Posted on 10/02/2005 4:14:38 PM PDT by Anthem
CLAY LACY AND CHAD SLATTERY / ALASKA AIRLINES
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| Alaska Airlines' "Salmon-Thirty-Salmon" is shown in flight Friday. The freshly repainted Boeing 737 was scheduled to make its first flight to Anchorage today. |
MIKE SIEGEL / THE SEATTLE TIMES
Air-brush artist Chris Coakley sprays a special mix of salmon pink as he works Sept. 23 at Goodrich Aviation Technical Services in Everett painting an Alaska Airlines 737, now called the "Salmon-Thirty-Salmon," to look like a giant king salmon. A team of 30 painters worked 24 days adorning the jet with the shimmering image. The average 737 takes about a week to paint.
E-mail article Print view Search Most e-mailed Most read RSS For years, thousands upon thousands of fish scooped from Alaskan waters have ridden quietly, anonymously, in the bellies of southbound Alaska Airlines jets.
You'd think all those frequent fliers would have earned an upgrade.
Now, though they haven't quite earned a spot in first class, the tons of salmon that have been a steady and lucrative source of income for the airline are finally getting some recognition: a giant king salmon portrait on the side of a plane.
"This 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 Gregg Saretsky, the Seattle-based carrier's vice president of marketing and planning.
It took a team of 30 painters 24 days to adorn the 120-foot-long Boeing 737 passenger jet with the shimmering likeness. The average 737 takes about a week to paint.
The plane already needed a new paint job, and Alaska Airlines covered about $75,000 of the tab, company spokeswoman Amanda Tobin said.
The federally funded Alaska Fisheries Marketing Board paid for the rest of the roughly $300,000 project, said Bill Hines, the board's executive director.
Hines, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration official, has led the board since Congress created it in 2003 to give Alaska's then-struggling salmon industry a boost.
"Three years ago, the salmon industry was at rock bottom. Now demand exceeds supply," Hines said during a recent tour of the Goodrich Aviation Technical Services plant in Everett, where the plane was being repainted.
Alaska Airlines is the only major carrier that flies into and out of many of the remote fishing outposts in Southeast Alaska. It expects to fly more than 30 million pounds of seafood from Alaska to the United States, Canada and Mexico this year.
Most of the fish, crab and other seafood caught in Alaskan waters is frozen before it's shipped, in which case there's no big rush to get it to buyers.
But there's growing demand for fresh, wild seafood — driven in part by reports about problems associated with farmed fish, including the use of pesticides, antibiotics and other potentially harmful chemicals.
"You can catch a salmon in Alaska waters, and within 24 hours you'll have it on a plate in New York City. We're pretty much the only airline that can do that kind of business," said Matt Yerbic, managing director for the airline's cargo operations.
Alaska Airlines is spending $15 million to convert five 737-400s to cargo configurations this year. The company expects that will allow it to ship more than 50 percent more fish, mail and other cargo annually.
The one-of-a-kind "Salmon-Thirty-Salmon," as the airline is calling the specially painted jet, will remain a passenger plane — a move designed to give it maximum exposure to potential seafood consumers.
Mark Boyle, the artist who designed the image, spent about a year working on it and said he's pleased with how it turned out.
"The challenge was to make it anatomically correct and fit the tube of an airplane," he said one recent morning as a crew prepared to paint the pink scales along the side of the jet.
After a celebration at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport yesterday, the plane was scheduled to make its first flight to Anchorage today, then hop to Cordova, Yakutat and Juneau.
After that, the plane will fly West Coast and other passenger routes.
I heard they painted it like a salmon, just for the halibut.
Damn! $375 grand to paint a fish on a plane. I'll do the next one for $300 grand.
It looks so good. I bet the same can't be said for your $300K effort. :-)))
Actually the total was $300k, of which Alaska Airlines paid $75k.
My first impression was, "way cool!" But $300,000 for that? Whew! How much does a standard paint job cost?
The “Salmon-Thirty-Salmon” aircraft features an original design by Mark Boyle, a Seattle-based wildlife artist who is also a recognized leader in the livery design of commercial aircraft. The project required three times as many hours to paint as the normal livery, using Mylar paint to create an iridescent look and airbrushing techniques to make the fish painting appear three dimensional.So Alaska Air probably contributed the going rate for a normal paint job, and you & I picked up the tab for the rest. Yep, that does stink like an old fish.
The article hints that the cost of a standard paint job for a 737 is $75,000. AA kicked in 75G's because the plane needed to be painted anyway.
ROFL..I was going to hire someone that knew what they were doing and split the $300 grand.
whoops! My bad...I'll drop my bid to a quarter mill...
And I bet you won't find any reduced fares on that airline!!
But it is beautiful, isn't it?
Nana
Problem is, the plane always wants to fly upwind.
they should be on the lookout for the Kodiak bear 737 waiting at 35,000 feet
Yep, that could get grizzly.
Uh oh. How long can salmon survive, flappin' around in the breeze? I'd be leery of flying over water in this bird.
I don't want to hear any grumbles about financial troubles for the airlines if they are spending money on such un-necessary things like this.
Then again, maybe Alaska Air is making a profit???
Something's fishy about this story...
"Problem is, the plane always wants to fly upwind"
LOL. Except that this is not just about possibly subsidizing a (probably Liberal) artist with a huge commission. It also relates to the possible commercial endorsement or partnership with an industry association. This is a flying billboard, as opposed to a flying fish. It's also a study in Sponsorship, er, spawnsorship....
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