Seat 2A

24. Now it's 1984 and you are in Taipei where you've been heavily involved in project work as a consultant. It's time for a break and a friend has offered you the use of his condo near Hanauma Bay on Oahu. So you are off to Honolulu on board a direct flight that makes one stop en route departing TPE at 12:45 am and arriving at HNL at 7:15 pm. Name the airline, the stop and the aircraft type you'll be flying on.

I'm pretty sure I asked a similar question not so long ago. As such, allow me to beat around the bush a bit here...

The airline in question utilized a single long distance variant of a popular wide-bodied jet with the enroute stop being approximately 1720 miles from Taipei. If you do a search of the jet in question's registration, you'll find it served briefly with LOT Polish Airlines.

Uh... this is of course assuming that I'm... uh... right on this one.

jrl767

the originating airport is Oakland (OAK), which in 1979 didn’t have a lot of service from airlines that also served FLL ... I’m leaning toward American, with a 72S stopping at DFW after a short tag-on segment from OAK to San Jose (SJC)

again, probably only two or three airlines served both cities; how about Northwest with a 72S via MSP and Boise (BOI)

WHBM

I think United had been serving both places since the 1930s, this flight likely through Denver and Boise. And most likely a 727.

Seat 2A

25. You are in Omaha in 1985 and need to travel to Spokane with a departure in the late afternoon. Sounds like a connection will need to be made somewhere out west, doesn't it? But no! Here's a direct flight departing OMA at 5:25 pm that arrives at GEG at 10:00 pm with two stops being made en route. Book it! Identify the air carrier, the equipment and the two stops in order.

And if not Northwest or United, let's try Frontier routing via Lincoln and Denver with a 737-200

jlemon

24. Good Lord, Seat 2A! It's Monday morning! And thus way too early for Polish jokes!

However, I do believe you are on the right track here.....

jlemon

20. Oakland is correct! And after I submitted this one, it occurred to me that someone might have guessed Concord (CCR) as this airfield is actually closer to Walnut Creek. Of course, the only jet service that Buchanan Field ever had was operated by PSA followed by USAir with BAe 146-200 flights to LAX.....but the airport we are looking for is indeed OAK. However, the airline wasn't American and a stop was not made at SJC. On the plus side of the column, the aircraft was a Boeing 727-200 and Dallas/Fort Worth was one of the stops, so please guess again......

25. Nope, the air carrier in question wasn't Northwest, the equipment wasn't a Boeing 727-200 and this flight did not stop at MSP or BOI.

jlemon

25. This would have been my first guess as well: UA operating a Boeing 727-100 via DEN and BOI. However, the air carrier wasn't UA, the equipment wasn't a 727 and the flight did not stop in Denver or Boise.

jlemon

25. Nope, it wasn't Frontier, either. And the aircraft wasn't a 73S. Plus this flight did not stop in LNK or DEN.

jrl767

a year or so back I seem to recall we briefly discussed CCR — regarding an AA Jetstream 31 connecting at SJC to their Tokyo flight

the only other DFW-FLL service that comes to mind is Braniff (even though I can’t recall them serving OAK), so perhaps the first segment was a tag ... SFO is far to obvious; how about Las Vegas (LAS)

jlemon

20. Braniff International is correct! Here's the sched....

BN 702: Oakland (OAK) 6:30a - 7:35a Las Vegas (LAS) 8:00a - 12:10p Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) 1:00p - 4:20p Fort Lauderdale (FLL)
Op: Daily
Equip: 72S

This was the one and only Braniff departure per day from Oakland.....

Seat 2A

25. You are in Omaha in 1985 and need to travel to Spokane with a departure in the late afternoon. Sounds like a connection will need to be made somewhere out west, doesn't it? But no! Here's a direct flight departing OMA at 5:25 pm that arrives at GEG at 10:00 pm with two stops being made en route. Book it! Identify the air carrier, the equipment and the two stops in order.

I've been thinking about this one in terms of which airlines served both OMA and GEG and by 1985 standards, I was getting nowhere. Then I focused on GEG and ... America West came to mind as I remember seeing its jets in GEG when I'd fly out of there on United back in 1985/86.

So, let's try America West - not many options on the routing - anything out of Omaha would likely have routed through PHX or LAS. We're looking at a total travel time of 6 hours and 35 minutes, which might work on a routing of OMA-PHX-LAS-GEG. As for the aircraft, let's go with a 737-300.

jlemon

25. An excellent guess, sir! However, the airline in question wasn't America West, the equipment wasn't a 733 and the flight did not stop in Phoenix. But on the plus side of the column, this flight did stop in Las Vegas which was a first stop. And the aircraft type was a twin engine jet.

I'd also like to request that everyone take a moment of your time and keep the good folks out there in Napa and Sonoma counties in northern California in your thoughts and prayers. Our very good friend Capt. Ed, who flies B777-200ER/300ER equipment for American and previously flew A-10 and F-16 aircraft while he was with the USAF, lives in Santa Rosa and lost everything in a truly horrific wildfire. His home, his cars....all gone. He was able to evacuate just ahead of a wall of flame being pushed by 60 mph winds with only the clothes on his back. I was born and raised in California and have experienced wildfires but I have to say that what has happened in Santa Rosa and elsewhere in northern California is almost beyond comprehension.

WHBM

Las Vegas first stop ... I'm going to guess at Sunworld, who had a small DC9 hub there in the 1980s. Flight running onwards via Reno.
CP Air, a 737 running Whitehorse-Dawson Creek-Edmonton-Winnipeg.

Well, TWA in the late 1950s would inevitably be a Connie. What else ? Actually they did have a very substantial fleet of Martin 404 as well, being the principal purchaser of the type, but like all the US transcontinental majors who had smaller types at the time, they don't seem to have got beyond the Midwest.

jlemon

16. Indeed, TWA was operating a L-1049G "Super G" Constellation on this new Florida service back in 1959. Passengers traveling in first class were treated to "Ambassador Luxury service: Complimentary Bar service available with de luxe meals at normal hours for First Class passengers."

The routing of TW 203 was actually Miami - Tampa - Atlanta - Nashville - St. Louis - San Francisco. And by the next year, the flight number, routing and the equipment had changed: TW 77 departed MIA at 8:30 am and arrived at SFO at 5:50 pm with two intermediate stops being made at STL and LAX. Aircraft type in 1960 on the service was a Boeing 707-131.

19. An excellent guess! However, this flight was not operated by CP Air and stops were not made at Dawson Creek or Edmonton. But the equipment was a 737.

25. Sunworld International Airways (JK) operating a DC-9-10 (I believe they operated both the series -14 and -15) is correct! However, this flight did not stop in Reno so please guess again!

Seat 2A

Condolences and prayers go out to all who've lost so much in the northern California wildfires. I especially wish Captain Ed well in putting his life back together again. ^

I am rolling sedately along through east central Florida aboard the Silver Meteor. At present I am comfortably ensconced in my blissfully air conditioned accommodations aboard Amtrak's Viewliner sleeper. Sadly, this car bears no name. Its number indicates it was once known as Susquehanna River. In any event, I'll be riding the rails for the next four days from Florida to Washington DC to Chicago to Seattle. My 1:15pm luncheon reservation will soon be called, so I'd best not tarry any longer...

19. Also at this time, this air carrier was flying direct service from Whitehorse (YXY) to Winnipeg (YWG). Two stops were made en route and the flight did not operate daily. Identify the airline, the aircraft type flown on the route and the two stops in the order in which they were made. Air carrier wasn't CP Air and stops were not made at Dawson Creek or Edmonton. Aircraft was a 737.

There weren't too many 737 operators in Western Canada in 1979. Outside of CP Air, I can think of only Pacific Western. As to the routing, I'm guessing Edmonton would've been one of the stops and possibly Yellowknife or Saskatoon or Calgary.

Let's roll the dice with a routing of Whitehorse - Edmonton - Saskatoon - Winnipeg aboard a 737-275.