Seat 2A

What a great set of questions by jlemon! Perusing the previous page, I am reminded of a Cy Young pitcher in his prime as endless batters whiff at his best stuff. And finally, jrl767 breaks out with an infield single! Well done, boys!

Yours truly got good news from the neurosurgeon yesterday. The lobotomy went well and so the hard plastic neck brace - which I've had to wear 24/7 since October 7th - can finally be discarded in favor of a soft cervical collar. While a full recovery is still some months away, we're off to a good start! My old walker has been sent to the Goodwill and I'm walking more and more without a cane. Saturday I get a big test as I fly all the way from Denver back up to Fairbanks - without adult supervision! On an equally positive note I've already been upgraded on both flights.

Speaking of flights, I recently stumbled across a Star Alliance mileage sale highlighted by a 50% bonus on mileage purchases over 20000 miles. A bit of research revealed that for just 30000 miles each way I could score a Business Class ticket between China and the South Pacific. Hmm...

Checking out the possibilities, I discovered some great routings between Taipei and Nadi, Fiji. I quickly plunked down the requisite funds and booked myself the following Business Class flights for just 60000 miles...

Taipei to Seoul Thai Airways A330-300 Luncheon
Seoul to Sydney Asiana 777-200 Dinner/Breakfast
Sydney to Auckland Air New Zealand 787-9 Dinner
Auckland to Nadi Air New Zealand 777-200 Luncheon

Nadi to Auckland Air New Zealand 777-300 Luncheon
Auckland to Beijing Air China 787-9 Dinner/Breakfast
Beijing to Shanghai Air China A330-300 Breakfast
Shanghai to Taipei EVA Air 747-400 Luncheon

Travel between the US and Asia will involve a First Class suite aboard Cathay Pacific's 777-300. I've also booked a roundabout multi-stop routing between Hong Kong and Taipei involving the following airlines and aircraft:

Los Angeles to Hong Kong Cathay Pacific 777-300 Luncheon/Dinner (First Class)
Hong Kong to Manila Cathay Pacific A350-900 Breakfast (Business Class)
Manila to Singapore Cebu Pacific A330-300
Singapore to Kuala Lumpur Malaysian 737-800
Kuala Lumpur to Bangkok Malaysian 737-800
Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur Ethiopian 787-8 Snack
Kuala Lumpur to Jakarta Malindo Air 737-900 Dinner (Business Class)
Jakarta to Bali Garuda 737-800
Bali to Singapore KLM 777-300
Singapore to Taipei Scoot 787-9 Luncheon (Business Class)

The return from Taiwan to the US will be in Business Class as follows...

Taiwan to Beijing Hainan Airlines 737-800 Dinner
Beijing to Boston Hainan Airlines 787-9 Dinner/Breakfast

So as you can see, I've been pretty busy of late booking the above flights, not to mention hotels for longer stays in Bali and Nadi. When I get home Saturday, I can turn my attention to once again contributing to the questions here at the OTAQ&D.

Once again, a multitude of well deserved thanks to jlemon for his most recent batch of fine questions as well as appreciation to all of you for your ongoing participation.

On that note, let me have a try at this one...

9. In 1986, this air carrier was operating one direct flight a week from Detroit to Honolulu with a wide body aircraft. One intermediate stop was made en route. Flight 915 departed DTW at 10:00 am and arrived HNL at 3:30 pm. Identify the airline, the equipment and the stop.

Ever on the lookout for obscure airlines and routings, I recall once coming up with a question involving an airline that operated single class L-1011s between Honolulu and the west coast. I'm pretty sure that same airline also offered service into Las Vegas and Detroit. That airline was Air America and I believe it may very well be the same airline referenced in this question. The routing would have been via Los Angeles.

jlemon

Ah....was that a frontal lobotomy or a bottle in front of you?

And Air America is indeed correct! Flight 915 operated once a week on Tuesdays only from Detroit. The L-1011 made an intermediate stop in Los Angeles, arriving at 11:15 am and then departed LAX at 12:00 noon for Honolulu.

Glad to hear you're on the mend, Seat 2A!

jrl767

that is quite an adventure ahead of you, sir! ... and I had no idea ET had Fifth Freedom traffic rights between BKK and KUL

Seat 2A

Indeed they do. Best of all, I scored that ticket aboard Ethiopian's 787-8 for just $83.00 USD.

Two other flights that I am looking forward to from that itinerary are the Business Class flights aboard Malindo Air's 737-900 ($134.00) and Scoot's 787-9 ($183.00). Check 'em out below...

Malindo Air's 737-900 Business Class

Scoot's 787 Business Class


Additionally, here is a link showing quite a few Fifth Freedom routes...

http://www.flypointyend.com/5th-freedom-flights/

jrl767

ok, this has languished far too long ...
the answer I was looking for is that both jets rolled out on 26 Jan 1988 ... the photo is obviously a montage: the 737-400 was unveiled at the Renton plant, whereas the 747-400 emerged from the Everett factory three and a half hours later

jlemon

I'll go ahead and answer this one....

The airline was Northeastern International Airways (QS) with one daily round trip nonstop between New Orleans and Little Rock. Equipment was a Boeing 727 (although I am unsure whether it was a series 100 or 200).

Back in 1984, Northeastern International was operating a small hub at MSY. Besides the LIT service, nonstops were operated between New Orleans and LAS, LAX, OKC, PIE, MCO, FLL and MIA while direct onestop service was flown between MSY and SAN, MCI, TUL and PBI. Equipment operated by QS into New Orleans during its existence included the A300 and DC8 in addition to the B727-100 and B727-200.

jlemon

And still looking for answers for the above two quiz items.....plus, as Seat 2A is winging his way back to FAI today and will be submitting a new batch in the near future, it's now last call for these two with answers to be provided tomorrow should there be no takers.

jrl767

I recall PI had a hublet at Orlando (MCO) for awhile toward the end of their existence; was this code-sharing perhaps an arrangement with USAir, and thus a precursor to the discussions that culminated in the 1989 merger?

jlemon

A good guess! However, the airline in question was not USAir and Orlando (MCO) is not the airport we are looking for. In fact, this major airfield was located further north on the U.S. east coast......

st1575

Piedmont ran the ad, and I believe the route was BWI-BUF. Despite the slow start, it looks like there was a lot of BUF service by the next summer.

Piedmont's partner was TWA and the connecting service was offered at JFK.

jrl767

we've also determined that BWI isn't the answer we're seeking

PI's other hub was of course CLT; I really don't remember them with much of a presence at IAD, PHL, PIT, EWR, LGA, BDL, PVD, or BOS; while they were a good-size player at DCA, the terminal layout would have made this sort of marketing arrangement tricky to execute

so that leaves me with only one "major airfield ... further north on the U.S. east coast" -- JFK

since nobody ever said where the 19 destinations were located, I suspect many were across the Atlantic Ocean, and the cooperating carrier in question was TWA

jlemon

8. Correct! The December 15, 1985 Piedmont route map depicted only one route being operated by the airline and that was nonstop service to their BWI hub. However, by 1986 PI was also flying BUF-JFK nonstop which brings us to.....

10. Correct as well! The Piedmont print ad read:

For A Long Distance Connection, We're Your Overseas Operator.

Piedmont has hooked up with Trans World Airlines. And through New York's JFK International, we can now connect you to 19 cities in Europe and the Middle East.

So call your travel agent, TWA or Piedmont Airlines. For a long distance relationship that works.

PIEDMONT/TWA

The print ad also included a route map depicting PI's routes into JFK including BDL-JFK, BUF-JFK, CLT-JFK, ROC-JFK, SYR-JFK GSO-BWI-JFK and RDU-ORF-JFK.

jlemon

10. Yep....and st1575 beat you to the punch by eight minutes!

jrl767

better late than never ... from June 2014

Seat 2A

Good Morning, all! It was a frosty -23F this morning when I fired up my trusty Tacoma and headed off into town for a variety of chores intrinsic to a trouble free winter existence here in Alaska's Interior. The next set of questions is coming along nicely - 11 of them so far - though I expect it'll be a good couple of weeks before I get the first of them posted.

In the meantime, you'll find me winging back and forth across the Pacific while comfortably ensconced in Business Class aboard a Hainan 787-9 and First Class aboard a Japan Airlines 777-300. Despite not offering a proper international First Class product, Hainan is rated as a Five Star airline by SkyTrax, the international air transport rating organisation. I am looking forward to experiencing how it is that Hainan has managed to earn such lofty accolades and of course I am equally excited about my First Class return travel aboard Japan Airlines. Associates will be met along the way and presumably good food and drink will be enjoyed both on the ground and in the air.

So - hang in there, and in he interim please feel free to submit a few questions of your own if you like!