Xiamen's B-1970

Xiamen Air is taking delivery of B-1970 (c/n 39903, l/n 4981) this morning. The 737-85C is making its delivery flight from BFI as CXA1970, and will overnight at HNL.

Sorry, we were unable to get a photo of B-1970 at HNL, but Steven Bailey got it at BFI.

Hawaiian Adds LAX Seasonal Service

Hawaiian Airlines will be adding winter seasonal 767-300 LAX service to HNL and OGG. The airline is adding one extra flight (four times weekly) to both Hawai‘i airports, though during Thanksgiving week, the LAX-OGG extra flight will be daily.

Further information in this Hawaiian Airlines press release.

Six 737 Airframes In Derailment

A train carrying six 737NG fuselages, and components for 747s, 777s, and 787s, from Wichita, KS to Renton, WA, derailed at Rivulet, MT today. Of the six 737 airframes, four were dislodged from their train beds, and three fell along the banks of the Clark Fork River. It is not known at this time which line numbers, nor airlines, were assigned to these airframes.

The photos do show those at the river bank are 737-800s and a 737-900. Upon closer at one of the photos, it appears that the line number on the fuselage is 50__.

Here are the affected airframes:
5030 | N8643A | 42524 | Southwest Airlines | -8H4
5031 | HS-DBR | 43420 | Nok Air | -86N
5032 | N8644C | 35973 | Southwest Airlines | -8H4
5033 | N955NN | 31199 | American Airlines | -823
5034 | B-1971 | 39904 | Xiamen Air | -85C
5035 | B-1972 | 37620 | Shenzhen Airlines | -87L

Further details in this Aviation Week article.

Photos of the derailment from Seattle's KING5.

Happy Independence Day!

Wishing you all a Happy Independence Day, as we celebrate the USA's 238th birthday!

Mokulele Commences JRF Flights

Mokulele Airlines began their JRF-OGG service today. N856MA made the inaugural flight this morning. A Hawaiian blessing was held prior to boarding.

Further details in this KHON2 News article.

Editorial Note

We contacted Mokulele Airlines, and requested if we could attend today's event. They responded that they would put us on the media list. When we sought an update from Mokulele regarding the time of the event, the airline did not respond. Therefore, we did not attend the event.

US Airways' N707UW

Our July edition of "HNL RareBirds Classic" features N707UW (msn 949), a former US Airways A319-112, that ferrying through HNL in November 2005, on its way to a new lessee.

949 was originally purchased by GECAS in January 1999, then leased to US Airways as N707UW. In March 2006, it was leased to United Eagle Airlines [EU/UEA] (China) as B-6155. The airline changed its name to Chengdu Airlines in 2010, and B-6155 remained under the new name. In June 2012, it was leased to Hamburg Airways as D-AHHE. In April 2013, TAME [EQ/TAE] (Ecuador) acquired this A319, and registered it as HC-COF.

RIMPAC 2014

RIMPAC 2014 has officially started! This is the 24th running of the biennial here in Hawai‘i. The exercise that began on the 26th of this month and will run until August 1. The U.S. Pacific Fleet Command will host 22 Nations, 55 naval vessels, and 200+ aircraft here in Hawai‘i for the largest maritime exercise in the world. (For a list of participants, click here).

American Decides To Put New Livery on 757s

American Airlines announced that they will paint 757-200s from both the American and US Airways fleets into the new American livery. It had been previously reported that the 757-200s, like American's MD-80s, would be phased out. But the carrier changed their mind, as it appears the 757-200s will remain in the fleet longer than intentioned. The US Airways 757-200s will be the first ones to be re-painted.

Regarding Hawai‘i, American uses their 757-223s for all of their flights to/from LAX, and US Airways uses their 757-2B7s for all of their flights to/from PHX.

Further details in this World Airline News report.


Editorial Note
It's not certain if the US Airways A320 legacy liveries will disappear. The American retro liveries on the 737-823 and 757-223, will probably be the last to be repainted. Considering the amount of airlines that has formed American Airlines, it would be nice to see full retro liveries, with an "Operated by American Airlines" decal by the L1 and R1 doors.

US Airways was formed out of mergers with America West Airlines, Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA), Piedmont Airlines, and Allegheny Airlines. It would be great to see those liveries live on, even the older PSA and AWE liveries, as well as the multi-red US Air livery on the A320 fleet.

American formed out of mergers with Trans World Airlines (TWA), Air California (later AirCal), and Reno Air. It would be great to see a 767-300 and 757-200 in TWA liveries, and AirCal and Reno Air liveries on 737-800s.

Shanghai's B-2631

Shanghai Airlines is returning B-2631 (c/n 28212, l/n 35) to ILFC, with a ferry flight as CSH2631, and is wearing an all-white livery. The flight is routed from PVG to TUS, with stops at SPN, MAJ, and HNL.

The 737-7Q8 was originally delivered to Shanghai in April 1998. It received the current 2007 livery sometime in late 2011 or early 2012.

Hawaiian's N373HA

Earlier this month, Hawaiian took delivery of its 18th A330-243. N373HA (c/n 1530) is named Kūkalani‘ehu, after the constellation Aries. The delivery flight from TLS arrived at SEA, on June 17th, as HAL9975.

On a side-note, the registration N371HA belongs to a privately owned Bombardier Challenger 300. Searches for N372HA shows it once belonged to a Shorts 330 that flew with Hawaiian back in 1979.

Garuda's PK-GNJ

Garuda Indonesia is taking delivery of their third 737-800 within the past twelve days, this morning. PK-GNJ (c/n 40967, l/n 4969), a 737-7U3, is making its delivery flight from BFI as GIA8011, and will make a brief fuel stop at HNL, before continuing onto KSA.

Malaysia's 9M-MXV

Today, Malaysia Airlines is taking delivery of their second 737-8H6 this month. 9M-MXV (c/n 40159, l/n 4964) is making its delivery flight from BFI as MAS5473, and will overnight at HNL.

Aloha Air Cargo's N841AL To Leave The Fleet

With the addition of its first of two 737-330SFs' to Aloha Air Cargo's fleet, N841AL (c/n 23123, l/n 1042) has been withdrawn from use after 8 years of flying in the Hawaiian skies.

This 737-2X6C was delivered new to MarkAir in August, 1984 as N672MA. It then went to code-share turned competitor, Alaska Airlines in April 1994 as N746AS. Flying with Alaska Airlines for 14 years, it was sold to BCI Leasing in January, 2007. In May of the same year, it was leased to Aloha Airlines, and had its registration changed to N841AL a few months later (below). After the shut down of Aloha Airlines in March 2008, it was one of the few combis' to remain in Hawai‘i to fly with Aloha Air Cargo (bottom).

Garuda's PK-GNH

Garuda Indonesia is taking delivery of PK-GNH (c/n 40547, l/n 4961) this morning. The 737-8U3, leased from Aviation Capital Group, is making its delivery flight as GIA8011, and will make a brief fuel stop at HNL, before heading off to KSA. This Garuda's second 737-800 delivery within the past four days.

UNI Air's B-17911

UNI Airways [B7/UIA], EVA Airways' regional subsidiary, is ferrying one of their five MD-90-30s to the mainland. B-17911 (c/n 53535, l/n 2158) is ferrying from TPE (via GUM, MAJ, HNL, and LAX) to BYH [Arkansas International Airport, Blytheville, AR] as EVA90. Unfortunately, this will be the last flights this MD-90 will make, as it was purchased by Delta Air Lines, but will be used for parts.

B-17911 was delivered to UNI Air in November 1996, and has been with the airlines ever since. Plans are to replace the five MD-90s with A321s and ATR72-600s.

Garuda's PK-GHW

Garuda Indonesia is ferrying PK-GHW (c/n 25039, l/n 2007) to the mainland as GIA8001. The 737-3M8 is routed from CGK to GYR (via CEB, GUM, MAJ, HNL, and VNY). As seen above, most of the livery has been whited-out, except for the rudder, which has the old 1990s livery.

25039 was originally delivered to Trans European Airlines (Belgium) [HE/TEA] as OO-LTJ in March 1991, until the airline ceased operations eight months later. During that time is was leased to TEA Switzerland from May to October. In March 1992, OO-LTJ became part of EuroBelgian Airlines [BQ/EBA], and was assigned to Air Provence Charters [LPU]. In November 1996, it was leased to Frontier Airlines [F9/FFT] as N303FL, Wells Fargo Bank Northwest. In December 2004, it was leased to Sundowner LLC, where it was used as a prisoner transport for the US Marshall's Service. In July 2008, it was leased to Garuda Indonesia as PK-GHW.

China Southern's B-1955

China Southern Airlines is taking delivery of B-1955 (c/n 39825, l/n 4959) this morning. The 737-81B is making its delivery flight from BFI as CSN19, and will overnight at HNL. This is their third 737-800 delivery within the past 13 days.

Garuda's PK-GNI

Garuda Indonesia is taking delivery of PK-GNI (c/n 41267, l/n 4957) this morning. The 737-86N, leased from GECAS, is making its delivery flight from BFI as GIA8011, and will make a brief fuel stop at HNL, before continuing onto KSA, then CGK.

JAL's JA8981

Japan Airlines is ferrying JA8981 (c/n 27364, l/n 23) today, to GYR for storage, as JAL8131. It made a stop at HNL from HND, on its ferry flight. It was spotted here, in an all-white livery. This was their first 777-246.

Further details on the history of JA8981 from Zipangu Flyer.

Some photos from Japan Airlines' Facebook post. However, the text is in Japanese.

China Eastern Orders 80 737s

China Eastern Airlines announced today, that they are ordering and purchasing 80 737s. The combined total is comprised of both the current 737NG and the new 737MAX models, though no specifics were given as to which variant and its quantity. This order will keep CES 737 deliveries stopping through HNL til at lease 2020.

Further details in this Flightglobal article.