Old Timer's Airline Quiz and Discussion.
Feb 14, 2016, 11:56 am
#8386
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In response to a PM that a Tristar would be perfectly capable of reaching Hawaii, I believe the PSA ones were not fitted with full life rafts, HF radio, or other oceanic equipment, and thus by FAA regulation could not be used on such flights. From the West Coast to Hawaii is the longest over-ocean distance in the world where there is no alternate; I believe that the first Hawaiian Airlines Convairs in the late 1940s were ferried out via Europe as Convair had not done a sufficient ferry tank design at this stage - the TAA Convair 240s in Australia all ferried from San Diego to Sydney via London.
I also believe PSA ordered their TriStars in a domestic shuttle configuration as it was the belief at the time at the airline's headquarters in San Diego that United was planning on operating DC-10 shuttle service on the SFO-LAX route. So the L-1011 operation appears to have been a competitive response by PSA and the aircraft were never meant to fly long over water routes. And BTW, I do not believe UA ever operated a dedicated DC-10 shuttle service between LAX and SFO (although they probably did fly the airplane between two airports over the years).
Last edited by jlemon; Feb 14, 2016 at 2:57 pm Reason: additional info
Feb 14, 2016, 12:10 pm
#8387
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.23. Boeing’s new 747 has been in service for less than a year. As we enter the high season for Caribbean tourism, there are three destinations that are scheduled to receive nonstop 747 service from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport. Identify each of these destinations and the airline that will be serving them with the 747.
PARTIALLY ANSWERED Air France to to Pointe a Pitre (PTP) and Pan Am to San Juan (SJU) have been correctly identified. We're looking for just one more destination.
HINT: Each of the three destinations were administered by different governments.
HINT: One airline was U.S. based, one was foreign.
San Juan (SJU) has been correctly identified. The other flights involved a Pan Am 747 from JFK to Montego Bay and an Air France 747 to Pointe a Pitre (PTP). Apologies to jrl767 re. confusing Fort de France with PTP.
JFK-PTP AF 011 3:30p - 8:00p 747 Saturday only
JFK-MBJ PA 221 9:00a - 12:40p 747 Daily
JFK-SJU PA 271 7:30a - 12:00n 747 Daily
JFK-SJU PA 293 1:00p - 5:30p 747 Daily
JFK-SJU PA 299 11:30p - 4:00p 747 Daily
And I wish I still had that LIAT timetable!
Feb 14, 2016, 12:40 pm
#8388
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coffee --- um, yeah, I obviously read "White Plains" as "Long Island MacArthur" 
because I still had this one on the brain ...84. Summer’s here and now that most of the seasonal flights down to Florida have been discontinued, Long Island’s MacArthur Airport (ISP) is left with only two airlines that serve it with mainline jets. Identify these two airlines as well as the largest and smallest jet types operating out of ISP.
US Air was one of the airlines, the One-Eleven at 69 seats on the DCA route was probably the smallest mainline jet; the airline at ISP with the largest jet might have been AA with an MD-80 operating to ORD
That second cup of coffee clearly powered you through to correctly identifying US Air as one of the airlines. Indeed, such is the potency of Seattle coffee that you even managed to correctly identify the smallest jet flying into ISP - that being the BAC-111, up from DCA. Well done, J! ^
Yet another cup of that esteemed northwest brew just might provide the needed boost to correctly identify that second airline as well as the largest jet into ISP that it also happened to operate.
For the record, the second airline was not American. Nor was there any service from Chicago as yet.
Last edited by Seat 2A; Feb 14, 2016 at 1:56 pm
Feb 14, 2016, 2:39 pm
#8389
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THE TIMELINE FOR THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS IS 1983
83. This question’s been asked a lot over the years. Has it been asked relative to 1983 though? Identify each of the eight airlines offering nonstop service between Los Angeles and Honolulu.
85. In terms of length, what was the smallest jet serving the San Francisco to Honolulu route in mid-1983?
87. White Plains, New York is a fairly busy airport these days, with nonstop jet flights to a variety of destinations. Back in the summer of 1983 however, it’s only jet service came via three flights down to Washington’s National Airport. Identify the airline and the aircraft type operating these flights.
83. Indeed, we have had a number of questions concerning LAX-HNL service over the years. So here we go....
* American
* Continental
* Hawaii Express
* Northwest Orient
* Pacific East Air (operating Super DC8s which was most likely the only narrow body equipment on the route)
* Pan Am
* United
* Western
I'll admit here that I worked in the airline business in Hawaii for a brief time with an office located at HNL.....
85. Wild guess time.....
Pan Am operating an L-1011 series 500 (which I believe is shorter than a Super DC8)
87. Sounds like an Air Florida tag route operated with Boeing 737-200 equipment. These flights most likely then continued on south from DCA to destinations in Florida.
Feb 14, 2016, 3:54 pm
#8390
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83. This question’s been asked a lot over the years. Has it been asked relative to 1983 though? Identify each of the eight airlines offering nonstop service between Los Angeles and Honolulu
Indeed, we have had a number of questions concerning LAX-HNL service over the years. I'll admit here that I worked in the airline business in Hawaii for a brief time with an office located at HNL.....So here we go....
* American
* Continental
* Hawaii Express
* Northwest Orient
* Pacific East Air (operating Super DC8s which was most likely the only narrow body equipment on the route)
* Pan Am
* United
* Western
Correct on all counts! The schedule included 10 747s and 6 DC-10s. Those were great days to fly to the islands...
85. In terms of length, what was the smallest jet serving the San Francisco to Honolulu route in mid-1983?
Wild guess time..... Pan Am operating an L-1011 series 500 (which I believe is shorter than a Super DC8)
It is. Good guess! So far as I can tell, this was the only Lockheed built aircraft transporting passengers to the islands at the time...
87. White Plains, New York is a fairly busy airport these days, with nonstop jet flights to a variety of destinations. Back in the summer of 1983 however, it’s only jet service came via three flights down to Washington’s National Airport. Identify the airline and the aircraft type operating these flights.
Sounds like an Air Florida tag route operated with Boeing 737-200 equipment. These flights most likely then continued on south from DCA to destinations in Florida.
Correct! The routings for the three flights were as follows:
QH 101: HPN-DCA-MIA
QH 109: HPN-DCA-PBI-FLL
QH 115: HPN-DCA-FLL-MIA
Indeed, we have had a number of questions concerning LAX-HNL service over the years. I'll admit here that I worked in the airline business in Hawaii for a brief time with an office located at HNL.....So here we go....
* American
* Continental
* Hawaii Express
* Northwest Orient
* Pacific East Air (operating Super DC8s which was most likely the only narrow body equipment on the route)
* Pan Am
* United
* Western
Correct on all counts! The schedule included 10 747s and 6 DC-10s. Those were great days to fly to the islands...
85. In terms of length, what was the smallest jet serving the San Francisco to Honolulu route in mid-1983?
Wild guess time..... Pan Am operating an L-1011 series 500 (which I believe is shorter than a Super DC8)
It is. Good guess! So far as I can tell, this was the only Lockheed built aircraft transporting passengers to the islands at the time...
87. White Plains, New York is a fairly busy airport these days, with nonstop jet flights to a variety of destinations. Back in the summer of 1983 however, it’s only jet service came via three flights down to Washington’s National Airport. Identify the airline and the aircraft type operating these flights.
Sounds like an Air Florida tag route operated with Boeing 737-200 equipment. These flights most likely then continued on south from DCA to destinations in Florida.
Correct! The routings for the three flights were as follows:
QH 101: HPN-DCA-MIA
QH 109: HPN-DCA-PBI-FLL
QH 115: HPN-DCA-FLL-MIA
Feb 14, 2016, 5:39 pm
#8391
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- Air Cal (merged into AA during 1987)
- Alaska
- American
- Continental
- Delta
- Eastern
- Horizon
- Northwest
- PSA (merged into US Air during 1987)
- TWA
- United
- US Air
- Western (merged into Delta during 1987)
Feb 14, 2016, 5:46 pm
#8392
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I'm thinking this might well have been Royal Air Maroc from Casablanca (CMN) ... not really a route that needed the legs of the SP, tho
Feb 14, 2016, 6:45 pm
#8393
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This Pan Am 747 service into San Juan reminds of a marketing piece which appeared in a Leeward Islands Air Transport (LIAT) system timetable at the time. LIAT was operating their one and only jet type back then, being the BAC One-Eleven series 500 (which I believe came from Court Line in the U.K.
More about Court and LIAT is here
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=...page&q&f=false
Feb 14, 2016, 8:22 pm
#8394
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54. At present the Seattle to Portland route is served by Alaska/Horizon, Delta and United. Turboprops handle 80% of the flights. Back in 1987 there were 13 airlines operating mainline jet equipment on this 129 mile route. How many of them can you identify?
I'll try for the home run here, but the accuracy may be a function of what month "in 1987" means because of various mergers
Dang! Thrown out at third! As you've stated, the time of year may very well be a factor here. Care to have a go at the remaining four anyway?
74. If you wanted to fly nonstop from Africa to New York aboard a 747SP, you’d have to book a seat aboard this airline. Identify the airline and the African city you’d depart from.
I'm thinking this might well have been Royal Air Maroc from Casablanca (CMN) ... not really a route that needed the legs of the SP, though
I'm thinking you've hit a home run on this one, J.
AT 204 CMN-JFK 10:00a - 12:35p 747SP Frequency: Tuesday - Saturday
AT 204 JFK-YUL 1:45p - 3:10p 747SP
I flew AT between YUL and JFK back in '86. First Class upstairs on a leased SAA 747SP. The sleeper seats were normal style First Class seats with enhanced recline. For our legs, the FAs brought out individual ottomans.
I'll try for the home run here, but the accuracy may be a function of what month "in 1987" means because of various mergers
- Air Cal Correct!
- Alaska Correct!
- American Correct!
- Continental Incorrect!
- Delta Correct!
- Eastern Correct!
- Horizon Correct!
- Northwest Correct!
- PSA Incorrect!
- TWA Correct!
- United Correct!
- US Air Incorrect!
- Western Incorrect!
Dang! Thrown out at third! As you've stated, the time of year may very well be a factor here. Care to have a go at the remaining four anyway?
74. If you wanted to fly nonstop from Africa to New York aboard a 747SP, you’d have to book a seat aboard this airline. Identify the airline and the African city you’d depart from.
I'm thinking this might well have been Royal Air Maroc from Casablanca (CMN) ... not really a route that needed the legs of the SP, though
I'm thinking you've hit a home run on this one, J.
AT 204 CMN-JFK 10:00a - 12:35p 747SP Frequency: Tuesday - Saturday
AT 204 JFK-YUL 1:45p - 3:10p 747SP
I flew AT between YUL and JFK back in '86. First Class upstairs on a leased SAA 747SP. The sleeper seats were normal style First Class seats with enhanced recline. For our legs, the FAs brought out individual ottomans.
Last edited by Seat 2A; Feb 15, 2016 at 8:42 pm
Feb 14, 2016, 9:11 pm
#8395
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59. Back in 1969, Darwin, Australia was well served from Sydney with five nonstop flights per week, all of them operated with 707s from either BOAC or Qantas. In late 1987, passengers desiring to fly between SYD and DRW had a choice of two flights per week operated by a single airline. Identify the airline and the aircraft used.
I'm going to suggest it was still Qantas, but with a 747SP as a non-stop.
There were many flights which passengers desiring to fly between SYD-DRW could take each day of the week on Ansett and Australian Airlines just not non-stop.
I'm going to suggest it was still Qantas, but with a 747SP as a non-stop.
There were many flights which passengers desiring to fly between SYD-DRW could take each day of the week on Ansett and Australian Airlines just not non-stop.
Feb 14, 2016, 10:04 pm
#8396
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59. Back in 1969, Darwin, Australia was well served from Sydney with five nonstop flights per week, all of them operated with 707s from either BOAC or Qantas. In late 1987, passengers desiring to fly between SYD and DRW had a choice of two flights per week operated by a single airline. Identify the airline and the aircraft used.
I'm going to suggest it was still Qantas, but with a 747SP as a non-stop.
There were many flights which passengers desiring to fly between SYD-DRW could take each day of the week on Ansett and Australian Airlines just not non-stop.
G'Day, RMD! I like the sound of that Qantas SP nonstop but the schedule I reference says it was a different airline operating a nonstop flight just two days per week.
Care to have another go?
I'm going to suggest it was still Qantas, but with a 747SP as a non-stop.
There were many flights which passengers desiring to fly between SYD-DRW could take each day of the week on Ansett and Australian Airlines just not non-stop.
G'Day, RMD! I like the sound of that Qantas SP nonstop but the schedule I reference says it was a different airline operating a nonstop flight just two days per week.
Care to have another go?
Feb 15, 2016, 1:13 pm
#8397
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53. It used to be that you could fly DC-9s from West Coast Airlines and later Hughes Airwest into the little airport serving Redmond/Bend, Oregon. In the first half of 1987 only one airline offered jet flights into Redmond. Identify that airline and the single aircraft type it flew into RDM.
THE TIMELINE FOR THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS IS 1983
84. Summer’s here and now that most of the seasonal flights down to Florida have been discontinued, Long Island’s MacArthur Airport (ISP) is left with only two airlines that serve it with mainline jets. Identify these two airlines as well as the largest and smallest jet types operating out of ISP.
PARTIALLY ANSWERED US Air and its BAC-111 have been correctly identified. We now need only the second airline and the largest aircraft into ISP that this airline also happened to operate.
90. The state of North Dakota has three international gateway airports with nonstop flights to Canada. Identify each city, the Canadian city it has flights to and the airline serving that route.
84. I think Long Island MacArthur Airport (ISP) was a focus city at one point for Northeastern International Airlines (QS). I also believe QS operated DC8 flights into ISP. However, since the time line here was the low season for Florida, let's go with a B727-100.
90. First, the three cities in North Dakota: Bismarck (BIS), Grand Forks (GFK) and Minot (MOT). And now the airlines: Frontier with B737-200s out of Bismarck to Winnipeg (YWG) and also from Minot to Regina (YQR) continuing on to Saskatoon (YXE), and Northwest Orient with a B727-100 from Grand Forks to Winnipeg. These were all tag routes, of course, for FL's service from DEN and NW's service from MSP.
Last edited by jlemon; Feb 15, 2016 at 1:21 pm
Feb 15, 2016, 2:26 pm
#8398
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as for the others, let's go with Boston on American, and Philadelphia on BA
Air Wisconsin seems a likely suspect, with a BAe 146
Feb 15, 2016, 9:01 pm
#8400
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53. It used to be that you could fly DC-9s from West Coast Airlines and later Hughes Airwest into the little airport serving Redmond/Bend, Oregon. In the first half of 1987 only one airline offered jet flights into Redmond. Identify that airline and the single aircraft type it flew into RDM.
I'll guess this was PSA operating BAe 146-200 aircraft. If so, primary destination would have been SFO with some flights possibly making an intermediate stop at EUG or MFR. And BTW, did West Coast actually operate the DC9 into RDM? I know Hughes Airwest did....but I'm not sure about West Coast.
Correct! I'm gonna have to get back to you on the West Coast DC-9 service at RDM - seems I saw something about it somewhere though so let me do a little research when I get home.
84. The Summer of '83 is here and now that most of the seasonal flights down to Florida have been discontinued, Long Island’s MacArthur Airport (ISP) is left with only two airlines that serve it with mainline jets. Identify these two airlines as well as the largest and smallest jet types operating out of ISP.
PARTIALLY ANSWERED US Air and its BAC-111 have been correctly identified. We now need only the second airline and the largest aircraft into ISP that this airline also happened to operate.
I think Long Island MacArthur Airport (ISP) was a focus city at one point for Northeastern International Airlines (QS). I also believe QS operated DC8 flights into ISP. However, since the time line here was the low season for Florida, let's go with a B727-100.
Spot on, JL! As much sense as it would make to utilize the smaller 727 during the slower summer months on the ISP-Florida routes, (if indeed the routes should've been operated at all during the summer), the schedule I reference indicates QS chose to fly its big D8S, which I'm assuming was the DC-8-62.
90. The state of North Dakota has three international gateway airports with nonstop flights to Canada. Identify each city, the Canadian city it has flights to and the airline serving that route.
First, the three cities in North Dakota: Bismarck (BIS), Grand Forks (GFK) and Minot (MOT). And now the airlines: Frontier with B737-200s out of Bismarck to Winnipeg (YWG) and also from Minot to Regina (YQR) continuing on to Saskatoon (YXE), and Northwest Orient with a B727-100 from Grand Forks to Winnipeg. These were all tag routes, of course, for FL's service from DEN and NW's service from MSP.
How the heck did you know all of those?! I was hoping this one would be a bit tougher. In any event, well done - you aced all three! ^^
I'll guess this was PSA operating BAe 146-200 aircraft. If so, primary destination would have been SFO with some flights possibly making an intermediate stop at EUG or MFR. And BTW, did West Coast actually operate the DC9 into RDM? I know Hughes Airwest did....but I'm not sure about West Coast.
Correct! I'm gonna have to get back to you on the West Coast DC-9 service at RDM - seems I saw something about it somewhere though so let me do a little research when I get home.
84. The Summer of '83 is here and now that most of the seasonal flights down to Florida have been discontinued, Long Island’s MacArthur Airport (ISP) is left with only two airlines that serve it with mainline jets. Identify these two airlines as well as the largest and smallest jet types operating out of ISP.
PARTIALLY ANSWERED US Air and its BAC-111 have been correctly identified. We now need only the second airline and the largest aircraft into ISP that this airline also happened to operate.
I think Long Island MacArthur Airport (ISP) was a focus city at one point for Northeastern International Airlines (QS). I also believe QS operated DC8 flights into ISP. However, since the time line here was the low season for Florida, let's go with a B727-100.
Spot on, JL! As much sense as it would make to utilize the smaller 727 during the slower summer months on the ISP-Florida routes, (if indeed the routes should've been operated at all during the summer), the schedule I reference indicates QS chose to fly its big D8S, which I'm assuming was the DC-8-62.
90. The state of North Dakota has three international gateway airports with nonstop flights to Canada. Identify each city, the Canadian city it has flights to and the airline serving that route.
First, the three cities in North Dakota: Bismarck (BIS), Grand Forks (GFK) and Minot (MOT). And now the airlines: Frontier with B737-200s out of Bismarck to Winnipeg (YWG) and also from Minot to Regina (YQR) continuing on to Saskatoon (YXE), and Northwest Orient with a B727-100 from Grand Forks to Winnipeg. These were all tag routes, of course, for FL's service from DEN and NW's service from MSP.
How the heck did you know all of those?! I was hoping this one would be a bit tougher. In any event, well done - you aced all three! ^^