Icelandair Boeing 757 in Seattle (SEA).
On May 16th, 2013, Icelandair flew its inaugural flight from Anchorage (ANC) to Keflavàk (KEF) in Iceland. I was not able to swing a trip up to ANC for the festivities, but I was able to take their flight from Seattle (SEA) and join in with the celebration in Iceland. This is my review of flying Icelandair to Iceland and back. Notice: Icelandair covered my trip to/from Iceland. All opinions are my own.
I have flown internationally before and the standard international travel excitement led me to show up way too early. I arrived at noon and still had thirty minutes until Icelandair’s ticket counter opened. Since the airline doesn’t fly every few minutes, they don’t staff their counters at all hours of the day and night — which makes sense. I tend to forget this since I mainly travel with larger carriers and have little problem getting to the airport super early.
Promptly at noon, an Icelandair ticket agent had the place running, checked in my bag, and had me on my way. They recently adopted online check-in and ticketing and it worked perfectly. No paper, no fuss.
ANA Boeing 787 at Paine Field. Photo by David Parker Brown.
As 787s around the world return to the sky after the infamous battery incident, airlines work to get their aircraft back to full utilization. United Airlines resumed domestic services between its major hubs of Houston, Chicago & San Francisco, while Qatar Airways returned their Dreamliner to their short Dubai route before starting service back up to London. All Nippon Airways (ANA), which currently operates the largest 787 fleet of 18 aircraft, will start putting their 787s back to service starting June 1.
Prior to the battery incidents, ANA operates two Dreamliner flights to North America: Seattle (SEA) and San Jose (SJC). Once the grounding came into effect both routes were suspended and the industry speculated what would happen to the destinations. Other 787 services like Frankfurt & Beijing (both served from Tokyo Haneda) were changed to other aircraft to keep them active. Would SJC and SEA remain 787 destinations? Yes and no.
The ground is painted to prepare for an Airbus A380 at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. Photo by Brandon Farris.
For most passengers, they probably do not notice the painted lines below the planes at the gate showing where the front wheel should be for different aircraft types. But for an AvGeek, it is always fun to see what aircraft a gate can handle.
Currently, there are no Airbus A380 aircraft flown into Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA), but will that change soon? This week, three gates at the South Terminal had “A380” painted on the ground, but why? Sigh… turns out still no A380 service — for now.
“Yes, that is an A380 spot,” Perry Cooper Airport Media and Public Affairs Manager for SEA explained to AirlineReporter.com. “It is marked just for emergency purposes. That would be the space we’d park it. We do have a couple of other spots marked for it in the cargo area.”
Perry also pointed out the the airport does not have the facilities, such as double jet bridges, to handle the A380 on anything more than an emergency basis. The airport is planning on only having one gate prepared for the A380 and will be making the decision which one of the gates (S11, S15, S16) will make the cut.
Currently, there are only two airlines operating the Boeing 747-400 out of Seattle (Eva Air and British Airways — and Delta starting later this year) and having additional opportunities to spot large birds is always welcomed.
Although short-term we will unlikely see an A380 flying out of SEA, that could change in the future. There are three airlines that operate the A380 and also fly to Seattle: Emirates, Lufthansa and Korean Air. If one of them would start A380 operations, but my guess would be Emirates. But at this time, the airport states that they are not in talks with any airlines on starting A380 service.
Seattle continues to grow with additional international traffic to Asia and Europe and I could see the demand for the A380 happening in the future.
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This story written by…David Parker Brown, Editor & Founder.
David started AirlineReporter.com in the summer of 2008, but has had a passion for aviation since he was a kid. Born and raised in the Seattle area (where he is currently based) has surely had an influence and he couldn’t imagine living anywhere else in the world.
@AirlineReporter | Flickr | YouTube |
American Airlines Boeing 737 (N803NN) with new livery seen for the first time in Seattle. Image by Brandon Farris.
I recently had the chance to see up close and personal the New American Airlines scheme when it arrived to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) for the first time, and have to say, pictures do not do it justice. Previously I was quoted on AirlineReporter.com saying that the new design was,’œFugly.” You could say I was not a huge fan.
Seeing it person really makes a huge difference. The logo stands out on the front of the plane and reaches back just before the emergency exit. Then we get to the tail, from a distance it is not the sharpest looking thing in the world but up close American Airlines seems to have hit a home run with it. Though it looks like as one person described, drawn via a crayon, it is artistic looking compared to what has become the dull Red and Blue AA that has graced the tail for far too many years.
I have seen quite a few people say that the design will not stand out among the gray sky. Obviously, SEA is known for its gray sky and during the 737’s visit, it was surely gray, but the tail stood out. I couldn’t imagine what it will look like on a sunny day.
The American flight crew stopped to pose in front of the new American livery. Photo by Brandon Farris.
Everyone who was at SEA, from passengers flying through, to airport ground agents along with the TSA and FAA all seemed to make their way to the gate that it was parked at to take a sneak peak at the new scheme.
Many people working on the flight for American seemed to take a moment and bask in the new identity and even stopped for pictures. I also have to note that this was the happiest AA crew that I have ever seen and kinda wish more had their chipper personality (maybe this is truly the “new” American?).
Now with the merger coming on to the horizon, I for one, have to say that I cannot wait to see this new scheme on the A330 and think that it’ll be one of the best looking planes out there. Next thing we wanna see though is that tail on an MD-80.
If you have been able to see the new livery in person — has it changed your opinion?
MORE NEW AMERICAN LIVERY PHOTOS AT SEA:
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This story written by…Brandon Farris, Correspondent.
Brandon is an avid aviation geek based in Seattle. He got started in Photography and Reporting back in 2010. He loves to travel where ever he has to to cover the story and try to get the best darn shot possible.
@BrandonsBlog | RightStuffPhotography | Flickr |
This sign is actually lying. This photos was taken via an iPhone just minutes before getting through security without valid photo ID.
This guest post was written by Jenny Brown, mother to David Parker Brown, the Founder of AirlineReporter.com. Notes in italics in the story are from David:
Unlike my son, a perfect flight is an uneventful flight. However, when I flew to Tucson in November, several events occurred that made my flight more of an adventure than I wanted.
It began when I boarded an Alaska Airlines flight from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) to Tucson (TUS) on November 14, the only non-stop between the two cities. I usually fly first class (I was flying economy next to the lavatories -David) mainly because I am a reluctant flier and it allows me to relax more and get on and off the plane quickly.
So, the first class passengers were settling in when I heard the flight attendant say to the pilot, ’œSo, what’s wrong with the plane?’ Not something I wanted to hear! The voice on the intercom eventually told us that the co-pilot’s instruments were not working in the flight deck and it would take about two hours to fix. We deplaned to wait at the gate. Periodically, we were given updates and thanked for our patience. How the voice over the intercom knew we were being patient, I don’t know (Wait, isn’t this story about your ID mom? -David).
After a bit over two hours, we were told that another plane was being brought in and we eventually made it to Tucson.
While in Tucson, enjoying my family for Thanksgiving, I for some reason was looking in my purse for my driver’s license. I couldn’t find it. Yikes… I am undocumented in Arizona! (Let’s not get too political here -David). How am I going to get back to Seattle? What do I do? Call my son of course!
Luckily he helped out and emailed Alaska Airlines as I checked out their website as well as TSA’s. I also called Alaska Airlines and Cindy reassured me that I would make it home. Much to my surprise, I discovered that a photo ID is not necessary to fly, even though so many make you feel that it is required.
A list of other identification was given, including voter registration and social security card. I had both in my wallet as well as an expired passport with a 16 year-old photo. Thank goodness I don’t clean out my purse (I have since talked to my mom about having so many ID’s and identity theft, but that is another story – David).
Top tier (that is sarcasm) iPhone photo of our Alaska 737 at TUS. Image by David (not that I really want to take credit).
I was still nervous about getting through TSA on the way home. Fortunately, David was returning on the same flight (he came down later), so he was there as son and journalist.
At the ticket counter, the Alaska agent was again very helpful (Well, technically, it was a Delta employee who was being contracted out to operate the counter for Alaska, but that is okay, she was very nice -David).
Then there was no line at security (Yea, that almost never happens -David). The TSA agent was very understanding and accepted the ID I had available. David was taking notes and photos; he seemed disappointed that I wasn’t whisked away to a room for ’œinterrogation’. Would make for a better story (No way, I am happy nothing bad went down. Although a nice frisking and detaining of my mom would have provided interesting content. -David).
Final Chapter: So after getting home safe and sound, I went to pick up my held mail at the post office the next day. The postal worker asked for a photo ID. I showed my voter’s registration and Social Security card to no avail. Finally, he reluctantly accepted my expired passport. I told him the postal service is tougher than the TSA. He said this is the US mail!
In my held mail was my driver’s license-sent by Alaska Airlines.
