2021 Aviation Week Photo Contest Editors’ Picks: Commercial

The 2021 Boeing Classic golf tournament ended in dramatic fashion on Aug. 22 as the first 777X N779XW performed a low pass over the course and swept past the ridges of the upper Snoqualmie Valley. A special “Stronger Together” decal applied to the belly “honors the aviation community’s efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic,” and logos were added for launch customers and tournament sponsors Qatar (port side) and ANA (starboard side).

Landing at Washington’s Dulles International Airport, the view turns colorful in a blur of airport lights against dusk’s afterglow.

The airport that never sleeps, Anchorage has cargo movements coming and going at all hours. Here “Yukon” heads out on Runway 33 for its next mission.

A United Airlines Boeing 737-700 rockets out of Vail-Eagle County Regional Airport in Colorado in peak ski season—although the mild winter in the mountains there left very little snow cover in January.

Boeing’s two most recent commercial aviation programs are captured in one frame as the first 777X, N779XW, lands at Grant County International Airport (MWH) in Moses Lake, Washington, after a test flight for the delayed program on Jan. 18, 2021. At the time of this photo, the 737 MAX had not yet been cleared to return to service, and at least 50 parked tails are visible on the ramp below the monster twin. Scores of other MAXs were parked at MWH that day.

Erickson Aero Tanker 104 returns to Gen. William J. Fox Airfield in Lancaster, California, after battling the Line Fire near Tuolumne City, California.

A CargoLux Boeing 747-8F departs Ted Stevens International Airport, Anchorage, Alaska, photographed from a Robinson R22 helicopter.

An Air Tahiti Nui Boeing 787-9 is prepped and refueled for its return flight to French Polynesia from Los Angeles International Airport.