Seat 2A

The following quiz items have a time line of the winter of 1986....

1. You’ve just pushed back from the gate in Mexico City and are on your way to the runway when you spot not one but two elderly 707s parked at an adjacent terminal. Identify the two airlines flying cheduled passenger flights with 707s into MEX
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2. Since Air Jamaica retired its DC-8s, the big four engine jetliner has been a rare sight at Montego Bay’s Sangster International Airport. These days MBJ is served by a single daily D8S and you’re about to board it! Which airline are you flying and where are you flying to?

3. You’re on Koror where it’s been a great week of diving and exploring submerged WWII ships. Now it’s time to return to Honolulu. Surprisingly, Air Mike only serves Honolulu via a connection in Guam. But wait! There’s another option – a 2-stop direct flight that just happens to be leaving Koror on Sunday afternoon. Identify the airline, aircraft and the two enroute stops.

4. You’re off to Belize City for a week of diving at Roatan. Life could hardly get any better but it does when you’re informed that the flight taking you from Miami down to Belize City is operated with widebody equipment. What airline will you be flying on and what is the equipment?

5. Your job has you commuting regularly between Dusseldorf and London’s Heathrow International Airport. Three airlines serve this route – two of them with narrow bodied equipment and the other with three different models of wide bodied equipment. The latter is your airline of choice. Identify that airline and the three models of wide body equipment that it operates on the DUS-LHR route.

6. You’re in Manchester, England and need to travel to Gibraltar to deliver a yacht to Palma on the island of Mallorca. A call to your travel agent reveals that only one airline serves GIB from MAN so you quickly book a flight. Name the airline and the equipment.
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7. The trip from Gibraltar to Palma went without incident and, after a couple of relaxing days enjoying the warm Mallorcan sun, it’s time to return to cold and rainy Manchester. From Palma one airline offers a single weekly flight back up to Manchester. Name the airline and the aircraft type you’ll be flying upon.

9. In late 1986, only one airline operated a Boeing 707 into Manchester, England. Name the airline. No need to identify where it flies in from as the name will give it away.
It wasn't Cyprus Airways

10. The Edinburgh Hogmanay (New Year’s Eve) celebrations are among the largest in the world and so you’ve decided to join the party and fly over to Edinburgh from your home in Amsterdam. You call KLM who politely informs you that they don’t fly from Amsterdam to Edinburgh. Thankfully, the res agent is kind enough to give you the name of the only airline that does. Identify that airline and the type of equipment it operates on its two almost daily nonstops.

The following quiz items have a time line of the winter of 1994....

11. Although you arrived in Laughlin, Nevada via an airport shuttle from Las Vegas, you enjoyed such a nice run of luck on the craps tables that you can now afford to fly back home to Mountain View, California directly from the airport closest to Laughlin. Identify the closest airports to the aforementioned departure and arrival cities along with the airline and equipment serving this route with daily service.
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13. While not an uncommon sight at Newark International Airport, Boeing’s 737-500 is rarely seen at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport – so rarely seen in fact that there is only one flight that operates just twice weekly. Identify the airline and the originating city of this flight.
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15. Identify the six airlines that serve Las Vegas with all-economy configured jet flights

The following quiz items have a time line of the spring of 1987....

16. Business calls in Spokane, Washington. From your base in San Diego, that’s likely going to involve a connection somewhere. But no! Much to your surprise, there’s a daily 2-stop direct flight departing San Diego’s Lindbergh Field each morning. Identify the usual trio of indicators for this flight.

17. It’s been a fun weekend on Michigan’s Gull Lake outside of Kalamazoo, but now it’s time to return back to Washington DC and resume battle on the Senate Appropriations Committee which you chair. Although it wasn’t always so, there’s now a convenient 1 stop direct flight into Washington National that departs Kalamzoo each morning at 700a. Identify the airline, aircraft and intermediate stop.
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18. Who’d have ever thought there one day be direct daily 1-stop service between St. Maarten and Detroit? Well there is now. Identify the airline, aircraft and intermediate stop.

19. Right on! The boss has finally given the green light for you to attend next week’s International Electronics Symposium being held this year in Minneapolis. A quick call to Northwest reveals that each of its three nonstops between Orange Country and MSP are completely sold out – even in First Class. Well dang! The prospect of driving the 405 up to LAX is never a pleasant one, so you’re thrilled to discover a single First Class seat available aboard a direct 2-stop flight out of SNA, arriving MSP the night before the show. Now if you can just find a hotel! In the meantime, identify the airline, aircraft and the two enroute stops.


The following quiz items have a time line of the spring of 1991....

21. The recent commencement of a new 2-stop direct flight between Missoula and Chicago is great news since you have to fly back to the home office at least five times a year. At last! No more long layovers enroute. And better yet, you’ll be served a snack and a lunch enroute. Identify the airline, the two enroute stops in order and the aircraft type.

22. Identify the three airlines operating MD80s between airports on the US mainland and Aruba

23. It’s spring break and this year you’ll be taking the family from your home in Denver to St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands. You couldn’t be more pleased to discover that you can now fly direct from Denver to St. Thomas with just two enroute stops. And, thanks to your recent promotion and raise, you can take the family in First Class. What airline will you be flying on, what will be the two enroute stops and what type of airplane will it be?

24. What a fun week it’s been in Cancun! Maybe you’ll retire here someday. But for now, you must return to the world of stocks and bonds as a trader on New York’s Wall Street. Lots of airlines offer direct flights between Cancun and New York but only one serves New York’s LaGuardia Airport, conveniently located just three miles from your home in Astoria, Queens. It’s a daily service with First Class seats available. Identify the air carrier, the enroute stop and the equipment.

25. From Los Angeles (LAX), you can fly nonstop on a jet to three different Colorado ski areas. Each ski area is served by a different airline operating a different type of aircraft. Identify the three ski areas along with the airline and equipment that serves each one.

27. Years ago, if you wanted to fly from Las Vegas to Wichita, Kansas, there were a couple of well timed TWA flights serving the route. Alas, these days the only direct option is a one-stop redeye. Still, you don’t like making connections and so you book yourself a seat. Identify the airline, the enroute stop and the aircraft type.


Miscellaneous Questions

29. What was the name of British Caledonian’s Gatwick Lounge for its Premium Class passengers?
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30. What was the world's first inflight magazine to be published for a single airline? What airline was it?
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31. What was the first European airline to be awarded a 5-Star rating for its overall service from the international air transport rating organization, Skytrax? (Only 9 airlines currently enjoy this distinction)

34. Why did Qantas refer to its early 707s as “V-jets”?
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35. When this airline commenced service to the U.S., it named the three aircraft it had purchased to serve the route (as well as other long distance routes, I’m sure) the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa María after the boats used by Columbus on his famous voyage to the New World. Identify the airline and the aircraft type so named.