The Wandering Disciple

A brand new Airbus A321neo flown by United Airlines lands at Southwest Florida International Airport. This landing marks the first visit by a United A321neo at RSW. The particular plane still sports a new plane smell as it has only been in revenue service for about a week.  The new engine option or NEO, is a redesigned A321 featuring a more efficient engine resulting in a smaller carbon footprint and a more comfortable cabin giving passengers a better in-flight experience. The A321neo launched in December 2023 and will be expanding as United has ordered 130 aircraft.  Taken: January 11, 2024 at Southwest Florida International Airport (Fort Myers, FL)

A pair of Boeing 737 Max 9's sit on the north ramp after being grounded by the Federal Aviation Administration. On January 5th, an Alaska Air Max 9 had a door separate from the fuselage resulting in a cabin decompression event and an emergency landing by the aircraft. Upon investigation, the FAA determined this was a dangerous condition effecting all Max 9's and forced the grounding of all Max 9's until the condition can be resolved by Boeing.  The Max aircraft is the latest next-gen aircraft made by Boeing. The aircraft while technologically advanced has had its share of problems. This is the second system wide grounding of the Max fleet. The previous grounding order effected the Max 8 series and the TCAS system failure that resulted in two crashes overseas.  Taken: January 8, 2024 at Southwest Florida International Airport (Fort Myers, FL)

New York is proudly represented on a United Airlines Boeing 757 on approach to Southwest Florida international Airport. Part of the Her Art Here art initiative by United Airlines, the artwork created by Corinne Antonelli features the Statue of Liberty, Brooklyn Bridge and New Jersey's Red Mill. The aircraft is one of two aircraft designed by women artists to spotlight women in the arts. (Photo: November 16, 2021)

A Boeing 737 Max 9 flown by United Airlines lands at Southwest Florida International Airport marking the return of the Max to Southwest Florida.  The fourth generation airliner developed by Boeing features more efficient engines, enhanced aerodynamic design and updated avionics.  But the aircraft suffered a technical defect which resulted in two fatal crashes and the entire fleet being grounded for over a year and a half.  The Boeing engineers corrected the problem and the fleet received its approval to fly again on November 18, 2020. This flight here was the first flight of the Max into RSW since the aircraft was recertified by the FAA.  (Photo: February 11, 2021)

Blue is the color of the day when it comes to the newest livery by United Airlines. Debuted in 2019 and the first United livery since the merger with Continental Airlines, the new scheme features three shades of blue Rhapsody Blue, United Blue and Sky Blue. The nose of each aircraft features United's new slogan "Connecting People, Uniting the World". Look for these new paint schemes to arrive at an airport near you as the fleet slowly converts to the new style. (Photo: November 2, 2020)

Today marked the forty year anniversary of United Airlines servicing Fort Myers and what better way to celebrate then hosting a retro aircraft at Southwest Florida International Airport. United Airlines pays tribute to the heritage of Continental Airlines in this special edition Boeing 737. Founded in 1937, Continental grew to become one of the nation's top airlines until a 2012 merger with United Airlines. Today United continues to remember the history of Continental by this special aircraft and by keeping the signature globe tail on the fleet. (Photo: December 13, 2019)

Sarasota, Florida: After taking a position with the fire department at neighboring Southwest Florida International Airport, I have not been back to my home airport Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport in quite some time. This weekend I found myself in Sarasota and made a stop by SRQ. Runway 14 was active and I went to my usual spot near the approach end of 14 and spent about an hour photographing movements. Here is a look at what I saw today: N107PF – Cessna Skylane  N166SA – Beechcraft Super King Air 300   N167TV – Gulfstream IV  N188RW – Piper Malibu Mirage  N324DX – Airbus A321 (Delta Air Lines)  N374NW – Airbus A320 (Delta Air Lines)  N384SH – Cessna Citation Excel  N395ZA – L-39 Albatros   N407YX – Embraer 175 (Republic Airways/American Eagle)  N424FX – Embraer Legacy 450  N424TP – Piper Saratoga  N643RW – Embraer 170 (Republic Airways/United Express)  N663AW – Airbus A320 (American Air...

The Force was strong in Tampa as the Star Wars themed Boeing 737 from United Airlines visited Tampa International Airport on Saturday. This special themed aircraft features the dark side on one side of the aircraft and the light side on the other. Look for this one of a kind aircraft coming to an airport near you. (Photo: November 9, 2019)

Tampa, Florida: On the way home from the zoo, I took a look at Flightradar24 and saw that the More to Love livery from Alaska Air was due into Tampa International within the hour so we decided to make a stop on the way home. During the hour waiting for it, I managed to shoot 27 aircraft with 21 of them being new to me. Included in today’s aircraft photographed are: HB-JHQ – Airbus A330 (Edelweiss Air)  N18NY – Gulfstream V  N197PQ – Canadair Regional Jet CRJ-900 (Endeavor Air) #  N211WN – Boeing 737-700 (Southwest Airlines)  N231JB – Embraer 190 (JetBlue Airways)  N247WN – Boeing 737-700 (Southwest Airlines)  N344AG – Saab 340 (Silver Airways)  N455WN – Boeing 737-700 (Southwest Airlines)  N493AS – Boeing 737-900 (Alaska Airlines/More to Love)  N520JB – Airbus A320 (JetBlue Airways) #  N550FX – Bombardier Challenger 300 (FlexJet)  N554NW – Boeing 757-200 (Delta Air Lines)  N648NK – Airbus A320 (Spirit Airlin...

Tampa, Florida:    While in the bay area today, we made a brief stop at Tampa International Airport.  Runway 19 was in use so I took a spot on the north side of the short term parking garage.  We were not there long but still managed to get nine new aircraft photographed in less than a half an hour.  Included in the group was an Embraer from Contour Airlines, my first for this airline.  Here is a look of what was seen during today's visit: C-GBHR – Airbus A319 (Air Canada Rouge)  N200WN – Boeing 737-700 (Southwest Airlines) #  N283WN – Beoing 737-700 (Southwest Airlines) #  N350AG – Saab 340 (Silver Airways)  N410UP – Boeing 757-200 (UPS)  N431UA – Airbus A320 (United Airlines)  N564WN – Boeing 737-700 (Southwest Airlines)  N630JB – Airbus A320 (JetBlue Airways)  N724SW – Boeing 737-700 (Southwest Airlines)  N751CX – Boeing 757-200 (Air Transport International)  N761RR – Boeing 737-700 (South...

Sarasota, Florida:   Caught a few hours of arrival traffic today at Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport.  The winds favored Runway 14 in use so I chose a spot at the approach side of Runway 14 near Erickson Marine.  This location at the dead-end of Somerset provide a great view of arrival traffic as well as some up close taxi views for the departing aircraft.  Here is a look at what I saw today: Piper Cherokee - N9614C   Bombardier Challenger 300 - N874WD   Airbus A319 - N310NV Cirrus Vision Jet - N348MW    Boeing 737-900 - N27477   Cessna Citation Excel - N632XL   Embraer Phenom 300 - N427QS   Airbus A320 - N547JB   McDonnell Douglas MD-88 - N947DL   Airbus A319 - N810AW   Embraer 175 - N429YX   Robinson R-44 - N60FM   Airbus A319 - N820UA McDonnell Douglas MD-88 - N983DL  

Tampa, Florida:    Took a morning trip to the zoo and traffic worked in my favor for once so I was able to squeeze in a little plane watching action at Tampa International Airport before the zoo opened.  For a busy airport, Tampa is very easy to watch at as the parking garage sits between both runway.  Today Runway 1 was in action so I parked on the south side of the 8th floor of the parking garage and watched a few planes come in.  Since its the holiday season, I got to watch a little cargo action today.  Here is a look at what I saw today: Boeing 737-800 - N17245 Boeing 767-300 - N331AZ Dassault Falcon 2000 - N25KZ Saab 340 - N435XJ Airbus A321 - N167US Boeing 737-700 - N448WN Boeing 737-800 - N940NN Airbus A321 - N708FR Saab 340 - N341AG Boeing 737-700 - N283WN Boeing 737-700 - N941WN Boeing 767-300 - N149FE Frontier Airlines - N317FR

Fort Myers, Florida: On a trip to Fort Myers, I managed to squeeze in some planespotting time at Southwest Florida International Airport. Here at RSW, there is an official observation area located along the north side of the airfield off of Air Cargo Lane. From here you have a view of the runway area, which is a single runway making it easy for spotting. Today Runway 6 was active, making for landing traffic in front of the observation area. Here is a look at what aircraft arrived or departed during my time at the airport: Boeing 717-200 - N893AT Airbus A320 - N329FR Embraer Legacy 6000 - N600LP Canadair Regional Jet CRJ-200 - N155MW Beechcraft Beechjet - N61GB Airbus A319 - N808AW Airbus A320 - N422UA Boeing 757-200 - N690DL Airbus A320 - JetBlue N643JB Airbus A320 - N402UA Embraer 190 - N296JB Boeing 757-200 - N696DL Airbus A319 - N831AW Boeing 737-800 - N970NN Boeing 767-300 - C-GHPE ...