The Copper River Salmon has arrived to Seattle on a Boeing 737-400 Combi.
It has become a yearly tradition to wake up before it gets light and head on down to Alaska Air Cargo at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) to welcome the season’s first Copper River Salmon. When that alarm goes off early in the morning, it is easy to question why would one get up so early to welcome
some fish?
Well, this is not just any fish, but many say one of the best in the world. There was huge fanfare as airline employees, media and guests welcomed the VIP salmon to Seattle.
That is one big fish. Judges, pilots and chefs show off the 55 pound salmon.
“We’re proud to be the first to bring wild and sustainable Copper River salmon to seafood lovers across the country, in many cases within 24 hours after the fish is caught,” said Torque Zubeck, managing director of Alaska Air Cargo. “With enhanced food quality procedures and additional flights to support the Alaska seafood industry, we are going the extra mile to deliver seafood that’s as fresh as possible.”
The captain has the privilege to grab the largest fish and take it off the aircraft. This year, he was able to find a whopper — 55 pounds.
Cooking salmon in the outdoors early in the morning at an airport -- what more does one need?
It is not just about welcoming some fish, but also to have an epic Alaska Air Cargo’s “Copper Chef Cook-off.” This year executive chef Pat Donahue from Anthony’s Restaurant, Jason Wilson of CRUSH and Wayne A Johnson of Ray’s Boathouse competed to make the best Copper River Salmon dish in just 30 minutes.
The large fish was taken to be filet, divided up and given to the chefs. Each restaurant has their own outdoor cooking station and are able to do their thing.
The judges have the hard job of eating salmon, drinking wine and making the big decision for the winner.
During the 30 minute cook time, guests were entertained by local celebrity Jon Curley. He interacted with the cooks, judges and guests who each donated 75,000 miles to Make A Wish Foundation to earn a ticket to the event. A total of 1.2 million miles were donated for the enve.
After the meals were prepared a panel of judges voted on the best. The judges consisted of Jay Buhner, Seattle Mariners Hall of Famer; Joanne Dunham, co-owner of Dunham Cellars; Gary Horner, senior winemaker at Erath Winery; and Bill Ayer, chairman of Alaska Air Group.
Pat Donahue from Anthony's Restaurant celebrates this victory for the third year in a row. Former Mariner Jay Buhner hands out the awards.
When everything was said and done the winner, for the third year in a row was Anthony’s Restaurant.
This is the third year that Alaska Cargo has celebrated the salmon and each year it seems to be a bit better. (See the events in 2011 and 2010)
Alaska Airlines flew nearly 25 million pounds of fresh Alaska seafood to the Lower 48 states and beyond last year, including nearly 1.8 million pounds of Copper River salmon. The airline flies a total of 115 million pounds of cargo annually.
View all 18 photos from the event this morning or check out all three recipes made this morning.
Come join us at 10am at the Paine Field Aviation Day at the Lockheed YO-3A. You can't miss it -- it is the little plane with six blades. Image from the Museum of Flight.
This Saturday will be the Paine Field Aviation Day. If you are planning on attending, I hope you can swing by at about 10:00am for a little Tweet Up. I know myself and Sandy with the Future of Flight will be there.
Let’s meet at the Lockheed YO-3A that will be on display at the event. It will be a big day for the YO-3A, since this will be its first public appearance after being restored by the Museum of Flight.
You can also follow along with the hashtag #PFAD12. Hope to see you there!
Being based in Seattle, this is such a beautiful photo. Can't until this is a common sight. Photo by Don Wilson / Port of Seattle. Click for larger.
On Monday, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner (ZA005) made a special visit to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA). The visit was to help prepare the airport and ground crews for future Dreamliner operations.
ZA005 was at SEA for about two hours completing a gate check, making sure the grew could operate the jet bridge, load cargo, plug in the aircraft and more.
All Nippon Airways (ANA) will be the first airline to start Dreamliner operations to and from Seattle later this fiscal year. Before then, they have announced their intention to start the flight to Narita (NRT) a bit earlier with a Boeing 777.
“We are delighted that we will be soon launching the Seattle-Tokyo service, our 7th gateway in the US,” ANA Seattle Office General Manager Toshio Nomura told AirlineReporter.com. “Originally, we had planned to operate this route with the Boeing 787 starting later this year, but felt that it is significant for us to come here, the home of Dreamliner, sooner and capture the summer demand. Because of that, we plan to use a 777 and transition to the 787 later in the year. ANA looks forward to having you on board to experience the high quality service we thrive upon.”
ZA005 taxis at Sea-Tac. Photo by Don Wilson / Port of Seattle. Click for larger.
Ground crew welcome the 787 to Sea-Tac. Photo by Don Wilson / Port of Seattle. Click for larger.
Ground crew practice loading cargo onto ZA005. Photo by Don Wilson / Port of Seattle. Click for larger.
N787FT sits at S-Terminal at SEA. Photo by Don Wilson / Port of Seattle. Click for larger.
Soon, it will be a common site seeing a Boeing 787 Dreamliner taking off from SEA. Photo by Don Wilson / Port of Seattle. Click for larger.
Alaska Airlines New Salmon-Thirty-Salmon, which will be put in service in the fall 2012. Image from Alaska. CLICK FOR LARGER.
Alaska Airlines and the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute have announced plans to make the world’s longest, flying King Salmon on a Boeing 737-800.
In 2005, the airline unveiled the first Salmon-Thirty-Salmon on a Boeing 737-400. That livery was retired and painted over last year. Those who were fans of the fish-themed livery were disappointed and I know I have been hoping for a second version since.
The ’œSalmon-Thirty-Salmon II’ will be nine feet longer and will feature salmon colored titles on the fuselage. Also, check out those scales on the winglets — not too shabby. Alaska plans to unveil the new salmon livery sometime this fall.
The first Salmon-Thirty-Salmon livery on a Boeing 737-400. Photo by Andrew Cohen.
’œThis airplane celebrates Alaska Airlines’ unique relationship with the people and communities of Alaska and underscores our air transport commitment to the state’s seafood industry,’ said Marilyn Romano, Alaska Airlines’ regional vice president of the state of Alaska. ’œBecause the new design will be featured on a larger 737-800, this 91,000-pound king will boldly promote the world’s finest seafood from the Hawaiian Islands to Boston and beyond.’
Speaking of Salmon, Alaska Airlines will be celebrating the first Copper River Salmon delivery with an early morning cook off this Friday. Once again, I will be getting up early to welcome the salmon and enjoy what the cooks are able to create.
After the Boeing 747-8I landed for the first time.
I have been doing this airline blog thing for about three and half years now. At the beginning I always struggled to answer the question, “so what does your blog do?” As time has gone on, I have gotten a bit better at it (at least I think), on describing what it is I do. Even though I have moved to cover aviation and travel, the main bread and butter is still airlines.
Figured I would share what some people have been saying about this blog and what it is I do exactly…
From Jon Ostrower with the Wall Street Journal (formally with Flight Global) and Addison Schoeland with AIG:
My blog recently won second place in FlightGlobal’s blog of the year contest and the two judges stated, ’œFrom trip reports to breaking news, Brown captures his enthusiasm and passion for aviation, taking his readers along for the ride. The Airline Reporter brand is synonymous with the community’s passion for aviation. Every post, every tweet is done with the same infectious energy that permeates the internet’s AvGeekdom.’
From Johnny who is Johnny Jet:
“I met David Parker Brown (aka the Airline Reporter) on Air New Zealand’s delivery flight from Boeing’s headquarters in Seattle. David’s a really cool guy and he is quickly making a name for himself in the aviation world. He seems to get invited on every delivery flight and he just did one a few days ago when he took RwandAir’s brand spanking new Boeing 737-800 all the way from Seattle to Rwanda. Since a 737 doesn’t have that much range, they had to make a few stops and I learned, by following his Twitter feed, that they stopped in Iceland and Istanbul on the way. If you like aviation, be sure to add David to your list.”
From Brett Snyder with CrankyFlier.com:
“David Parker Brown lives in Seattle and so you’ll see some of the local goings-on from his perspective. What I like about this blog is you often feel like David is learning right along with you. He’s enthusiastic, and it’s a unique perspective, so it’s fun to follow.”
From Scott McMurren with AlaskaDispatch:
“I’ve followed David’s updates at Airline Reporter for years. I finally met him on the tarmac at Sea-Tac last year to watch Alaska Airlines’ offload the first load of Copper River salmon. David’s blog is a great read if you’re an aviation nut (guilty!). He talks about new planes, new airlines, new paint jobs — and the business of flying planes.”
Thanks to everyone for their kind words. So how do I describe what I do myself?
I think the bottom line is I love aviation and airlines and I love to share that passion with others. I am glad that many of you are along for the ride!
