More Airliners: Alaska Airlines

[Des-Lab]

Since a lot of recent contributions have come from The Last Frontier, let's dedicate a discussion to Alaska Airlines. why not? Except for that "oops" that cost them an MD-80 and a lot of passengers and crew off the coast of CA in 2000, they've always enjoyed a pretty solid reputation.

Attached are three quick scans of some Alaska Airlines planes I took over the years. I'll post more as time permits.

1. Boeing 737-400 (Orange County SNA)

2. Boeing 737-700 (also SNA)

3. McDonnell Douglas MD-80 (Los Angeles LAX)

[Scorpion8]

Sweet! I think the MD-80's have all been phased out of the fleet these days. I've ridden on a few of those and preferred the Boeing fare much more.

[Scorpion8]

And here's an Alaska Airlines one you won't have ....

http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p141/Scorpion008/DSCN2423.jpg

[jbeckva]

That's pretty cool. Every time I see an Alaska Air, I always think that the dude on the tail looked like he just got done smoking a big one... hehehe. --smokin--

[Des-Lab]

LOL! Yeah I'm pretty sure we won't be seeing any of those land here at John Wayne Airport anytime soon.

So the -80's are gone? I haven't really been following the fleets that much. I knew they were being phased out. But wasn't aware that all were gone. Oh well. I got plenty of pictures of them.

In the past, they used to operate a lot of 727's. I saw them here in SoCal frequently but they pulled them all out and reired them before I started taking pictures. The -80's were also their mainstay for several years as well. Indeed, they were one of the launch customers for the MD-90, originally placing an order for 40 airframes, then cutting it down to 20, then cancelling the order altogether. And as you showed in your other post, they also had a handful of little 737-200's. But I don't recall ever seeing them as far south as SoCal.

[jbeckva]

I think I vaguely remember them coming in and out of San Diego when I was stationed there. Of course that was back when smoking was allowed in the back of the plane (around 1990 or so, I believe).

I also remember having a nonstop flight from there to Dulles ... go figure.

[Scorpion8]

I'm not sure old planes ever go away, but get resold. I was flying on a military contract logistics flight to Bahrain once, and everything on the plane said "TransWorld Airlines" or "TWA" or half a dozen other defunct old airlines...... it was scary, knowing hold old that plane was and that they probably got it at a post-auction fire sale....

[Scorpion8]

This link doesn't even list the MD-80's anymore. http://www.alaskaair.com/as/www2/company/Fleet/Fleet.asp

[jbeckva]

I'm not sure old planes ever go away, but get resold. I was flying on a military contract logistics flight to Bahrain once, and everything on the plane said "TransWorld Airlines" or "TWA" or half a dozen other defunct old airlines...... it was scary, knowing hold old that plane was and that they probably got it at a post-auction fire sale....

Sure it wasn't "ATA"? That was the "Diego Garcia Eastern Express" i.e. the charter they used to use for flights into Diego Garcia. We stopped at... lessee.. Azores.. Naples.. Bahrain.. then finally Diego. Over a 24 hour flight then.

Not complaining tho.. poor saps coming from the west coast had to ride C-141's all the way over just about.

As far as the MD-80... I remember when I was around 8 I think - we took one of those from San Francisco via Honolulu to Guam. "Flying Tigers" was the airline, yup. The plane looked OOOLDD from what I remember.

[jbeckva]

Sure it wasn't "ATA"? That was the "Diego Garcia Eastern Express" i.e. the charter they used to use for flights into Diego Garcia. We stopped at... lessee.. Azores.. Naples.. Bahrain.. then finally Diego. Over a 24 hour flight then.

Not complaining tho.. poor saps coming from the west coast had to ride C-141's all the way over just about.

As far as the MD-80... I remember when I was around 8 I think - we took one of those from San Francisco via Honolulu to Guam. "Flying Tigers" was the airline, yup. The plane looked OOOLDD from what I remember.

Nah.. wait a minute.. what the heck was that flying tigers model?? sure was NOT an md-80... hmmm...

That's right... DC-8 stretch model (forget which one). Very smooth flight from what I recall.

[Des-Lab]

As with cars, the age isn't usually that big a deal. What matters is how well it's maintained. Until recently, it was not unusual for major airlines to keep planes in service for 15, 20, and even 25 years. Sheesh. Look at some of Northwest Airlines DC-9's. All are at least 30 years old and some are pushing 40! But I doubt you'd find an original rivet in any of them. But your typical average passenger doesn't know or care. As long as it gets them to where they are going within a reasonable amount of time without crashing.

Of course a LOT of good planes have been taken out of service and scrapped over the last few years-particularly some 737-300's, 767's, and MD-80's. It wasn't because of any fault of the planes, but rather, because of the fuel spike and the dropoff in demand. Many if not most of those planes still have 10 or 15 years useful life left in them. But in airlines desperate attempts to claw their way back into profit, they've been grounded. And because so many of them have been grounded, nobody wants them. So they just sit there in the desert. Often times they are cut up because of their parts value. It's a shame really. To see some otherwise great planes getting chopped. Indeed some MD-90's have already been broken up. And that planes very first flight was just 1995! By airliner standards, they are still just past the 'break in' period and should've otherwise had most of their life ahead of them.

But I digress. As I said. What matters more is how well the plane has been taken care of. Modern maintennance can theoretically keep a plane flying forever. As they come due for their C and D checks, where they are essentially torn apart complete with dye penetrant inspections on the metal, sometimes it just isn't worth keeping anymore.

Look at the USAF and their KC-135's (a military version of the 707). Those planes are probably older than just about every pilot that flies them.

[Des-Lab]

Definitely no MD-80's ever flew in scheduled passenger service between the West Coast and Hawaii. They didn't have the range. The DC-8? That's another story. That plane took FOREVER to get airborne. I used to see the UPS ones at Ontario Airport do their takeoff rolls and I would imagine Fred Flintstone up there in the cockpit peddling his feet on the ground to get going.

Again. The DC-8 is one of those planes that was pretty much before my time. I only got to see the very tail end of its passenger days here in the US with United and Hawaiian Air. But never got pictures of them. Only DC-8s I've seen since were the occasional oddball freighters.

[jbeckva]

As with cars, the age isn't usually that big a deal. What matters is how well it's maintained. Until recently, it was not unusual for major airlines to keep planes in service for 15, 20, and even 25 years. Sheesh. Look at some of Northwest Airlines DC-9's. All are at least 30 years old and some are pushing 40! But I doubt you'd find an original rivet in any of them. But your typical average passenger doesn't know or care. As long as it gets them to where they are going within a reasonable amount of time without crashing.

Of course a LOT of good planes have been taken out of service and scrapped over the last few years-particularly some 737-300's, 767's, and MD-80's. It wasn't because of any fault of the planes, but rather, because of the fuel spike and the dropoff in demand. Many if not most of those planes still have 10 or 15 years useful life left in them. But in airlines desperate attempts to claw their way back into profit, they've been grounded. And because so many of them have been grounded, nobody wants them. So they just sit there in the desert. Often times they are cut up because of their parts value. It's a shame really. To see some otherwise great planes getting chopped. Indeed some MD-90's have already been broken up. And that planes very first flight was just 1995! By airliner standards, they are still just past the 'break in' period and should've otherwise had most of their life ahead of them.

But I digress. As I said. What matters more is how well the plane has been taken care of. Modern maintennance can theoretically keep a plane flying forever. As they come due for their C and D checks, where they are essentially torn apart complete with dye penetrant inspections on the metal, sometimes it just isn't worth keeping anymore.

Look at the USAF and their KC-135's (a military version of the 707). Those planes are probably older than just about every pilot that flies them.

The one issue that really will doom any aircraft is metal fatigue. Once that starts happening and is beyond acceptable limits, it's time to retire the airframe or spend considerable time and effort rebuilding it. All depends on if the design is still feasible to run another x number of years and how bad it's needed I guess.

Heck tho.. don't forget the B-52's... those things are seriously old, but keep on flying. Going on what?... 60 or 70 years? That's serious longetivity there.

Loud bassids tho - I remember being a kid in Guam with Anderson AFB just north of us. You couldn't shout over those buggers.

[jbeckva]

Definitely no MD-80's ever flew in scheduled passenger service between the West Coast and Hawaii. They didn't have the range. The DC-8? That's another story. That plane took FOREVER to get airborne. I used to see the UPS ones at Ontario Airport do their takeoff rolls and I would imagine Fred Flintstone up there in the cockpit peddling his feet on the ground to get going.

Again. The DC-8 is one of those planes that was pretty much before my time. I only got to see the very tail end of its passenger days here in the US with United and Hawaiian Air. But never got pictures of them. Only DC-8s I've seen since were the occasional oddball freighters.

Yep, it was definitely a DC-8 (heck, this could be the very one). These were military charters back in the late 70's...

http://www.nomansblog.com/wp-content/themes/3ColumnK2/images/Flying%20Tigers%20DC-8.jpg

[Des-Lab]

Yep. That's a "Diesel 8". And the tail in the background is Saudia Airlines. Probably a Boeing 720 (shrunken version of the 707 and without the long forward facing antenna at the tip of the tail fin). And that's an ORIGINAL DC-8 srs 62, with the smoke trail engines. The "updated" ones (the -73 series that UPS uses) have the fat and squat engines.

The Flying Tiger Line. Didn't they get bought out by FedEx?

[Scorpion8]

Sure it wasn't "ATA"?

ATA sounds familiar, but we left NAS Norfolk (Norfolk, VA) from the (back then) MAC terminal headed to the Gulf and made a stop at NAS Sigonella, and then onward to Bahrain. Done the C-141 express too. And the flight stuff all said TWA because I remarked to the Master Chief flying with me and he and I both raised eyebrows skeptically.

[jbeckva]

ATA sounds familiar, but we left NAS Norfolk (Norfolk, VA) from the (back then) MAC terminal headed to the Gulf and made a stop at NAS Sigonella, and then onward to Bahrain. Done the C-141 express too. And the flight stuff all said TWA because I remarked to the Master Chief flying with me and he and I both raised eyebrows skeptically.

Sigonella.. that's right! Went through there.. why was I thinking Naples??

I think the westpac route from Diego went to Singapore first, then from there to the west coast, somewhere. Not sure tho.

[Marc Hugo]

Yep. That's a "Diesel 8". And the tail in the background is Saudia Airlines. Probably a Boeing 720 (shrunken version of the 707 and without the long forward facing antenna at the tip of the tail fin). And that's an ORIGINAL DC-8 srs 62, with the smoke trail engines. The "updated" ones (the -73 series that UPS uses) have the fat and squat engines.

The Flying Tiger Line. Didn't they get bought out by FedEx?

Matt, I'm thinking the 720 when it first came out in '59ish didn't have the tail-tip antennae but the 720B/020 series did. The first tail was a shorter version - the same fitted on the 707-120 and KC-135 at first.

Was it not the Douglas DC-8 Super 61 and 63 that were stretched fuselage and the 62 was the standard 150ft 6ins? I might be wrong, but you're quite right on the motors - they all pretty much switched to GE CFM-56 (from the various previous options, mainly P+W JT3D/JT4) which have made them acceptably efficient to this day.

By the way guys, if you're looking for all your MD-80s (including MD-83s) and any of last DC-9 Super 80s, many of them are here in South Africa with Kalula and ITime airlines, doing sterling work and well maintained.

All the best. Marc

[Scorpion8]

We're not exclusive up here either. Saw this hiding in back also ...

http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p141/Scorpion008/DSCN2447.jpg

[Scorpion8]

A couple more especially for our Grand Poobah! Took these while waiting to board Tuesday night ....

http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p141/Scorpion008/DSCN2515.jpg

- and -

http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p141/Scorpion008/DSCN2518.jpg

[Des-Lab]

Gorgeous. Simply gorgeous. The 737 (looks like an -800, but can't tell for sure because of the angle) looks great. But I kept focusing on the background. We just don't get weather like that here in SoCal.

Where was that taken?

[Scorpion8]

C-gates at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, Anchorage AK. Well, we'll see if it keeps that name if he survives the current indictment. It was supposed to snow 6" up there yesterday while I had field training, but we only got 2" and it had melted away by midday. The sun slowly broke out. We were undergoing field training at a location that was at the end of the runway for this airport, so planes taking off took off right over our heads. We saw a lot of vapor cavitation in the wing roots of planes taking off into the morning ice fog.... but I didn't have a camera with me while in the field ....