Originally Posted by jlemon

Many thanks to Seat 2A for a fine bunch of new quiz items! It takes time to formulate and post these questions and I for one am most appreciative of your effort, sir!

Thanks for the kudos, Mr. L. It definitely does take some time to research the questions as well as respond to the answers.

And now to business....

12. What was U.S. Air’s first widebodied jetliner?

Let's go with the Boeing 767-200ER which was inherited by USAir via its acquisition of Piedmont.

To a T, Mr. L. Right on!

18. What was the first city east of the Rockies served by Alaska Airlines?

Hmmmm....this may be a bit of a trick question. If one counts the B727 interchange service that Alaska Air provided in conjunction with Braniff International back in the mid 70's, the cities would be Dallas/Ft. Worth (DFW) and Houston (IAH). However, if we are looking for "stand alone" service operated by AS, (We are) the honor may go to Toronto (YYZ) as Alaska Air flew MD-80 service nonstop between LAX and YYZ at one point. So I'll go with Toronto here.

And you would be correct! Toronto it was, with one of the longer flights to be operated in North America by an MD-80, topping out at 2,170 statute miles. The service was short lived, however. It commenced in 1991 and by July of 1992 it was discontinued.

2. In May of 1972, only two airlines operated jets into Orange County. Which airlines were they?

Air California with B737-200 equipment and Hughes Airwest with DC9-10 and DC9-30 aircraft. And this was back in the day when the terminal at SNA was located in a building that was quite small with not a jetway to be seen....

Spot on. I flew into SNA in March of 1980 aboard a DC-9-30 from SLC bearing the Hughes Airwest livery but with Republic titles. The old Eddie Martin Terminal was still in use with nary a jetway to be seen though the airport had just been renamed in honor of John Wayne who'd died in 1979. Hard to believe The Duke's been gone for near 35 years!

And here's bonus question from yours truly.....

What airline and aircraft type was Seat 2A traveling on when he posted these quiz items earlier today?

2A was traveling aboard a two month old Alaska Airlines 737-990ER bearing a sticker dedicating it to recently retired Alaska President and CEO Bill Ayer. Mr. Ayer is so highly revered amongst most Alaska employees that I'm surprised they didn't paint his face on the tail of this aircraft instead of the Eskimo's!