Gallery Update: A Quick Trip to PDX

I normally wouldn't do this, but after noticing a Delta Air Lines Boeing 737-700 flew into Portland yesterday afternoon and it was scheduled to fly out the following morning, I knew I had to chase it down because Delta only has ten examples of the type in their fleet and they rarely make their way out here to the west coast! Delta uses their relatively small fleet of 737-700s to serve long, thin, domestic routes as well as certain international routes to Latin America and the Caribbean. The airline picked up the 737-700s while operating under bankruptcy protection in 2006 and began reducing domestic flights and increasing international flights; with such changes, Delta sold off a number of 737-800 orders they had from Boeing at the time and even converted ten of those orders to 737-700s.

Delta's sub-fleet of 737-700s became the ideal platform to serve smaller and developing markets in Latin America and the Caribbean, particularly into airports notorious for short runways, extreme temperatures and high density altitudes; such airports that come to mind include Tegucigalpa's Toncontin International Airport in Honduras, Key West, Florida, and Jackson Hole, Wyoming, which might be the farthest west Delta usually brings their 737-700s domestically.

Considering that good spotting is, well, spotty right now, any trip I can take in light of the ongoing crisis is a welcome opportunity. And after working seven days in a row this last week with constant lousy weather keeping from flying, it was fun to go do something that I love. As always, this spotting trip was done with appropriate social distancing measures practiced for the duration and such practices are continued to be recommended in the midst of ongoing crisis. Anyone wishing to do their own plane-spotting during this time does so at their own risk.

Portland (PDX) 52

Preview:

Delta Air Lines Boeing 737-732 (N304DQ) taxiing for departure as DAL8825 for Atlanta. My first time photographing one of Delta's elusive 737-700s!

Arrived yesterday as DAL8965 from Savannah/Hilton Head. Primarily used on Delta's long and thin domestic and international routes, particularly to airports with short runways, extreme temperatures and high density altitudes.

DAL8825 departing on 10L for Atlanta.

Delta only has ten 737-700s in their fleet and appearances on the west coast of this type from the airline is pretty rare!

DAL8825 rotating off 10L. Very happy to finally catch one of these!

Flexjet Embraer EMB-545 Legacy 450 (N429FX) taxiing for departure as LXJ429 for Van Nuys.

LXJ429 airborne off 10L. The Legacy 450 is shortened follow-up design to the original EMB-550 Legacy 500. One can easily tell the difference between the two by counting the passenger windows; the Legacy 450 has six windows per side, while the Legacy 500 has seven per side. 

In addition, the Legacy family's latest variants include the Praetor 500 and 600 upgrades.

Frontier Airlines Airbus A320-251N (N322FR) "Captain the Puffin" departing on 10L as FFT790 for Denver.

Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-7H4 (N216WR) departing on 10L as SWA510 for San Jose.

SkyWest Airlines (d/b/a Alaska Airlines) Embraer ERJ-170-200LR E-175LR (N404SY) departing on 10L as SKW3305 for San Jose.

Flexjet Bombardier BD-100-1A10 Challenger 350 (N593FX) taxiing for departure as LXJ593 for Oakland.

LXJ593 departing on 10L for Oakland.

Horizon Air (d/b/a Alaska Airlines) Bombardier DHC-8-402 Dash 8 Q400 (N451QX) departing on 10L as QXE2806 for Seattle/Tacoma.