Uncommon visitor

An uncommon visitor passed through LAX last week. At one time, the B727 was the backbone of the domestic airline fleet. Everyone flew B727s: American, Braniff, Continental, Delta, Eastern, National, Northwest, Pan Am, TWA, United, Western, and many others all relied upon the trusty B727. Even when the mainline carriers phased them out, B727s still flew for charter operators and as freighters.

These days, however, the B727 is a rare bird. The last scheduled B727s flying out of LAX were operated by FedEx, and the last of those was retired in 2013. Since then, the B727 has become a rare sight; a few are still operated by corporations and sports franchises and occasionally put in an appearance at LAX.

This particular B727 is a bit unusual because it is the short -100 model; most B727s that pass through LAX are the larger -200. Another noteworthy detail is that this aircraft has winglets, which came on the scene as most B727 operators were looking to get rid of the airplane instead of upgrade it.

Today's regional jets aren't much smaller than the B727-100; seen above is an Embraer 175, and below a Bombardier CRJ-200.

 

Bonus Boeing shot

This shot was originally going to be in yesterday's post, but it didn't fit with the Big Blue Boeing theme, so instead it gets a post of its own. The B727 in the background is noteworthy for having winglets, along with upgraded engines from an MD-80 installed; this mod is rarely seen on a -100. The B757 in the foreground happens to be Mexican Air Force One.

Blue Tails, part Deux

As I mentioned before, I've been surprised at the number of paint schemes that feature blue on the tail. There are also a modest variety of all-blue or nearly all-blue paint schemes; you'll see a few this time, but that'll be the subject of yet another future post.

Delta had the same basic paint scheme for most of the 60's, 70's, and 80's. Then in the 90's, they went through two changes. Now, post-bankruptcy, they're changing again. I don't have any shots of the original scheme, and the first change is pretty rare these days. The shot above shows the two 90's schemes: Change one, in the background, which is fairly reminiscent of the original 'widget' design, and change two (flying flag) in front. The shot below illustrates the flying flag in the background, with the latest leaning widget design in front.

Alaska's navy blue eskimo design looked bigger on the older 737-400's; the newer -700's, -800's and -900's have a taller tail with more white space above the logo. Last time I showed a new Sun Country scheme; here's the more commonly seen blue and orange sunburst scheme, which I prefer - I like lots of color. Alaska: boring (at least this design); Sun Country: good.

Here's a better illustration of the old and new United paint schemes. That's a 757 in the new 'white top' scheme on the runway, while a 767 in the previous scheme waits in sequence.

Another view of Continental's blue tail with the golden globe on a 737 just airborne off of runway 25 right. Looming in the background is the new Airbus A380, on a publicity visit last November. We're supposed to start seeing the 380 in scheduled service here later this year; Singapore, Qantas, and Emirates have all announced intentions to bring the A380 to LAX.

Two big Boeings: A Korean 747-400 on departure roll and an All Nippon 777-300 taxiing out. The 777-300 is longer than the 747; in fact it's so long that it can't hold between the 24's on the most popular exit (taxiway AA) - a restriction that also applies to the Airbus 340-600. When either of these lands on runway 24 right, it has to be started across runway 24 left before the next arrival for 24 right crosses the threshhold. We actually had an operational error last month because an All Nippon 777-300 showed up with a new identifier (B77W) that we hadn't been briefed on; another aircraft landed behind it and rolled to the end of the runway while the B777 was holding on AA. Afterwards, it was determined that the 777 was sticking nearly ten feet into the safety zone for the runway - the incident was classified as a minor runway incursion.

All Nippon's cargo operation is Nippon Cargo, seen here rolling out on runway 25 left - you can tell that it's on landing roll because the thrust reversers are engaged: see the open slots in the engine nacelles compared to the previous picture.

More cargo, in this case a Fedex MD-11 just lifting off runway 25 left.

Another oddball: An Antonov AN-124 climbs away off the south complex. We don't see these too often thankfully, as they sit on the runway for three or four minutes before starting their takeoff roll. I have no idea what they need that long in position for, and none of their crews speak sufficient English to explain it.

A TACA A320 at Terminal 2, sandwiched between an Aviacsa 737-200 and an Air Canada Embraer 190. As I mentioned before, we haven't seen Aviacsa in a while. TACA and LACSA share the same paint scheme (like Lan Chile and Lan Peru), but they do label their aircraft with "TACA" or "LACSA" on the front of the fuselage. It's hard to tell in this picture, but the Air Canada paint scheme is all-over eggshell blue, with a bit more blue shading on the tail around the maple leaf. The Air Canada blue is even lighter than the Korean Air blue seen above. Air Canada also has a version that has a white fuselage with the same blue tail.

Big and bigger, again: An Air France 777-300 and an Air New Zealand 767-300. Air France used to bring in 747's, but nowadays they bring in 777's (-200's and -300's) and Airbus 340-300's.
New Zealand brings in 747's, 767's, and 777's.

Not quite blue, but close enough: Like Air New Zealand, AirTran (callsign: Citrus) has aqua-colored tails, except more so. The engine nacelles on this 737-700 are definitely blue. AirTran, which started out as ValuJet, also operates B717's (nee MD-95's), but they don't bring them here anymore. I did see them daily when I was in Memphis.

ATA is now defunct, but they had a variety of blue-tailed paint schemes, two of which are seen here on a couple of 757's. The upper shot is a 757-300; the lower a 757-200. Midwest (formerly Midwest Express) is another of the solid-blue contingent.

Another extinct operator: Champion had a small fleet of 727's; this was the last one we saw at LAX.

An AeroMexico trio: A better shot of the bare-metal scheme (it's hard to get a good picture of a bare-metal airplane), followed by the all-over paint scheme and a better shot of the AeroMexico Connect ERJ. The pink tail in the first shot belongs to Delta's Breast Cancer Awareness 757.

Alternative paint schemes: The Star Alliance was a international group of airlines that were code sharing and cross marketing. Lufthansa and United were among the members. Here, a Lufthansa 747 touches down on runway 24 right. This paint scheme could be confusing for controllers, as it was hard to tell who the airline was by looking out the window. Fortunately, I think it's being phased out.

I seem to recall that this North American 757 was somebody's presidential campaign visiting LA last December, but I don't remember whose it was.

A corporate 767-200 about to touch down on runway 24 right.

Another corporate airliner, but this one is 'just' a 737. Those stripes on the tail make my eyes hurt!

Another Memphis flashback: I shot this Baron on the Signature ramp about three years ago. It was operated by AirNet Express (callsign: Star Check), who was primarily a check hauler for the Federal Reserve. There used to be a big business flying checks at night, but as the banks transition over to entirely electronic systems, this segment of aviation is fading away. AirNet has diversified by also handling small packages, particularly lab samples. Not all of their planes have blue tails; ala Braniff, they also have red tails and yellow tails. That control tower in the background is the Fedex Ramp Tower.

Airline Rumors

* * * Please note that I've revised this entry a couple of times, so if you read it before without this header, it's been changed. Thanks - CV

Despite being a controller at the nation's fourth busiest airport, I am not usually privy to any unpublicized information about the airlines that we serve. Nonetheless, I do get occasional requests for the latest airline or aviation news. So here goes:

Continental has announced that they will reduce capacity (read that as 'no empty center seats') by 11 percent, retire 67 aircraft, and cut 3000 jobs.


United announced plans for 1,100 layoffs as well as retiring 100 of their least efficient aircraft, mostly B737's. In addition, merger talks with USAir have been broken off. This after previous merger discussions with Continental were unsuccessful. Meanwhile, United's Ted subsidiary is also being shut down, much as Delta did with its Song operation.

The Delta Song 757's have all disappeared; here's one at Terminal 5 last year.

American, who was most recently in the news for instituting a fee for the first checked bag, and still smarting from this spring's grounded MD-80 debacle, is now planning to park many of those same, now freshly-inspected, airplanes. It is noteworthy that American is the lone big airline in this country to have kept itself out of bankruptcy (so far). As much as I don't like them, I have to give them credit for managing that. It's probably going to come back on them though, as all their competitors have managed to dump their pension obligations, and American is still carrying theirs. One positive bit of news is that American has just begun service to Moscow, albeit from Chicago.


AirTran and JetBlue have both postponed orders and/or deliveries of new aircraft. JetBlue, which was to begin service out of LAX last month, announced that they were putting those plans on hold for the time being. AirTran, however, has expanded service at LAX, adding flights to Milwaukee and Indianapolis.


The on-again off-again Delta and Northwest merger is reportedly on again. The biggest stumbling block is combining the two carriers' pilots. Neither pilot group wants its members to lose seniority, which is an inevitable result of combining the two lists.


On the international scene, Quantas, Malaysia, China Eastern, and China Southern, all of whom operate at LAX, have all announced various retrenchment measures. An industry trade group, the IATA, has said that there may be as many as 50 European airlines in danger of receivership.



A number of carriers are suspected of being on the verge of shutting down. We've already seen ATA's sudden shutdown after their loss of a key military contract. That same week, Aloha, SkyBus, and Frontier all declared bankruptcy; Aloha and Skybus have ceased operations, but Frontier is still flying for now. Charter carrier Champion quit flying at the end of May. I've heard that ground transportation companies are refusing to honor vouchers from AirTran. A popular rumor is that Spirit Wings is another likely candidate for the bankruptcy court. There are questions about Virgin America, the recent start-up, but I expect that Richard Branson's gazillions will keep them in the air, at least for the short term. Last year's British start up, MaxJet, has already faded away, having suddenly stopped flying amidst the Christmas holiday season. I've also heard some questions about JetBlue's financial stability.

A Spirit Wings Airbus, taken back when they operated during the day at LAX. Now they're only here late at night.

The Virgin America gates at LA's Terminal 6

A MaxJet B767 arriving at LA's International Terminal, late last year.

The factors driving all this are the lousy economy and the escalating cost of fuel. The latter has a fair bit to do with the former, and I don't see either situation improving this year. My impression is that the best investment in aviation right now would be in aircraft storage and salvage facilities. With all the current and pending bankruptcies and fleet reductions there are a whole lot of airplanes getting parked. Some temporarily, and some probably forever. I've seen examples of each leave LAX recently. Just today we had a Northwest cargo 747 depart for the boneyard; probably on its final flight. It wasn't the first, either. Northwest in particular has some of the oldest aircraft in mainline operation in this country. Champion and ATA both had aircraft on the ground at LAX when their respective axes fell.

Final Flight: this Northwest cargo 747 departs runway 25 Right, headed for the boneyard

A Champion 727 on the Imperial Terminal ramp, a couple of weeks before they ceased operations

ATA was the last regular operator of L-1011's at LAX, one of which is seen here on the ramp along with one of their B757's, a few months before they shut down. Both of these aircraft are now parked in a desert storage facility.

Neat plane pix

Working in the tower at the nation's fourth busiest airport gives me plenty of opportunity to see special paint schemes. Southwest has a number of specials, many with state flag themes. I haven't managed to catch all of them with the camera yet.

They told me that this coat of arms scheme is Maryland. I had to google it to be sure.

I caught this corporate looking Southwest shortly after they got it from Ford - I think it's been repainted by now.

Arizona - shot through the tower window and shades (sorry)

One of my favorites, also shot through the shades.

Silver Anniversary

American's retro scheme

I've managed to catch some of Alaska's specials. This is one of their several Disney-themed paint schemes.

And here's another: the Tinkerbell jet.

Horizon flies CRJ's and Dash 8's for Alaska, in the same way that Skywest does for United and Delta. This Horizon CRJ is one of several that have college logos.

Memories of a bygone era . . . the DC-3 at the Flight Path museum on the south ramp

Not a particularly special paint job - I guess you could call it 'generic airliner'.

America West also had some state- or team-themed paint jobs, mostly on 757's. These are beginning to disappear as the merger with USAir progresses. A few of the schemes have reappeared on the Airbuses like this one, also shot through the shades.