Relocated Metal
 

Have they relocated the IAH metal in prep for Ike

(or any other threatened station)

Most of it went to El Paso.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showt...6#post10355636

Thanks
 

Thanks sbm12 I hadn't seen that thread in a couple of days

Instead of posting on the other thread, I just wanted to say that I saw at least four Continental 737s parked at an abandoned hangar (for those who are in El Paso, it's the white-painted hangar at Airport Rd and Leigh Fisher Blvd across from the Army Finance office, pictures of apron: linky)

I saw the planes yesterday while waiting for a flight on AA to DFW. They are clearly visible from the window that is in the A concouse between gates A2 (AA) and A3 (F9) and next to the CNBC News concession.

There should be two 735s, three 733s, one 764 and one 762 at ELP right now.

Does anyone know why CO chose to send some aircraft to ELP and not some other closer TX airport?

Probably so that they were far enough away to be outside the potential for trouble, even if Ike decided to stall, swerve or otherwise not behave as predicted. Moving everything from IAH to AUS, for example, wouldn't provide a lot of buffer.

I was not sure of the size, but now that you say there are seven, maybe perhaps I should do a car MR out to the place to see how many are actually there. I live near the airport so it should be a quick jaunt by car for me.

In any case, I am glad to see that as of today that the only 767s in El Paso aren't just UPS planes. ^

[EDIT: You know what? I think I'm just gonna go ahead and do that car MR in a few hours before sunset. I'll post pictures of them later tonight.]

I think that the main reason is because ELP has many empty apron area that are unused and that stowage fees are cheap there compared to other airports in the region (DFW is more expensive and I don't think that there are any good spots at ABQ/Kirtland AFB).

For what it's worth, I saw three 737s parked away from the terminal at YVR.

Expressjet sent some of its planes to Amarillo and Shreveport. Colgan to Abilene. Chautauqua to St. Louis.

And of course, all of them plus CO has simply left a lot of planes at various out stations, like YVR as mentioned in the post above.

El Paso was Continental's original home airport, back when it was known as Varney Speed Lines. Perhaps someone has a sense of history? Either that, or it is far enough away and cheaper than other alternatives.

Looks like I won't be able to make it out to take photos. Hopefully, they will be there tomorrow afternoon before they get ferried back tomorrow night.

Yes ... in fact, inside the airport terminal there is a large bronze plaque that states Continental's history in El Paso. The plaque features the 1980's version of the Continental logo and is presently inside the airport terminal, landside next to the elevator that leads out of the second floor sterile area into the arrivals lounge.

There's a CO 737 at DCA parked the "wrong way" near the gates. Was at Daingerfield Island grabbing a beer and noticed it there.