A Look Back at April

The photos above were taken back in April and I thought it would be nice to share them with you. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Flying fish: JetBlue brings salmon, halibut on flights to Long Beach from Alaska

(Photo - Stephen Tornblom)

LONG BEACH - Up to 8,000 pounds of salmon, halibut and other perishables have joined passengers on JetBlue Airways' new daily flights from Anchorage, Alaska, to Long Beach.

But travelers concerned about touching down reeking of fish need not worry; seafood and other cargo are making the 2,300-mile trek stashed far below passenger decks in crates of ice, giant coolers and pallets.

The new freight service represents a partnership between JetBlue, Lynden International, Northern Air Cargo and Alaskan businesses looking to ship their wares to the Lower 48.

The JetBlue service, which began in late May and is scheduled to continue through at least Sept. 5, is helping alleviate a drop in flights from Anchorage in recent years, a decline blamed largely on the stumbling economy.

The first three flights carried several thousand pounds of Copper River Salmon and Alaskan Halibut - two of the globe's most highly prized seafoods.

And those figures are expected to climb in coming weeks as the peak catching season approaches.

"As the fishing season gets into full swing, we expect those volumes to increase substantially," said Carl Shipsky, JetBlue's manager of system cargo sales. "We're looking forward to serving our (Anchorage) customers and becoming an increasingly significant part of the supply chain to the fishing industry in Alaska."

Indeed, the potential market is huge.

Americans consumed about 300,000 metric tons of salmon in 2010, though much of it came from so-called salmon farms, or artificially produced lakes.

The Alaskan Copper River variety is a highly prized catch, and with North Atlantic halibut supplies depleting rapidly, the North Pacific variety is in greater demand than ever.

Ron Beach, a logistics manager with a seafood shipment company called Movers, told the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce that existing carriers had reduced flights, making the JetBlue connection all the more important.

Shipping frozen fish by ocean carrier from Alaska can take more than a week, and those varieties tend to sell for markedly less on the wholesale market.

JetBlue said it plans to ship up to 3.6 metric tons of seafood and other commercial cargo per southbound flight, though the number may vary depending on several factors.

"The (3.6 limit) are our per-flight goal numbers, but it depends heavily on our passenger and baggage load numbers, and on weather," said Mateo Lleras, a JetBlue spokesman.

Northbound flights are also expected to carry commercial cargo, but not anywhere near the volumes of goods headed south.

"The northbound lanes aren't utilized as heavily as the southbound lanes," Lleras said.

He said cargo in both directions is largely open to any business - large or small.

"We're open to accepting any type of cargo as long as it's not labeled as a hazardous material, dangerous good or (certain) personal effects," Lleras said. "But JetBlue transports any type of cargo for many different customers" unless prohibited by law.

The Alaska-Long Beach shipments represent JetBlue's growing interest in freight movement across the country. The airline has expanded to 33 the number of cities it offers cargo deliveries, while passenger routes are available to 65 cities.

The airline's fleet of Airbus A320 jets have up to 1,320-square-feet of cargo space for luggage and additional goods, less than the competitor Boeing 747, but enough to carry 2.5 tons to 3 tons per trip, said Edward McDonald, cargo system manager for JetBlue.

But pilots and air-traffic personnel ultimately call the shots on what does or doesn't get loaded.

"The available capacity is based on passenger and baggage load numbers, but also factors like weather," Lleras said.

Authorities hope the commercial cargo aspect to the new Long Beach-Anchorage route encourages JetBlue to expand their service beyond Sept. 5.

The Alaskan Chamber of Commerce notes thousands of Alaskans travel to Southern California during the long winter months for vacations and business purposes.

(Press Telegram - Kristopher Hanson)

JetBlue Starts Long Beach - Anchorage Service May 23rd

Yesterday JetBlue Airways started service from Long Beach to Anchorage, AK with one flight a day. The aircraft used for the inaugural flight was A320-232 N793JB (c/n 4647) "My Other Ride Is A JetBlue E-190". Below are some photos from the events in Long Beach and Anchorage.

(Photos by Stephen Tornblom)

Tuesday 5-17-11

Qatar Emiri Air Force C-17A A7-MAB (F-209) arrived at 12:15pm and parked at Signature.

JetBlue Airways N793JB (c/n 4647) "My Other Ride Is A JetBlue E-190" has been flying in and out of LGB for the last couple of days. The tail design is "Barcode".

Recent LGB Photos

(Photos by Stephen Tornblom)

New JetBlue Theme Plane "I Love Blue York" comes to Long Beach

I got lucky this morning when N586JB passed through Long Beach in the morning time. The plane is painted up in a special "I Heart Blue York" marking featuring the airline's co-branded trademark with New York State's iconic I LOVE NEW YORK tourism campaign and logo.

(Photos by Stephen Tornblom)

Newest JetBlue Tail Design "Building Blocks" comes to LGB

Yesterday JetBlue A320-232 N587JB ferried in from Roswell Intl Air Center (KROW) as JBU6402 and arrived at 11:56am. There was a small ceremony for JetBlue LGB employee Troy Bokosky who created the tail design in an employee contest over a year ago. N587JB will be the only airplane to wear this design.

Photos taken by Stephen Tornblom

Wednesday 1-19-11

Jetblue Airways Airbus A320 N583JB (c/n 2150) "Bluesville" was spotted wearing the new "Barcode" tail design and updated billboard titles.

New JetBlue tail design and NY Jets Plane at LGB

Sunday 5-30-10

Jetblue A320-232 N644JB (c/n 2880) was spotted wearing the new Blueberries tail colors and billboard titles.

Tuesday 5-25-10

Jetblue A320-232 N571JB (c/n 2125) and N580JB (c/n 2136) were both spotted and photographed this morning in the new "Blueberries" tail and billboard titles.

Sunday 5-23-10

Air Canada A320-211 C-GQCA (c/n 210) which wears the U2 colors, arrived as ACA7031 from Phoenix Sky Harbor Intl (KPHX) at 7:09pm and parked at AirFlite. The plane brought in the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team.

JetBlue A320-232 N570JB (c/n 2099) was noted as being repainted into the new "Blueberries" tail scheme and billboard titles. It should also be noted that N571JB (c/n 2125) departed LGB two weeks ago for Mexico to get repainted, so that plane should be back in service anytime now.

5-6-10

JetBlue Airways Airbus A320-232 N571JB (c/n 2125) ferried to Plan de Guadalupe Int'l (MMIO/SLW) as JBU6404 at 7:24am. The plane will be repainted there (most likely into the "Blueberries tail and billboard titles) and returned to service soon. I took the last recorded photograph of the plane in the original delivery colors this morning and will have the slides back within a couple of weeks.

JetBlue's 10th Anniversary A320 visits LGB

JetBlue Airways A320-232 N569JB (c/n 2075) "Blues Brothers" arrived as JBU285 from McCarran Intl (KLAS) at 7:05pm and departed back to McCarran Intl (KLAS) as JBU288 at 8:09pm. The photos above were taken with my cell phone which explains the poor quality.

JetBlue Celebrates 10 Years With Two New Tail Designs

Today JetBlue is celebrating 10 years of being in business and has introduces two new tail designs. The top two phtoos are the 10 year anniversary tail design which is on A320-232 N569JB. The second tail design is called "Building Blocks" and was created by JetBlue LGB crewmember Troy Bokosky and will be put on an aircraft later this year. More than 30,000 votes were tallied and this was the winning tail design. JetBlue will have celebrations and contests throughtout the year not only for their crewmembers but also for the JetBlue customers.

JetBlue "Blueberries" repaints

JetBlue has started repainted A320s with the new billboard titles and "Blueberries" tail design. The following aircraft have been spotted with the new titles and tail design: N534JB, N561JB, N562JB, N563JB, N564JB, N566JB, and N568JB. Updates will follow as planes are repainted.

JetBlue tests Winglets again on A320

JetBlue had a A320 N556JB testing winglets for Aviation Partners Inc (API) last month. The photos were taken at San Bernardino Int'l Airport (KSBD) on Janary 17, 2010. The plane is now back in Orlando and will be returned to service in the next week or so without the winglets. Aviation Partners Inc, (API) and JetBlue will now review the data collected from testing. Hopefully the results will show a fuel savings of 5-8% which is what JetBlue and API are hoping for. More updates to come later this year I am sure.

JetBlue Special A320s at LGB

Today we had both the Yahoo Blackberry A320, N651JB "Beta Blue" and the newly painted N561JB, "La Vie en Blue" at LGB. N561JB carries the new tail design called "Blueberries" with newer bigger titles on the fuselauge.

Monday 7-13-09

Two ARMY Blackhawk helicopters arrived at 7:30pm and parked at Signature. They departed at 8pm.

JetBlue Airways A320 N768JB (c/n 3760) was spotted tonight wearing the name of "Blue Crew" on the nose.

New JetBlue Theme Plane

A20-232 N779JB (c/n 3811) has had Real Salt Lake soccer team decals added to the aircraft to promote the soccer team and the sponsorship of JetBlue. The plane will have the decals for atleast one year.