Flying first class is pretty sweet. Having your own private jet is a bit better. But having an entire Boeing 757 airliner all to yourself is pretty baller (yes, I used “baller”). Even if you are not a fan of Donald Trump and all his antics, it is hard not to be a fan of his custom Boeing 757 private jet. This video features Amanda Miller from The Apprentice giving a tour of the aircraft. I am assuming she was chosen not for her acting and narrating skills, but if you put it on mute, the video is still quite entertaining.
The aircraft, registered OY-SHA was first delivered to Sterling Airways in June of 1991. Then it was sold to Mexico based TAESA in 1994 with registration XA-SPG. Still rather new, Paul Allen’s (co-founder of a little Seattle-based software company called Vulcan) purchased the 757 and registered it N115FS for only about a year before re-registering it to N757AF.
Allegiant Air Boeing 757-200 (N902NV) while in Las Vegas. Yes, this livery looks even better in person -- one of the best on a 757 in my opinion.
Allegiant Air has gained approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to start operating the Boeing 757-200. Today the 757 (N902NV) will start service between McAllen-Miller International Airport (MFE) and Las Vegas (LAS). You might have to be a true airline nerd to appreciate an airline starting to use a new aircraft type. I have enjoyed following Allegiant Air’s acquisition of Boeing 757s, see the re-painting, to seeing one in the buff getting its interior installed at Paine Field.
Currently, Allegiant flies a fleet of 51 MD-80 aircraft and this is the first time they have added another aircraft type. The airline owns a total of three Boeing 757s, but two of them are being leased with other airlines until mid-2012. Allegiant also plans to purchase two additional Boeing 757s that will enter service during the first quarter of 2012.
“This is an important day for Allegiant,” Andrew C. Levy, Allegiant Travel Company President, said. “The addition of the Boeing 757-200 will play an important role in our company’s future growth. Our operations team worked long and hard to ensure the completion of this certification and we thank them for their dedication in achieving this important goal.”
Allegiant was hoping to start flying to Hawaii, but the FAA required them to get experience operating the Boeing 757 over land before earning Extended-range Twin-engine Operational Performance Standards 180 (ETOPS), which is required to fly to Hawaii.
It is unlikely that the Boeing 757, configured with 217 economy seats, will remain on the MFE to LAS route, since the airline is hoping to initiate service to Hawaii, Mexico and Canada via Las Vegas and Orlando. The city and airport are pretty excited about the Boeing 757 that they made a video highlighting the new aircraft coming to the airport on YouTube.
One of Allegiant Air's Boeing 757s (N902NV) at Everett, WA.
Allegiant Air, based in Las Vegas, is one of those wildcard airlines. One can never really know what they might do next and that keeps things very exciting. At a recent Low-Cost Airlines World Conference, Allegiant President Andrew Levy talked about the future of the airline, which might include international destinations and a loyalty program.
According to Aviation Week, Levy is “very excited” about the posibility of international growth. Allegiant is looking at the possibility of adding flights to Mexico and Canada via Las Vegas and Orlando.
Allegiant hopes to have a fleet of six Boeing 757s to supplement their fleet of MD-80 aircraft by the end of 2012. The airline has already announced the desire to start flights to Hawaii and Levy has noted that the aircraft would have the range to fly from Las Vegas to the northern area of South America. The Boeing 757s could also be used to fly to Mexico and add capacity on domestic routes.
It appears that Allegiant could see a use for more than just six Boeing 757s. “If it’s as good an asset as we think it’s going to be for our network, we’ll certainly be buying a lot more,” Levy stated at the conference. Levy will not yet estimate a number, noting that Allegiant doesn’t know how successful the six they already have will be.
When asked about the timeline of getting more aircraft and the additional routes, an Allegiant spokesperson stated they are “targeting” Hawaii for 2012, but there are no specific timelines for the international routes.
Levy also announced the airline is looking into a loyalty program, but it will be one not like other airlines. Instead of rewarding customers for the number of flights or miles flown, it would create loyalty for the entire Allegiant brand; online packages, hotels, rental cars, etc. “We don’t need a loyalty program to get people to buy our air,” Levy stated. “If you’re in Des Moines, Iowa, and you want to go to Vegas, you’re going to buy our air. What we want you to do is buy the hotel, the car and maybe one day buy hotels in places that we don’t even fly.”
Allegiant is breaking the Ultra-Low Cost carrier mold of only having one aircraft type and looking to fly some longer international routes. I can’t wait to see what this little airline from Nevada might be able to
Boeing lined up one of each of their airliner models at Boeing Field. Photo by Boeing.
The other day I had an interesting conversation with @JetCityStar via Twitter about aircraft and museums. It turned into us asking each other if we could have one type of each aircraft Boeing made, which ones would we want. Yes, we are both airline nerds and proud of it.
Although the conversation is a bit on the nerdier side, I felt the conversation was worthy of a larger audience and was interested in what other people thought about which aircraft best represented a certain type. So I put the question to you. If you were a museum and could one of each Boeing airliner made, which would you choose?
Please put your answers in the comments. Here are mine:
Boeing 707: Test aircraft that Tex Johnson did a barrel roll in.
Boeing 717: Eh.
Boeing 727: Very first Boeing 727-100 made (which is being restored at Museum of Flight)
Boeing 737: Don’t ask me why, but I would really want a USAir 737-200.
Boeing 747: First Boeing 747 that was delivered to Pan Am. I just love the Pan Am livery on the 747, it just seems right at home.
Boeing 757: Probably one that was for the Vice President.
Boeing 767: The Spirit of Delta, which is housed in Atlanta.
Boeing 777: I am not even sure.
Boeing 787: ZA001 in her livery. Entering a new era or airliner.
Dan Webb on his blog, Things in the Sky, has a great update on Allegiant’s 757s. It looks like Allegiant will be pushing back additional purchases of used Boeing 757s and leasing others. They will only be flying one domestically to gain the experience to get ETOPS certified to fly to Hawaii. Allegiant tells me they will be flying N902NV which is currently housed at ATS at Paine Field.
