The end of the line is here for the 747-200 at Northwest Airlines and they will all be sent to the desert by the end of the year. The first one left today.
Sad day indeed. 747 Classics are all but gone now from the US Legacy carriers. I always wanted to fly on one of those, especially the original -100 series. Are there any charter airlines in the US that still fly the classic 747s in any pax configuration?
That was N820NW and I think it was coming out of the paint shop at VCV. All of the 330’s and 747’s were painted in DL colors there. Still have a couple 333’s in nwa colors and think this was one of them although I lost track of what got painted and widgetheads.net is still down. ACARS shows it last flying on the 18th so that is about the time needed for paint.
There are two stored 333’s waiting heavy maintenance but they are at MZJ.
Last time I was at Mojave there was a row of A320 or 330’s that had been flown there, sealed and put into storage right out of the factory. They had been purchased but never put into service. Air Canada I think.
They brought one 333 out of paint (N820NW) and then brought another one (N818NW) back in to get painted. Just swapped them out mid turn at SFO. ACARS shows N820NW on flights 9860/0327 and N818NW on flights 9861/0326. Could have used a spare crew out of SEA or MSP and sent them to VCV to not mess up the normal pilot rotation.
There’s some brand new 777’s there now too waiting for pick up, a Jet Airways 773 and two 777 Freighters for China Southern. Send money.
Thanks for the heads up. All the freighters are still flying hard and guess they will continue right to the end. Wonder what the pilots based at ANC will do? There’s a 330 base at SEA or to stay on the 747 would have to commute all the way to DTW. The 747’s rule.
