Ian Kluft ✅✈️🎈🌋Dec 3
Sometimes it's hard to interpret what's going on with test pilots flying. Alaska's first 787 in the new livery #N784HA is returning to Charleston #KCHS 787 factory on a test flight. (It hadn't flown in 2 weeks so may be painted now.) It made a turn back to CHS from the middle of a circuit. Did they find a problem and abort? Maybe more likely it passed all planned tests and they decided to head back. If it's delivered soon then everything was fine. #Alaska787 #aviation #business #travel #avgeek
Show threadIan Kluft ✅✈️🎈🌋Dec 3
A sure sign the test flight of #Alaska787 #N784HA is going well and there was no urgent situation is the test maneuvers they continued to do on the way back to Charleston, including a go-around. They had more tests to do at low altitude. A separate question is who's flying. With the callsign Boeing 319, we know Boeing test pilots are on board. But Hawaiian/Alaska pilots could be doing a pre-delivery acceptance test flight. #aviation #business #travel #avgeek
Show threadIan Kluft ✅✈️🎈🌋Dec 6
Alaska is managing to not do what any avgeek expected. The first #Alaska787 in Alaska's new international aurora livery is on its delivery flight... to Los Angeles #KLAX? Arrival expected at 12:15pm US/Pacific. I was thinking Seattle. But now I think the Hawaiian Airlines 787 crew base hasn't moved from Honolulu to Seattle yet and that may be the next stop. Maybe relevant: tomorrow is a big day on the history calendar in Honolulu. https://www.flightaware.com/live/flight/N784HA/history/20251206/1510Z/KCHS/KLAX #B789 #aviation #business #travel #avgeek
Show threadIan Kluft ✅✈️🎈🌋
Thanks to AirlineVideosLive's YouTube feed, we now know #Alaska787 N784HA is not painted in the new livery yet. It landed at LAX in all-white. Carbon fiber 787s get a base coat of white which is equivalent purpose to the green protective coating seen on new metal planes before painting. So why did they fly it to LAX if it isn't ready to enter service yet? Maybe it is taking pax before paint? #KLAX #B789 #aviation #business #travel #avgeek
Dec 6 at 8:22pmWeb
Show threadIan Kluft ✅✈️🎈🌋Dec 7
Another snap from AirlineVideosLive's YouTube feed this morning: After 24 hours, #Alaska787 N784HA was seen being tugged across LAX Airport from a west-side remote gate to the east cargo ramp. Maybe loading cargo is why Alaska flew it to LAX before it's painted and ready to enter passenger service. If so, maybe cargo is something for it to do while waiting for a hangar to be ready for paint and equipment installation. #KLAX #B789 #aviation #business #travel #avgeek
Show threadIan Kluft ✅✈️🎈🌋Dec 8
Still curious why Alaska Airlines flew #Alaska787 #N784HA to LAX on its delivery. It should go where it gets paint/interior work. LAX seems expensive just to park. Avgeeks said Hawaiian had its first four 787s done at Kelly Field SKF in San Antonio. But Alaska didn't fly it to SKF. I don't know the plan - but one of the 2 bays in the Boeing paint hangar at PDX will be vacated soon by a Lufthansa 787 getting paint/interior. Nonzero chance but unlikely to use PDX after delivery. #aviation #avgeek
Show threadIan Kluft ✅✈️🎈🌋Dec 9
"All White: Alaska Airlines Receives 1st Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner At LAX" by SimpleFlying (Fediverse presence not found #FPNF - if you know them, invite them) - More info on #Alaska787 #N784HA arrival at Los Angeles #KLAX in all-white: it is parked temporarily at LAX until scheduled to get its Alaska Aurora paint in January. The original 4 Hawaiian 787-9s will be repainted in Alaska Aurora before Spring launch of Seattle to Rome & London flights. https://simpleflying.com/alaska-airlines-1st-boeing-787-9-dreamliner-lax/ #aviation #travel #avgeek
All White: Alaska Airlines Receives 1st Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner At LAX

A new jet arrives as a clean slate for the growing carrier.

Simple Flying
Show threadIan Kluft ✅✈️🎈🌋Dec 12
Continuing the saga of #Alaska787 #N784HA, it departed Los Angeles #KLAX as Alaska 9965 bound for Forth Worth Meacham Field #KFTW. There was no public info on what if any work was done during its 6 days at LAX. But Hawaiian has maintenance there. Screenshots of the departure from AirlineVideosLive on YouTube and from ADSB.lol. There is a paint hangar at KFTW, which is my guess where it's going. https://www.flightaware.com/live/flight/N784HA/history/20251212/1940Z/KLAX/KFTW #aviation #travel #avgeek
Show threadIan Kluft ✅✈️🎈🌋Dec 12
#Alaska787 #N784HA arrived at Fort Worth Meacham Field #KFTW and then taxied as expected to a paint hangar. When it comes out of the hangar, it should be the first plane in the new Alaska Aurora livery. We don't know when that will be, but probably not before Christmas. Let's keep alert for fellow planespotters when it emerges. #aviation #travel #avgeek
Show threadIan Kluft ✅✈️🎈🌋Jan 7
#avgeek alert: #Alaska787 #N784HA is headed to Seattle Boeing Field #KBFI from the paint hangar in Ft Worth TX #KFTW. https://www.flightaware.com/live/flight/N784HA/history/20260107/0040Z/KFTW/KBFI #aviation #travel #avgeek
N784HA Flight Tracking and History 06-Jan-2026 (KFTW-KBFI) - FlightAware

Flight status, tracking, and historical data for N784HA 06-Jan-2026 (KFTW-KBFI) including scheduled, estimated, and actual departure and arrival times.

FlightAware
Show threadIan Kluft ✅✈️🎈🌋Jan 7
#avgeek alert: #Alaska787 #N784HA arriving at Seattle Boeing Field #KBFI
#aviation #travel #avgeek
Show threadIan Kluft ✅✈️🎈🌋Jan 7
I hope someone got a better picture than the BFI webcam. By the time we all knew it was coming, there wasn't time for me to get to Seattle in rainstorm-commute traffic. But actually in Seattle the front passed and rain ended before the landing. ADS-B shows it taxied to a Boeing hangar. No surprise. Alaska doesn't have a 787-sized hangar at SeaTac yet. But Boeing has hangars big enough at BFI, considering that was the flight test base for the 787. #Alaska787 #N784HA #KBFI #aviation #avgeek
Show threadIan Kluft ✅✈️🎈🌋Jan 7
"Alaska Airlines to buy more than 100 Boeing jets in carrier’s biggest order ever" by CNBC / Leslie Josephs - #Alaska787 flew to Boeing Field #KBFI for a joint Alaska & Boeing announcement. Besides unveiling the new 787 livery this morning, Alaska ordered 105 737 MAX10s + 5 787-10s. CNBC asked Alaska Airlines CEO Minicucci what changed in 2 years since #AS1282. Boeing has regained trust. Alaska also has staff in the factory to verify. https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/07/alaska-airlines-boeing-order-737-10-dreamliners.html #aviation #business #travel #avgeek
Show threadIan Kluft ✅✈️🎈🌋Jan 7
"Alaska Airlines orders 110 Boeing jets, a record purchase to boost global service" by KOMO News (ABC Seattle) - Media are starting to post images from Alaska Airlines unveiling of #Alaska787 #N784HA in new Alaska aurora livery for international flights. The press event in a Boeing hangar at Boeing Field #KBFI in Seattle also announced the new order for 105 737 MAX10 + 5 787-10 planes for delivery from 2027 to 2035. https://komonews.com/news/local/alaska-airlines-orders-110-boeing-jets-a-record-purchase-to-boost-global-service-airplane-plane-travel-industry-manufacturing-international-america-arrival-departure-seattle-tacoma-international-airport-737 #aviation #business #travel #avgeek #PNW
Alaska Airlines orders 110 Boeing jets, a record purchase to boost global service

Alaska Airlines has made the largest aircraft order in the carrier’s history, purchasing 105 Boeing 737-10 jets and five Boeing 787-10 widebody aircraft as it p

KOMO
Show threadIan Kluft ✅✈️🎈🌋Jan 7
"Alaska Airlines welcomes first 787 widebody aircraft in new global livery", press release by Alaska Airlines - Official photos and time-lapse painting video released of #Alaska787 #N784HA, which were taken outside the paint hangar at Fort Worth Meacham Field #KFTW before departure for its Seattle unveiling. (There have not yet been blue skies in the normally-rainy #PNW since it arrived last night.) https://news.alaskaair.com/images-videos/alaska-airlines-global-livery/ #aviation #business #travel #avgeek
Alaska Airlines welcomes first 787 widebody aircraft in new global livery - Alaska Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines and Horizon Air

Alaska Airlines welcomed the first Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner painted in its new global livery. The exterior design draws inspiration from the natural wonder of the Aurora Borealis, featuring a palette of deep midnight blues and lush emerald greens that channel the aurora’s energy and spirit of the Alaska brand. Utilizing a new aircraft painting technology, it took artists nearly 1,000 hours across 13 days to paint the aircraft exterior from nose to tail. Photos by Alaska Airlines

Alaska Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines and Horizon Air
Show threadIan Kluft ✅✈️🎈🌋Jan 7
Alaska Airlines posted their #Alaska787 time-lapse painting video on YouTube, titled "The future of Alaska Airlines is here | Meet our first 787 Dreamliner" (56 sec) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWOkhS26GH4 #N784HA #aviation #business #travel #avgeek #PNW
The future of Alaska Airlines is here | Meet our first 787 Dreamliner

YouTube
Show threadIan Kluft ✅✈️🎈🌋Jan 8
Alaska Airlines currently only has plans for 787 routes from their headquarters hub in Seattle #KSEA. Once N784HA enters revenue service, Alaska will rotate Hawaiian's four 787-9s (N780HA - N783HA) for repainting to Alaska aurora livery before Seattle-Rome service begins in April. For now we'd only see some in Portland if they divert here like N783HA did on Dec 31. Hawaiian 787s are currently flying Seattle to Honolulu & Seoul. https://avgeek.social/@ikluft/115816368291110708 #aviation #business #travel #avgeek #PNW
Ian Kluft ✅✈️🎈🌋 (@[email protected])

Attached: 1 video Video of Hawaiian Airlines 787-9 #N783HA takeoff on PDX Runway 10L continuing to Seattle after diverting to Portland. Later in the takeoff and climb, Mount Hood is 40mi/65km in the background as the plane makes its left turn toward Seattle. It only climbed to 21,000ft before leveling off into one of the arrival corridors for Seattle. #aviation #travel #avgeek #PNW

AvGeekSocial
Show threadIan Kluft ✅✈️🎈🌋Jan 8
A new flight plan indicates #Alaska787 #N784HA entry into service flight will be tomorrow (Thu Jan 8) from Seattle #SEA / #KSEA to Tokyo Narita #NRT / #RJAA. So now we can tell the week it spent on the ground at LAX in December was fleet induction and readiness for service, pretty much as expected. Between now and then it has to fly from Boeing Field to Seattle-Tacoma Int'l, a distance of 5 nautical miles (6mi/9km). https://www.flightaware.com/live/flight/N784HA/history/20260108/2030Z/KSEA/RJAA #aviation #business #travel #avgeek #PNW
N784HA Flight Tracking and History 08-Jan-2026 (KSEA-NRT / RJAA) - FlightAware

Flight status, tracking, and historical data for N784HA 08-Jan-2026 (KSEA-NRT / RJAA) including scheduled, estimated, and actual departure and arrival times.

FlightAware
Show threadIan Kluft ✅✈️🎈🌋Jan 8
New #Alaska787 #N784HA is in flight on its entry-into-service flight from Seattle #KSEA to Tokyo Narita #RJAA . (link in previous post) And a friend pointed out that even before that took off, Hawaiian's oldest 787 #N780HA flew from Seattle to Fort Worth #KFTW to be repainted to Alaska. The other 3 are expected to get turns in the paint hangar before Seattle-Rome flights begin in late April. https://www.flightaware.com/live/flight/N780HA/history/20260108/1810Z/KSEA/KFTW #aviation #business #travel #avgeek #PNW
N780HA Flight Tracking and History 08-Jan-2026 (KSEA-KFTW) - FlightAware

Flight status, tracking, and historical data for N780HA 08-Jan-2026 (KSEA-KFTW) including scheduled, estimated, and actual departure and arrival times.

FlightAware
Show threadIan Kluft ✅✈️🎈🌋Jan 9
Alex Crail posted a nice photo of the newly-painted #Alaska787 #N784HA arrival at Seattle-Tacoma Int'l Airport #KSEA last night before its entry into service today. https://www.airliners.net/photo/Alaska-Airlines/Boeing-787-9-Dreamliner/8010593/L #aviation #travel #avgeek #PNW
Show threadIan Kluft ✅✈️🎈🌋Jan 19
I went for a day trip to Seattle today to try to catch the #Alaska787 #N784HA with Aurora Borealis livery. I got it! The weather was perfect except for unavoidable low sun angle of winter. The spot where I was for the landing didn't have ideal lighting and got the shaded side of the plane. #KSEA #aviation #travel #avgeek #PNW
Show threadIan Kluft ✅✈️🎈🌋Jan 19
I went for a day trip to Seattle today to try to catch the #Alaska787 #N784HA with Aurora Borealis livery. For the takeoff, I found a spot with better lighting, putting the late-afternoon setting sun behind me. #KSEA #aviation #travel #avgeek #PNW
Show threadIan Kluft ✅✈️🎈🌋Jan 28
Speculation has swirled about where Alaska Airlines will build a hangar in or near Seattle big enough for its widebody 787s & A330s. Their Seattle maintenance hangars are 737-sized. While plans at SEA are rumored, apparently their first new West Coast widebody hangar may be in Portland #KPDX. Presentation slides for Portland City Council show location. (It's adjacent to Alaska's Horizon subsidiary PDX maintenance base.) https://www.portland.gov/sites/default/files/council-documents/2026/01132026_A-ECmte_2026-016_E-ZoneBoundaryAmendment.pdf#page=16&zoom=page-fit,-180,1 #Alaska787 #aviation #business #travel #avgeek #PNW
Show threadIan Kluft ✅✈️🎈🌋Jan 29
Alaska Airlines completed repainting #N780HA, the 2nd of 5 #Alaska787 planes in Aurora Borealis livery. It flew from Fort Worth Meacham Field #KFTW to Seattle #KSEA this morning to re-enter service. It took 3 weeks for repainting. The next ones may take less time - filed and canceled flight plans looked like they wanted to get it out before last weekend's ice storm. At the same time, next plane in line #N781HA flew from SEA to FTW for repainting. https://www.flightaware.com/live/flight/N781HA/history/20260129/0925Z/KSEA/KFTW #aviation #travel #avgeek
N781HA Flight Tracking and History 29-Jan-2026 (KSEA-KFTW) - FlightAware

Flight status, tracking, and historical data for N781HA 29-Jan-2026 (KSEA-KFTW) including scheduled, estimated, and actual departure and arrival times.

FlightAware
Show threadIan Kluft ✅✈️🎈🌋Feb 9
Update: Portland City Council is considering zoning changes with tax incentives for Alaska Airlines' planned widebody (787, A330) maintenance hangar at Portland Int'l Airport #KPDX in exchange for job creation. Approved in committee on Jan 13, now on agenda for the full council Feb 12. [edit: postponed Feb 18] The new hangar would be adjacent to Alaska's regional Horizon Air division's existing maintenance facility. https://www.portland.gov/council/documents/resolution/enterprise-zone-boundary-amendment #Alaska787 #aviation #business #avgeek #Portland #PNW
Show threadLeightonJan 19
@ikluft Love the golden hour look on the plane. Livery looks really sharp on it but I would like more green than white personally
Show threadIan Kluft ✅✈️🎈🌋Jan 19

@Leighton I also think more of the aurora theme would have been nice. And I already know I was influenced by IcelandAir's Hekla Aurora.

But I can see how Alaska is keeping consistent with their regular livery with Chester the Eskimo (Alaska 737 MAX9 photo attached), which has the same amount of white up front around the logo. So I'll just give them that.

Show threadGeoffJan 9
@ikluft I think that looks great. Not sure what any of the negative fuss is. People just don't like change generally, maybe?
Show threadIan Kluft ✅✈️🎈🌋Jan 9
@strykeroz I've also seen mixed reactions. Some expectations need a reset. It's consistent with their narrowbody livery having white forward fuselage with the logo. The aurora on the tail fin & empennage have a dithered gradient effect which is better than expected for a livery on a fleet of widebody planes. Some people may have expectations of aurora based on IcelandAir's Hekla Aurora 757 - but that was hand-painted, which wouldn't work in this case. I think Alaska did fine for the constraints.
Show threadChilly  🛡️ Jan 8
@ikluft
Its so pretty  
Show threadIan Kluft ✅✈️🎈🌋Jan 8
@chillybot Definitely better out in sunlight than it was in the original computer renderings!
Show threadJ   Jan 7
@ikluft I don't know about that new livery. Kinda "meh". JMO, of course.
Show threadIan Kluft ✅✈️🎈🌋Jan 7
@j Using aurora on the #Alaska787 livery isn't a bad idea. Other Alaska regional themes might have been moose, salmon or crab, besides the Eskimo on their narrowbody fleet. Consider how popular IcelandAir's recently retired #HeklaAurora 757 was. But the IcelandAir special livery was hand-painted to get the detail that made it so popular. Alaska needed a simpler style to minimize cost and time to paint each aircraft. N784HA was in the paint hangar 3-1/2 weeks, which is normal for a widebody.
Show threadAviation LibrarianDec 8
@ikluft someone on blue sky seem to imply that it might have been flown there for a cargo run.
Show threadIan Kluft ✅✈️🎈🌋Dec 8
@Aviation_Librarian It's parked at the LAX east cargo ramp right now. So count me also among the ones who speculated about cargo. But after it has sat for 2+ days, now I dunno. So that's why for now I changed it to "just to park". We'll see if it moves after the PDX paint hangar vacates. The LH 787 just posted a flight plan leaving at 5pm. (But they never go quite on schedule out of the paint hangar.)
Show threadManc AvGeekDec 7
@ikluft Several years ago, Jet2 had a bunch of brand new 738s delivered new from Boeing to Manchester, some in the grey and red livery, some all white with blue tails but no titles or sunburst logo on the tail, and some in all white - and they all did several revenue flights before going in to finish being painted.
Okay, so apparently that was because Boeing didn't want to upset another of their customers by painting the Jet2 planes in a very similar livery (compare the Jet2 Holidays livery to Allegiant!), but still...