Delta’s Queen of the Skies (N674US) took a victory lap across the country on Dec. 18
With Delta Air Lines’ last 747 now in the boneyard at Pinal Airpark in Arizona, we thought it would be a good time to look back at the next-to-last farewell tour in late December when it visited both the Boeing plant of its birth and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
N674US taxiing at Paine Field in Everett – Photo: Jordan Arens
This particular bird (N674US – LN: 1232) first flew on September 30, 1999 and was delivered to Northwest in October of that year. It was transferred to Delta’s fleet in June of 2009 and flew with the airline until being put out to pasture. With the retirement of these iconic planes from Delta’s fleet, no U.S.-based passenger airline flies them any longer (unless you count Atlas and their charters).
The inaugural flight from Mexico City arrived in Seattle to a traditional water-cannon salute
On Wednesday, November 1 at 7:57 p.m., the inaugural Aeromxico flight from Mexico City to Seattle touched down eight minutes ahead of schedule. After a brief taxi, the Boeing 737-800 lined up for the traditional water cannon salute, courtesy of the Port of Seattle Fire Department.
’œSeattle was the largest North American market without nonstop service to Mexico City,’ said Port of Seattle Commissioner Stephanie Bowman. ’œMexico City is an important gateway to Mexico and Latin America, and Sea-Tac provides numerous regional connections to cities throughout the Pacific Northwest.’
Firefighters from the Port of Seattle transport a simulated casualty during the airport’s recent triennial disaster drill
The FAA requires airports to conduct a comprehensive disaster drill every three years. On July 12, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) did its thing, and it was quite a sight.
Volunteer “victims” hung out in a comfortable hangar, waiting for the drill to begin
Volunteer victims included employees of the airport, several airlines, airfield support companies, the FAA, and the TSA. They received elaborate makeup at a remote hangar in order to maximize the realism of the drill.
It never gets old: Sea-Tac’s fire department welcomes Eurowings to Seattle with a traditional turret salute.
Germany-based discount airline Eurowings launched thrice-weekly service to Seattle from Cologne on July 11, using Airbus A330s for the route. Eurowings is owned by Lufthansa Group..
My first Alaska Air E175 pulls up to SLC
It has been a few years since I first flew on an Embraer E-Jet. That was on Air Canada, from Seattle to Toronto and I was sitting up front. The very long (for a smaller aircraft) flight was a breeze, but being in first class surely helped.
Since then, I have not had the opportunity to fly on another one. When I saw that Alaska Airlines was adding them to their fleet (via SkyWest and Horizon), I was excited. I figured it would only be a matter of time before I would get the chance to fly one, and when I recently took a trip down to Salt Lake City (SLC), I got my opportunity.
On my flight down, I flew on an Alaska 737-800 — been there, done that. But when I looked at my flight options back home, I saw that there was the option to fly on the E175. Yes’¦ that please.
