Originally Posted by
dckozak
Wrong direction. Management pilots only do deliveries from China, not to China. No publicity on returning Pandas. Expect Bao Bao to fly through the Memphis hub, like most freight doing a "hub turn" and head to Alaska with a whistle stop in Anchorage. The crews will all be reserves. No one will even take notice of Bao Bao riding on a belt in the hub, heading to the Anchorage flight.
According to the CNN Politics article, "Bao Bao will fly nonstop from Dulles, Virginia, to Chengdu, China, in a large crate aboard the custom-decaled 'FedEx Panda Express' 777F aircraft. She will be accompanied by a keeper and a veterinarian."
That means it will be a charter, which means it was put in open time, immediately frozen, and at the perfect time was unfrozen and picked up by ... well, we all know the rest.
.