Our newest newest Dreamliner

It was just a week ago that I showed you pictures of what was, at the time, the latest B787 operator at LAX. But that's now old news, as we have an even more recent addition to the stable of B787 users at LAX: AeroMexico brought in a Dreamliner for the first time this weekend, beginning daily B787 service between Los Angeles and Mexico City. AeroMexico is the first carrier to park a Dreamliner at Terminal Two. The shot below shows that first B787 being towed onto the gate on Sunday while airport and airline personnel monitor to ensure that it fits without complications.

Our first AeroMexico B787 gets towed onto Gate 24, between an AeroMexico B737-800 at Gate 22 and an Air Canada B767-300 at Gate 26.

I don't think I've ever shown you a Dreamliner from this perspective

The obligatory 'airplane with a truck for size perspective' shot

The two Mexican carriers at LAX; we used to have more (Mexicana, Aero California, and Aviacsa come to mind)

Speaking of carriers we've lost, this shot and the next both show something that is about to disappear from the scene at LAX. The SkyWest E120 Brasilias are in their final days at LAX; they're expected to be gone sometime next month.

This Mesa CRJ9 wears the US Airways Express livery; US Air will cease to be in another day or two. Although many of the aircraft have yet to be repainted in American or American Eagle colors, the mainline Cactus callsign will be discontinued on Wednesday or Thursday.

Boeing pix

This is for all of you who believe that I can only take pictures of A380s. I grant that recent posts would lead one to that conclusion, so today's post will be exclusively Boeing products. The opening features an AeroMexico B737-800 with the new split scimitar winglets developed by Aviation Partners. United was the first carrier to put these on their planes; I also have seen them on Alaska, Southwest, and WestJet.

Kalitta Air (callsign: Connie) is a regular at LAX, but rarely seen during daylight hours. I got lucky last week when they showed up -- not only during the day -- but also on Runway 24 Left:

Next, we have another arrival:

Now that FedEx has retired their B727s, the B757 is the smallest FedEx airplane we see at LAX. At the moment, I believe we get two per day; the remainder of the FedEx flights are A300s, DC-10s, and MD-11s. 

United is the first carrier to bring the stretched B787-9 to LAX. The shot above shows a B787-9 getting towed onto the gate, while a "normal" B787-8 rolls for departure. Below, a B777-200 passes behind in a shot taken slightly earlier.

Birds of a feather

LAX serves as a hub or focus city for a number of airlines, and so it's not anything special to see a number of one airline's aircraft here at once; Air Canada, Alaska, American, Continental, Delta, Fedex, Qantas, Southwest, United, US Airways, and Virgin America all regularly have a gaggle of airplanes here. But for some of our other carriers it's not so common to have more than one plane here at once, or it may only happen once during the day. Here are some:

Sightings

A couple of weeks ago, Compass Airlines began daily service into LAX from Kansas City. While the destination is not new (Frontier and Southwest also serve this route), the carrier is. Compass was a regional partner of Northwest (flying as Northwest Airlink), and is now flying for Delta (as Delta Connection) out of Minneapolis-St. Paul. They use Embraer E-175s configured for 76 passengers. This brings the number of Delta Connection operators at LAX up to three; besides Compass, we also have Mesaba and SkyWest in Delta colors.

This is the first Continental B737-500 I've seen wearing the United name. Continental uses the B735 to Leon, Mexico, a route that was previously flown by Mexicana. Curiously, Continental opted to install winglets on their -500s, while our other B735 operator, Southwest, has not.

AeroMexico has recently brought in this B737, which they added to their fleet earlier this year. A lease aircraft (notice the US registration), it formerly flew for Air Berlin and Hamburg International. Included here because of the nonstandard paint on the tail; compare to this shot from the B737 Spotter's Guide: