All you delivery prognosticators had me thinking it's unlikely our pre-owned Lion Air 737-900s would be ready for summer 2022 flying. However, I have it on good authority (top men) that the first iteration of the transitioning 29 aircraft fleet arrives in HNL tomorrow, July 20, at 13:10 local. It's probably in motion right now, but I could not locate it on any of the flight tracking web sites. Routing is said to by Kuala Lumpur, Guam, Honolulu and onward to the mainland. It will be piloted by Malaysians working for Malindo Air, a Lion Air subsidiary. Said Malaysians will fly it out of HNL for LAX (next day I think) with two Delta pilots performing acceptance tasks enroute. Ok, it's not top men. I overheard the Delta ferry pilots making some arrangements in LAX ops. Talk seemed to indicate that delivery of all 29 would be a steady roll beginning now. I meant to talk to the ferry pilots, but they disappeared before I had a chance.

So there you have it, a verified crew lounge rumor. I'll bet my rumor gets validated with sightings at a mainland airport this week; PK registration, if not still in full Lion Air colors. Or, will another accelerated action lead to planes showing up freshly painted in Delta Colors? Lots of MROs and paint at the two Kuala Lumpur airports. Subang handled a lot of repaints of NW ships post-merger.

 

No surprise the aircraft will physically be in Delta possession so but those planes will require a lot of work before entry into service at Delta. Probably full C check, completely new interior and IFE rewiring, HUDs installed, cockpit reconfigured to Delta standard, Viasat installed, Scimitar installed, Paint etc etc. Maybe on the next town hall somebody can ask how long will it take to turn over each plane.

Sent from my SM-N986U using Tapatalk

 

I’m sure the cockpit will get a full refresh too. You know how EB worries about pilots work environment…..

😳

 

FIFY. Anyone see the pictures of the fingernails on the audio panel the other day? Or what about the clump of lettuce on the center console?

 

9M-LNL about to land in PGUM from WMKK.

 

Any idea how old that aircraft is?

 

Manufacturer Serial Number (MSN)
38736
Line Number
4592
Aircraft Type

• Built as
• Boeing 737-900ER

Age
7.9 Years
Test Registration
N1786B
Production Site
Renton (RNT)
Airframe Status
Active

 

https://www.flightradar24.com/data/a...m-lnl#287aaae4

Seems to be on it's way - landed in San Bernardino yesterday.

 

Another A350 showed up on the Delta fleet on Planespotters under the "Due" column. That is number 19

 

Large AE in the works (non 365) this fall to accommodate the new tails on top of normal staffing needs.