I just opened Planefinder over SFO and I noticed N667US descending from FL 210 to 170 just north of SFO as if it's headed there. Planefinder lists it as DL8966 from VCV to EIL. That makes no sense at all.
So what's going on?
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- DocLightning
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What's N667US Doing?
-Doc Lightning-
"The sky calls to us. If we do not destroy ourselves, we will one day venture to the stars."
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"The sky calls to us. If we do not destroy ourselves, we will one day venture to the stars."
-Carl Sagan
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- emanwingnut
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RE: What's N667US Doing?
Planefinder, FlightAware, and Flight Radar24 often glitch and I've seen similar things in the past.
A mile of highway will take you a mile. A mile of runway will take you anywhere.
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- DocLightning
- Posts: 21980
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RE: What's N667US Doing?
It seems to be coming from Boston. Sports charter?
-Doc Lightning-
"The sky calls to us. If we do not destroy ourselves, we will one day venture to the stars."
-Carl Sagan
"The sky calls to us. If we do not destroy ourselves, we will one day venture to the stars."
-Carl Sagan
RE: What's N667US Doing?
N667US is operating as DL8966 from BOS. N664US also operated from BDL a little while ago. Anyone know why two DL B744s fkew to SFO today?
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- flyDTW1992
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RE: What's N667US Doing?
What I do know is that both 667US and 663US overnighted at DTW maintenance last night and flew DoD charters today.
Now you're flying smart
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- DocLightning
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RE: What's N667US Doing?
| Quoting flyDTW1992 (Reply 4): What I do know is that both 667US and 663US overnighted at DTW maintenance last night and flew DoD charters today. |
Clarify: N663US or N664US? N664US is in SFO right now.
And why would the DOD be chartering a 744 from BOS to SFO? Let alone two?
-Doc Lightning-
"The sky calls to us. If we do not destroy ourselves, we will one day venture to the stars."
-Carl Sagan
"The sky calls to us. If we do not destroy ourselves, we will one day venture to the stars."
-Carl Sagan
RE: What's N667US Doing?
| Quoting DocLightning (Reply 5): And why would the DOD be chartering a 744 from BOS to SFO? Let alone two? |
Flights are designated military charters (by the flight number sequence). One charter arrived from BDL, the other from BOS. Maybe on R&R for the SJC Sharks game on the ice rink at Levis Stadium....one way to help fill the place.
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- flyDTW1992
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RE: What's N667US Doing?
| Quoting DocLightning (Reply 5): |
Ah my mistake. All three, 663, 664, and 667 were at DTW overnight. 663 is on a revenue flight as we speak. Other two were supposedly on military charters today. As for why BOS and SFO, I can't say with any certainty.
Now you're flying smart
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- northwestEWR
- Posts: 1974
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RE: What's N667US Doing?
The 747 fleet has had a lot of downtime lately. Plenty of charter work and it's the time of year where maintenance and modifications can be done before the busy summer season.
6301 is spending the weekend on the ground in NRT.
6302 is overnighting in DTW.
6303 is enroute to PVG as DL583.
6304 ferried to BDL, live military charter to SFO, will ferry to MSP and sit for a while. Could be in maintenance, I don't have that schedule in front of me.
6305 is doing DL579 HNL-NRT.
6306 is on DL275 DTW-NRT.
6307 ferried to BOS, operated as a live military charter to SFO, will spend the night there and then operate an empty ferry back to DTW.
6308 is about to leave ICN for DTW as DL158
6309 is undergoing a heavy check in PVG
6310 has been in MSP for a while, possibly in maintenance and will position to DTW tonight as DL9935
6311 and 6312 are in storage at MZV--without having the maintenance schedule up, I believe these are due for a heavy check but may be traded out for older frames depending on market conditions. They are still flyable.
6313 is DL277 HNL-KIX
6314 is DL159 DTW-ICN
6315 is departing MNL for NRT as DL276
6316 is in the same boat as 6311 and 6312
6301 is spending the weekend on the ground in NRT.
6302 is overnighting in DTW.
6303 is enroute to PVG as DL583.
6304 ferried to BDL, live military charter to SFO, will ferry to MSP and sit for a while. Could be in maintenance, I don't have that schedule in front of me.
6305 is doing DL579 HNL-NRT.
6306 is on DL275 DTW-NRT.
6307 ferried to BOS, operated as a live military charter to SFO, will spend the night there and then operate an empty ferry back to DTW.
6308 is about to leave ICN for DTW as DL158
6309 is undergoing a heavy check in PVG
6310 has been in MSP for a while, possibly in maintenance and will position to DTW tonight as DL9935
6311 and 6312 are in storage at MZV--without having the maintenance schedule up, I believe these are due for a heavy check but may be traded out for older frames depending on market conditions. They are still flyable.
6313 is DL277 HNL-KIX
6314 is DL159 DTW-ICN
6315 is departing MNL for NRT as DL276
6316 is in the same boat as 6311 and 6312
Northwest Airlines - Now You're Flying Smart
RE: What's N667US Doing?
I'm looking at ATL - AMS flights and saw that DL 72 is being operated by a 747-400 in mid-April. There are also some DTW-AMS flights that are 747s. Seems like a lot of lift for those routes. Is this because of the downgauge of JFK-TLV and the Japanese hub or is there some other reason?
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- DocLightning
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RE: What's N667US Doing?
| Quoting northwestEWR (Reply 8): will spend the night there and then operate an empty ferry back to DTW. |
Why not sell seats?
-Doc Lightning-
"The sky calls to us. If we do not destroy ourselves, we will one day venture to the stars."
-Carl Sagan
"The sky calls to us. If we do not destroy ourselves, we will one day venture to the stars."
-Carl Sagan
RE: What's N667US Doing?
| Quoting DocLightning (Reply 10): Why not sell seats? |
Because DoD will pay for the empty positioning flight back to base. Most mil charters begin and end with empty legs.
RE: What's N667US Doing?
| Quoting Flyer732 (Reply 11): Quoting DocLightning (Reply 10): Why not sell seats? Because DoD will pay for the empty positioning flight back to base. Most mil charters begin and end with empty legs. |
You mean the tax payers will... :-
The opinions I post are of mine and mine alone, not of the airline I work for.
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- mtnwest1979
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RE: What's N667US Doing?
| Quoting CV880 (Reply 6): Flights are designated military charters (by the flight number sequence). One charter arrived from BDL, the other from BOS. Maybe on R&R for the SJC Sharks game on the ice rink at Levis Stadium....one way to help fill the place. |
Looks full to me lol.
Id like to see Florida-TB at Orlando some year.
As 747s seem to be slowly going away, when the final pax flight finally comes, I wonder how much tickets will go for on that!?!?!
Riddle: Which lasts longer, a start-up airline or a start-up football league?
RE: What's N667US Doing?
| Quoting northwestEWR (Reply 8): 6311 and 6312 are in storage at MZV--without having the maintenance schedule up, I believe these are due for a heavy check but may be traded out for older frames depending on market conditions. They are still flyable. 6316 is in the same boat as 6311 and 6312 |
I took this pic at MZJ on Feb 7. 6316 is missing engines.
“Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, an
RE: What's N667US Doing?
That is a sad, sad, SAD sight above...
Tchau
DA-
Tchau
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They don't call em' emergencies anymore. They call em' Patronies.
RE: What's N667US Doing?
| Quoting KaiGywer (Reply 14): |
Engines could be taken off for use as spares, or they could also have been taken off for maintenance/repair. In this case, perhaps they took 6316's engines first because this aircraft happened to be the youngest 744 in DL's fleet, and they did not reinstall the engines because this particular aircraft is currently not scheduled to return to service soon. However, I would still be very surprised if they somehow decided to tear up N676NW/6316 before 2020 or so...
[Edited 2015-02-21 22:59:40]
Long live the Boeing 747!
RE: What's N667US Doing?
| Quoting DocLightning (Reply 10): Why not sell seats? |
One reason could be the lack of available cabin crew (inbound crew may be rostered on other revenue flights) or a scheduling decision made too late to sell tickets.
Yet another reason is the potential revenue doesn't justify the cost of opening the flight to passengers. Letting passengers on board involves more than adding cabin crew, it includes ground crew, gate staff, catering (however limited), etc... Two of the three SFO-DTW flights scheduled for tomorrow have available seats in both cabins. Adding a fourth flight may only increase cost without increasing demand significantly. An equipment swap is not always an option. The regularly scheduled aircraft may be needed at destination no matter what to operate another flight.
As strange as it seems, flying a plane empty may be the least expensive solution.
| Quoting Flyer732 (Reply 11): Because DoD will pay for the empty positioning flight back to base. Most mil charters begin and end with empty legs. |
No one "pays" for positioning flights, at least directly. The DoD is paying for a charter flight from BOS to SFO. Up to the airlines bidding for the contract to include enough in their quote to cover the cost of positioning the plane before and/or after the flight as necessary. Whether the plane is positioned empty or as a revenue flight is of no concern to the DoD.
As is the case with just about any other charter.
[Edited 2015-02-21 23:26:46]
RE: What's N667US Doing?
| Quoting blueflyer (Reply 17): No one "pays" for positioning flights, at least directly. The DoD is paying for a charter flight from BOS to SFO. Up to the airlines bidding for the contract to include enough in their quote to cover the cost of positioning the plane before and/or after the flight as necessary. Whether the plane is positioned empty or as a revenue flight is of no concern to the DoD. |
Unless its changed since I was handling/working DoD charters, we were always paid to position the aircraft back to base, or if it was overseas we were paid to send it to the first port in the US. In the fluid charter business we could change tails assigned to the trip multiple times, along with the routing to fly the charters following, and no matter where it went the ferry legs costs were covered.
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- DTWPurserBoy
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RE: What's N667US Doing?
"Military Charters" covers a lot of turf. It could be a plane full of active military personnel positioning for a deployment or it could be a plane full of spouses, children and other dependents flying to move with their spouses. Sometimes it is just chartered to carry high priority freight.
The DoD puts out a proffer and airlines bid on it--but some carriers are not eligible to bid because of safety issues, chronic issues with mechanicals, delayed or cancelled flights or sometimes just enough complaints from the passengers. The military places "ghost riders" on these flights to make sure that they standards they are paying for are met to the letter--i.e., water offered every so many minutes, hot meals every so many hours of flight, snacks the same, disposable diapers and things to keep children busy. They do not hesitate to pull a carrier off their authorized list due to past problems.
In about a100 mile radius of SFO there are numerous military training schools--when I was a student in Monterey we had to fly into SFO because the plane was too big to land at the airport in Monterey and we were bussed down the coast.
The DoD puts out a proffer and airlines bid on it--but some carriers are not eligible to bid because of safety issues, chronic issues with mechanicals, delayed or cancelled flights or sometimes just enough complaints from the passengers. The military places "ghost riders" on these flights to make sure that they standards they are paying for are met to the letter--i.e., water offered every so many minutes, hot meals every so many hours of flight, snacks the same, disposable diapers and things to keep children busy. They do not hesitate to pull a carrier off their authorized list due to past problems.
In about a100 mile radius of SFO there are numerous military training schools--when I was a student in Monterey we had to fly into SFO because the plane was too big to land at the airport in Monterey and we were bussed down the coast.
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- northwestEWR
- Posts: 1974
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RE: What's N667US Doing?
| Quoting 747WanSui (Reply 16): Engines could be taken off for use as spares, or they could also have been taken off for maintenance/repair. In this case, perhaps they took 6316's engines first because this aircraft happened to be the youngest 744 in DL's fleet, and they did not reinstall the engines because this particular aircraft is currently not scheduled to return to service soon. However, I would still be very surprised if they somehow decided to tear up N676NW/6316 before 2020 or so... |
The engines are likely on another ship right now or in overhaul. The aircraft may not be fly able today but with a weeks notice it could be back in the fleet. I would be very surprised to see these airplanes stay in MZJ.Northwest Airlines - Now You're Flying Smart