Story and photos by Scott Jankowski
One area that is gaining in popularity and interest with airshow fans are the commercial airliners that visit AirVenture. This year saw several first time visitors as well as quite a few returning attendees. In this article we will take a look at these unique and special aircraft.
One of the first-time visitors to AirVenture 2026 was a Delta Airlines Airbus A350-941, registered N522DZ, manufactured at the Airbus Plant at Toulouse France. This Airbus was delivered in July 2024 as construction number 673 and wears the special LA28 Olympics Colors. This color scheme was designed to highlight the selection of Los Angeles California as the location for the 2028 Summer Olympic Games. A total of 731 of the widebody Airbus A350 have been built and can accommodate up to 350 passengers at a maximum range of 8,500 miles. This beautiful aircraft arrived from Atlanta Hartsfield International Airport in the morning on Tuesday and departed back to Atlanta at the end of the airshow.
Another first-time visitor that arrived on Sunday was N866DA operated by Gridiron Air, this is a 27-year-old Boeing 777-232ER. N886DA carries manufactures serial number 29738 and was manufactured at the Boeing plant at Everett Washington. This aircraft was originally delivered to Delta Airlines who operated it from 1999 to 2018 before retiring the type. Gridiron Air would acquire the aircraft in 2022 and operates the aircraft for the Arizona Cardinals Professional Football Team since March of 2025. This 777 is configured with 281 seats, 28 of which can be configured into beds, the cabin features state of the art refreshment stations, and a large lounge area which is perfect for inflight meetings. Other enhancements include additional noise cancelling materials throughout the cabin, mood lighting, and advanced air filtration systems. This widebody departed AirVenture on Monday after the airshow.
In honor of America’s 250th Anniversary this year, Southwest Airlines brough N1776R to AirVenture, a Boeing 737-8MAX, which wears a special color scheme to commemorate this historic occasion. This Boeing 737 was manufactured at the Boeing plant in Renton Washington as construction number 42701 and was delivered to Southwest in April of 2026. This aircraft is painted in a patriotic red, white, and blue color scheme with additional “1776 and Life Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness titles.” Southwest currently has 323 of the 175 seat 737-8MAX’s in service with another 177 on order. This aircraft arrived from Dallas Love Field on Wednesday and left for Milwaukee’s General Mitchell International Airport on Thursday.
Making a return visit this year was N167AN, a 10-year-old Airbus A321-231 operated by American Airlines which is better known as “Flagship Valor”. This Airbus first flew in July of 2016 and was manufactured at the Airbus Plant down in Mobile Alabama as serial number 7013. This 190 seat Airbus wears a special livery to honor recipients of the U.S. Medal of Honor and all members of the U.S. Armed Forces. This custom livery features a design that depicts major military conflicts, the 13 stars represent the original 13 colonies, with the light blue accents symbolizing the color of valor. The livery also contains the 6 elements associated with the Medal of Honor: Courage, Sacrifice, Integrity, Commitment, Patriotism, and Citizenship. This Airbus carried 100 veterans of the Vietnam War to Washington D.C. on Friday to tour their respective memorials.
Baron Aviation Services had N718FX a 1995 built Cessna 208B Super Cargomaster on static display for the week. This aircraft, serial number 208B0448 was built at the Cessna factory located at Wichita Kansas and is one 30 Cargomaster’s operated by the Vichy Missouri based airline. The single engine Cargomaster has a maximum payload of 3,700#’s and a range of 870 nautical miles. They operate out of such cities as Memphis Tennessee, Omaha Nebraska, and Evansville Indiana.
The Flying Bulls Douglas DC-6B, registered OE-LDM, built in 1958 made the journey from Salzburg Austria to Oshkosh Wisconsin this year. This VIP configured aircraft can carry 60 passengers in clusters of 2 and 4 blue leather seats along with a half moon couch in the aft portion of the cabin. This is the first time this DC-6B graced our skies since leaving the Santa Monica California factory.
As usual several Douglas DC-3’s can be seen around the AirVenture grounds. This year, NC17334 was parked in the vintage area of the grounds. This Douglas DC-3-6102 was manufactured in early 1937 as serial number 1920 and delivered to American Airlines on March 2nd, 1937 at the Douglas factory at Santa Monica CA. American Airlines operated this aircraft until 1947 when it was retired and sold. In August of 2004, the aircraft was located and purchased by the Flagship Detroit Foundation and after 18 months of restoration work this beautiful aircraft returned to the skies in all of its former glory. This aircraft can be seen at airshows all across the country painted and restored in its original 1930’s livery.
An annual AirVenture attender and provider of scenic flights around the Wittman Regional Airport area is a 1928 vintage Ford 5-AT-B Trimotor. This Trimotor serial number 8 was manufactured at the Ford Airport Factory Dearborn Michigan and wears the livery of TAT (Transcontinental Air Transport) which inaugurated westbound transcontinental air service on July 7th 1929. Today this aircraft is owned by the Liberty Aviation Museum since 2014 and is based out of Port Clinton Ohio.
While commercial airliners may not be as exciting as the warbirds or current military aircraft, they are a welcome and colorful addition to Boeing Plaza and the airshow grounds. Commercial airliners move millions of passengers and cargo every year and play an extremely vital role in the world of transportation and logistics and are often overlooked by most. Until next time, “Blue Skies To All!”
