American Airlines Boeing 737-823 (N973NN) departing on 28L as AAL1525 to Dallas-Fort Worth. |
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| Horizon Air (d/b/a Alaska Airlines) Embraer ERJ-170-200LR E-175LR (N624QX) departing on 28L as QXE2517 for Boise. |
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| Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-990 (N317AS) smoking the mains on arrival on 28L as ASA700 from Seattle. |
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| United Airlines Airbus A319-131 (N841UA) pulling up to the gate after arriving from San Francisco as UAL550. |
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| Sun Country Airlines Boeing 737-752 (N714SY) "Lake Vermilion" arriving on 28R as SCX295 from Minneapolis/St. Paul. Sun Country plans on phasing out their their six 737-700s in favor of the longer 737-800s for a more streamlined fleet. |
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| United Airlines Airbus A320-232 (N418UA) departing on 28R for Houston Intercontinental as UAL1888 |
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| Delta Air Lines Boeing 717-231 (N927AT) arriving on 28R from Los Angeles as DAL1094. |
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| Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-8H4 (N8614M) departing on 28L as SWA4874 for Denver. |
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| SkyWest Airlines (d/b/a Alaska Airlines) Embraer ERJ-170-200LR E-175LR (N191SY) departing on 28L as SKW3482 for Salt Lake City. |
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| Atlas Air (d/b/a Cathay Pacific Cargo) Boeing 747-87UF/SCD (N856GT) taxiing for departure for Hong Kong via Anchorage as CPA3281. A little disappointed that this is the same 747-8F I photographed earlier this August. Still, the Queen graces us with her presence in Portland! |
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| American Airlines Boeing 737-823 (N934AN) arriving on 28L from Phoenix Sky Harbor as AAL319. |
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| Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-890 (N520AS) arriving on 28L from Burbank as ASA485. |
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| Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-7H4 (N928WN) departing on 28L as SWA2270 for San Jose. |
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| CPA3281 departing on 28L for Anchorage. |
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| Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-7H4 (N462WN) arriving on 28L from Burbank as SWA4734. |
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| Virgin America Airbus A320-214 (N284VA) "Rabid Badger" arriving on 28R from Los Angeles as VRD1795. My first time catching a Virgin America Airbus with sharklets! Also as part of the merger with Alaska Airlines, Virgin America has briefly reinstated flights between Portland and Los Angeles. Virgin America's "Redwood" call-sign will be no more starting January 11, 2018 and the brand will be no more starting April 25, 2018. |
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| United Airlines Boeing 737-924/ER (N34455) arriving on 28R from Denver as UAL276. |
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| Delta Air Lines McDonnell Douglas MD-90-30 (N924DN) arriving on 28R from Minneapolis/St. Paul as DAL1503. |
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| NetJets Bombardier BD-100-1A10 Challenger 350 (N742QS) taxiing to the FBO after arriving on 28R from Stuart, Florida as EJA742. |
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| Horizon Air (d/b/a Alaska Airlines) Embraer ERJ-170-200LR E-175LR (N623QX) arriving on 28L from Tuscon as QXE2772. |
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| Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-890 (N531AS) departing on 28L for Kahului as ASA809. |
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| Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-990/ER (N236AK) arriving on 28L from Las Vegas as ASA627. |
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| SkyWest Airlines Bombardier CL-600-2B19 CRJ-200ER arriving on 28L from Santa Barbara as SKW3499. SkyWest is currently using a number of 50-seat regional jets in "house colors" to fly commuter routes that's normally flown by Horizon Air due to the latter dealing with a pilot shortage. |
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| Ameriflight Fairchild SA-227AC Metro III (N673AV) arriving on 28L from La Grande as AMF1964. |
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| Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-890 (N589AS) arriving on 28L from Santa Ana as ASA587. |
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| Horizon Air (d/b/a Alaska Airlines) Bombardier DHC-8-402 Dash 8 Q400 (N436QX) arriving on 28L as QXE2236 from Redmond. This is the first Horizon Q400 to get painted in the new Alaska Airlines livery and also my first time seeing one! |
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| QXE2236 taxiing to the gate. I gotta say, the new livery looks great on the Dash! |
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| Delta Air Lines Boeing 767-3P6/ER (N155DL) taxiing for departure to Amsterdam Schiphol as DAL178. |
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| Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-890 (N551AS) arriving on 28L from New York-JFK as ASA479. |
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| DAL178 departing on 28L for the 10-hour flight to Amsterdam. |
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| Delta Air Lines Boeing 737-832 (N3758Y) in SkyTeam colors departing on 28R for Seattle-Tacoma as DAL1457. |
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| SkyWest Airlines (d/b/a Alaska Airlines) Embraer ERJ-170-200LR E-175LR (N183SY) arriving on 28L from Ontario, California as SKW3463. |
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| Horizon Air (d/b/a Alaska Airlines) Bombardier DHC-8-401 Dash 8 Q400 (N439QX) arriving on 28L from Reno/Tahoe as QXE2260. Two Q400s in the new Alaska livery on the same spotting trip! |
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| QXE2260 taxiing to the gate. |
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| SkyWest Airlines (d/b/a Alaska Airlines) Embraer ERJ-170-200LR E-175LR (N186SY) departing on 28L for Bozeman as SKW3330. |
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| Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-8H4 (N8630B) arriving on 28L from Phoenix Sky Harbor as SWA2113. |
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| Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-8H4 (N8686A) arriving on 28L from Sacramento as SWA2108. |
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| Volaris Airbus A320-233 (N518VL) "Sarai" arriving on 28R from Guadalajara as VOI5938. I am so happy to finally catch Volaris in Portland! Note that this aircraft has a U.S. N-number as it's leased from an American lessor. Mexico is one of those few countries that doesn't impose restrictions on a Mexican carrier operating N-registered (non-Mexico registered) aircraft. |
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| Delta Air Lines Boeing 737-932/ER (N824DN) departing on 28R for Atlanta as DAL2565. |
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| Boutique Air Pilatus PC-12/47 (N478SS) airborne after departing on 28R for Pendleton as BTQ354. |
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| United Airlines Boeing 737-824 (N14214) arriving on 28R from San Francisco as UAL2055. |
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| Delta Air Lines Boeing 737-932/ER (N832DN) departing on 28R for New York-JFK as DAL1756. |
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| American Airlines Boeing 737-823 (N905NN) "AstroJet" arriving on 28R from Dallas-Fort Worth as AAL1165. I am absolutely thrilled to finally catch one of American Airlines' heritage liveries! Catching the "AstroJet" retro livery is a good start! |
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| Spirit Airlines Airbus A320-232 (N629NK) arriving on 28R from Las Vegas as NKS260. |
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| Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-800 (N8528Q) arriving on 28L from Denver as SWA4045. |
Have a Happy New Year! Keep an eye out for my 2017 photography montage!
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