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Air Force One visited Seattle and we were there

Air Force One visited Seattle and we were there

Air Force One approaching the ramp at SEA
Air Force One approaching the ramp at SEA

It’s arguably the most iconic livery on the most iconic aircraft in service. It’s blue-and-white livery is instantly identifiable to both AvGeeks and those who view planes as simply flying buses.

Officially designated the VC-25 by the U.S. Air Force, two heavily-modified Boeing 747-200s have been in service since 1990.

Air Force One moments from landing at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport
Air Force One moments from landing at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport

By now, most AvGeeks know that any aircraft can be designated as Air Force One – the callsign is only active if the president is on board. Thus the modified 757s (officially C-32As) can also carry the callsign when the president is aboard.

The Seattle area sees C-32As fairly regularly, as high-ranking officials other than the president often visit the region, such as the vice president. The VC-25 hasn’t been in these parts since 2018, and we last wrote about a visit

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Frontier ditches phone customer care… who’s to blame?

Frontier ditches phone customer care… who’s to blame?

Some cuties on on the tails of aircraft - Photo: Frontier Airlines
If you want to complain about Frontier needing more otters, you are gonna need to do it online!

I sometimes use my mom (who loves birds, but not really planes) to help guide what we cover on AirlineReporter. Typically if she mentions “Hey did you see this story about an airline?” we have a nice conversation about it, but that typically means it has been well covered and unless we have a unique opinion, we move on. So, it feels special when my mom brings up a story she saw, and I have a few thoughts to add.

If you missed it, Frontier Airlines has opted to ditch their customer care call center, while still providing online support – all in the name of bringing down costs. Unless you are new to following the airline biz, we have seen this sort of thing a few times now. An airline

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Finnair adds Seattle to North America destinations; 8th new international at SEA since 2020

Finnair adds Seattle to North America destinations; 8th new international at SEA since 2020

Finnair began service from Helsinki to Seattle on June 2, 2022

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport added its 8th new international carrier since the pandemic began in 2020, as Finnair started service from Helsinki on June 2.

Finnair's A330 received the traditional water cannon salute from the SEA fire department on arrival.
Finnair’s A330 received the traditional water cannon salute from the SEA fire department on arrival

Finnair will operate the 9.5-hour flights three times per week on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays using an A330. The inbound flight will be numbered AY033, and the return flight to Helsinki will be AY034.

Finnair is also part of the oneworld alliance, allowing connections either onward from Seattle or Helsinki via the local partner airlines, including Seattle’s own Alaska Airlines.

Finnair is a member of the Oneworld alliance, as is daily Seattle visitor Qatar Airways
Finnair is a member of the oneworld alliance, as is daily Seattle visitor Qatar Airways

Finnair’s European network connects 70 cities on that continent. SEA is the sixth U.S. airport served by Finnair; other American destinations include Chicago, Los Angeles,

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From Our YouTube Archives: My Favorite Takeoff Videos

From Our YouTube Archives: My Favorite Takeoff Videos

Most of our AirlineReporting time and energy goes to this website and Twitter, but we also have a YouTube channel that we don’t want you to forget about. Over there we have some of our favorite window seat views, airport highlights, and other clips saved for your viewing pleasure. We’ve dabbled in some short video trip reports, like on JetBlue Mint and Finnair’s long-haul business class. There’s also some on-scene coverage of major airport infrastructure highlights, like Sea-Tac’s over-taxiway skywalk getting hoisted into place.

For fun, I lined up my three favorite takeoff videos from flights I’ve flown for the website. It was tough making the picks. Some strong contenders — like this Dreamliner #wingflex takeoff or this fine example of Newark parallel runway ops — didn’t make the cut.

This 787 takeoff view over New York didn’t make the toplist, but another Dreamliner takeoff did

Read

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JFK is Breaking Ground on a New Terminal One

JFK is Breaking Ground on a New Terminal One

Few US cities need their airports renovated more desperately than New York does. Its three primary airports have terminal facilities that may have been world-class decades ago, but are congested messes today. Fortunately the powers that be got the memo and are using this decade to get JFK, Newark, and LaGuardia back into shape. The LaGuardia work is well underway, with large parts of a shiny new terminal B already open. And recently, a project at JFK hit a major milestone.

An aerial rendered view of the planned New Terminal One – Photo: PANYNJ

A consortium of airlines, funding partners, project management companies, and other partners are breaking ground this month on JFK’s New Terminal One (NTO). It will cover the footprint of the current terminal one (a smattering of mostly international airlines), Delta’s terminal two, and the footprint of the demolished terminal three. For an overview of the

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You Can Be ATC in the Newest Game on United’s App

You Can Be ATC in the Newest Game on United’s App

Don’t look now, but United has been quietly making moves to earn some AvGeek cred. Earlier this year we wrote about the solid flight simulator game on their app. And this month they launched another aviation-related game. “Cleared to Land” is an air traffic control sim where you draw paths for aircraft inbound to an airport, until the airspace gets so crowded that you mess up, planes crash, and the game ends.

A snapshot of the gameplay

You’ll likely notice the resemblance to the original game of this type, Flight Control, which was all the rage in 2010. (And yes, realizing that game is over a decade old made us feel old too.) Flight Control’s developer FireMint was bought up by EA and the game faded away. But there have been a few similar games launched like Planes Control, whose developer RarePixels co-developed Cleared to Land with United’s in-house

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Quick Look: Etihad’s Brand-New A350 Business Class

Quick Look: Etihad’s Brand-New A350 Business Class

A few months ago, Etihad Airways introduced the Airbus A350-1000 to their active fleet, which came equipped with a brand-new business class cabin. These aircraft have been flying a select few long-haul routes, including to New York JFK.

It was on that route that my wife — ahem I mean the newest AirlineReporter guest contributor Meghan Koushik — grabbed some quick pictures. And it’s a really gorgeous cabin. Take a look for yourself.

This business class cabin has the same understated style as Etihad’s previous business class seat still flying on their Dreamliners, but with more consistency from seat to seat. There’s also an improved privacy factor, thanks to sliding doors that turn your seat into a miniature suite. Notably, Etihad doesn’t offer a first class cabin on their A350s, so this business class is as fancy as you’re going to get.

We’ll be back later with some thoughts, photos,

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Avelo Airlines Review: 737-800 Burbank to Boise

Avelo Airlines Review: 737-800 Burbank to Boise

N702VL, a former Southwest 737-700 departs BUR in September, 2021.
N702VL, a former Southwest 737-700 departs BUR in September, 2021. – Photo: JL Johnson

Long-time readers know we here at AirlineReporter LOVE an opportunity to try out new airlines and AvGeek experiences. Given that, we regret it has taken us so long to try new(ish) airline Avelo which launched in April of 2021. On the West Coast, this airline operates primarily out BURbank airport, just a hop, skip, and a $60 ride-share north from LAX.

We managed to get out to BUR last September to gawk at their fleet, but it took us a full additional year to be in the right place at the right time to finally get our opportunity to fly. Thankfully, following #SpotLAX2022, we had a bit of extra time to give them a shot for a quick trip up to Boise.

Finally, an Avelo Airlines Review!

Sample seat map featuring various seating preferences. +5
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Air Tahiti Nui starts service to Seattle, its second U.S. destination

Air Tahiti Nui starts service to Seattle, its second U.S. destination

Air Tahiti Nui’s 787-9 Deamliners will fly the new route between Seattle and Papeete

Air Tahiti Nui launched service to Seattle on October 5, 2022, offering twice-weekly direct service to Papeete on Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners.

“North America is a key market for our destination. So, when we decided to open a second gateway on the West Coast, Seattle was a natural answer for us,” said Air Tahiti Nui Managing Director Mathieu Bechonnet. “I would like to thank our partners at Alaska Airlines and the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport for their warm welcome and support in making this happen.”

The inaugural flight was greeted with a traditional water-cannon salute from the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport Fire Department. The aircraft can be seen passing beneath SEA’s recently-opened pedestrian skybridge linking the S Gates to the new international arrivals hall.

The airline and airport hosted a gala-like arrivals ceremony complete with the requisite speeches, gift

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Cheap Airline Tickets

Cheap Airline Tickets

Cheap TicketsJetAirways India has 370 every day domestic flights to 44 cities in India. Jet Airways, along with its low value model Jetlite connect the 4 metro cities to every corner of India from Jammu and Bhuj to Agatti Island Agartala. Some of the preferred flight destinations in India JetAirways flight routes are Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Goa, Ahmedabad, Pune, Patna, Ranchi, Lucknow and Varanasi. JetAirways India is the only full-service airline providing low fares and an intensive route community of flights to many holiday locations as nicely.

However, for almost all of vacationers, they may fly into Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport. The cost of flight tickets to Thailand usually will will depend on the season. The peak seasons and normally are in center of November to middle of February. This is because the climate is at its greatest. Do word that there can be premium rates being charged for … Read more