First I thought it must have been a repositioning flight due to an AOG, or maybe a charter. But it’s done several “out and backs” over the past 24 hours:
I think I am getting better at this, does the ‘9’ in AA9673 denote a maintainance flight? The way you describe things sure sounds like test flights. Plus the flight number seems to represent other makes in the fleet which may be another clue.
Dami described it correctly; there are standard flight number “blocks” used. 8xxx are “Extra sections” for example (ABC airlines flight 123 will have a flight ABC8123 if a second aircraft is added to a normal flight. This might happen during a holiday, a special event, etc.
I’m still wondering what AA is up to in Kona. They’ve moved a 763 there to do several daily “test” flights.
well, if YOU were required to recertify an aircraft ETOPS after an engine change or some other requirement, would you go to Hawaii or Alaska to get the required overwater cert?
No contest in my book, and Kona is a pretty quiet little airport with services for widebodies. Alliance is the main mainteance base for engine changes as well- Tulsa does everything else. . .
