TravelSkills

News and Tips For Your Trips

What the heck? Mystery papered plane

747 paper

A 747 all wrapped up and ready to go. But for whom? (Image: Matt Cawby / Paineairport.com)

Up near Seattle, there’s a feast for the eyes of aviation geeks at Paine Field. It’s a small airport located next to the Boeing Everett factory, which is the primary assembly location for Boeing’s biggest jets, the 747, 767, 777 and 787.

It’s also the place where Boeing “delivers” its big jets to airline customers with great fanfare.

When you are dealing with flying behemoths like 747s it’s tough to keep secrets. But based on the photo above, which has been circulating in aviation circles for the past few days, it appears that Boeing has something under wraps.

What could it be?

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Paine Field (PAE) is located next to Boeing’s massive Everett factory north of Seattle (Image: Wikimedia Commons)

Clearly what we see in the photo is a Boeing 747-8, the only 747 variant that Boeing still manufactures at Everett. This one is the -8f meaning it’s a freighter vs the -8i for passengers. (You can tell by looking at the shorter, non-extended bubble.)

But why the brown paper wrapping? Is it a gift for someone? Perhaps a big new cargo jet appropriately destined for the United Parcel Service fleet?

I reached out to a Boeing spokesperson to inquire about this, and he said, “We are making some adjustments to our 747 Everett paint process, and this airplane has been partially painted and awaiting the next paint phase.  The wrap is to protect the exterior of the airplane.”

Who’s it for, I asked. “We can’t disclose the customer,” he said.

So I asked Matt Cawby, who took the photo and put it on the PaineAirport.com website if he knew. His reply: “The airplane was in the paint hangar last, today it’s at the fuel dock. I have no idea why it is entirely masked off.”

In the end, it’s likely true that we’ve just caught a 747 in the middle of a paint job, but it sure makes you wonder!

So….what do YOU think? Would love to hear your comments and speculation about this strange brown bird!  
UPDATE!! Mystery solved when United Parcel Service tweeted about its new big bird:

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(Check out my Trip Report when Cathay Pacific took delivery of a shiny new B777from Boeing’s Everett factory here.)

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What’s smarter: Shipping or checking bags?

Screen Shot 2015-12-06 at 3.47.44 PM

Photo: Hernan Pinera / Flickr

About this time of year, frequent and infrequent travelers alike are faced with the hassle, uncertainty and expense of checking bags for trips home for the holidays.

Most frequent travelers reading this rarely check bags when on the road for business– and if they do, fees are likely waived due to elite status or credit card.

But for holiday trips home, bag contents frequently expand to include winter coats, formal wear, gifts and plenty of other extraneous items– especially if kids are involved.

Shipping bags via FEDEX or UPS sounds like a great idea until you look at rates. Shipping luggage is not cheap– or fast. To get rates that come close airline fees, you must ship via ground which can take three or five days to get across the country. And distance makes a big difference when it comes to rates. Plus there’s the time cost of schlepping bags to a FEDEX or UPS facility.

To test this, I checked with FEDEX to determine how much it would cost to ship a standard carry on-sized piece of luggage (10″x 14″x 22″) weighing 25 lbs. from a FEDEX store in Atlanta to New York City, Boulder, Colo. and San Francisco.

Then I compared it to airline baggage fees.

Regional- Atlanta to New York City:

$179 each way – Standard overnight delivery

$88 each way – Two-day delivery

$27 each way — end of second day home delivery

$25 airline checked bag fee

Long distance- Atlanta to Boulder, Colo.:

$188 each way – Standard overnight delivery

$132 each way – Two-day delivery

$32 each way – Three-day (ground) home delivery

$25 airline checked bag fee

Transcon- Atlanta to San Francisco:

$203 each way – Standard overnight delivery

$149 each way – Two-day delivery

$43 each way- End of fourth day (ground) delivery

$25 airline checked bag fee

Since airlines charge $25 for the first checked bag (except Southwest and JetBlue) and $35 for the second would you pay to ship your bag, or just check it with the airline and hope for the best?

NOTE: Be sure to click here to see all recent TravelSkills posts about: World’s largest passenger plane + Get on earlier flight without paying fee + New overseas plan from Verizon + Avoid surge pricing

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