
By Katie Zera
Have you ever wanted to instantly answer your kid’s million random questions or impress your friends by recognizing an airplane at first sight? Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) has so many marvelous gigantic terminal windows where you can practice your airplane spotting. I’m an aviation geek (AvGeek for short), a private pilot, and a photojournalist for the AirlineGeeks website.
Here are a few fun ways to recognize and remember the airplane models (with a little help from AI).
The vast majority of passenger aircraft at SEA Airport are either Airbus or Boeing. But how do you tell the difference?
Right on the nose
Is it a Boeing 737 or a member of the Airbus A320 family? Start with the nose to identify the manufacturer. You’ll see many of these common medium-sized single-aisle workhorses at SEA Airport go zipping by the windows. Look closely at the noses — is the nose more pregnant or more pointy looking? The round nose on the left is an Airbus of the A320 variety, and the pointy schnoz on the right is a Boeing 737.
BananaBUS
Does the bright plane you see look like a BananaBUS? The clue is in the nickname — it’s an Airbus. Spirit Airline’s livery (paint job) is so distinctive that you’ll get the plane right every time. They only fly Airbus models A319, A320, and A321.
Eyeliner
Many of the new Airbuses have a distinctive look. Does your plane have expertly applied eyeliner like it is ready to go out on the town? If so, congratulations, you’ve just spotted a newer Airbus called the neo. The image on the left is an older Airbus (courtesy of AI); the plane on the right is the new Spirit neo. Airlines with white liveries sometimes skip the makeup (eyeliner) and go for the natural look, as with Frontier and Hawaiian Airlines.
Raccoon eyes
Let’s not confuse the very demure, very mindful eyeliner of the Airbus neo with something that appears more of a smokey winged-eye goth look — if the eyeliner is slightly heavy handed, you have just stumbled upon Air Canada’s raccoon livery. No, Air Canada does not call it that, but spotters often refer to it as such. AI image is on the left.
Cute animals on a plane
Next up, the AnimalBUS, an Airbus of the A320 family flown by Frontier Airlines. Frontier has a menagerie of adorable animals on all the tails of their A320/A321. The image on the left is AI generated just for fun, but is not far off the tail of this beauty.
Classic candy
Another easy-peasy one to remember is the CandyBUS. You guessed it — yet another Airbus. Some say it looks like a circus tent or a beach towel, but to me it looks like the Lifesavers classic roll of candy. This airline comes in several flavors including blue and white, green and white, and gold and white. Airbus A330s only have two engines, and as you can see from the image on the left, AI struggles with engines.
Huge hairdryer
This Airbus A340 is lovingly known by spotters as “the world’s biggest hairdryer.” It uses four small engines and takes off at a very shallow angle. So we’ll call it a HairBUS. It is easy to spot, as it is the only single-decker airplane with four engines flying into SEA and is flown by the German airline Lufthansa. The best part of this exercise is that AI still struggles with engines as you can see in the image on the left. It didn’t matter how I asked or phrased my request, it did not seem to know where the engines are and it kept placing the hairdryers on top for an epic result. You’re now an expert at spotting the world’s biggest hairdryer.
Flying soft drink
Did you just spot a flying Pepsi can? Korean Air has a livery that looks like the famous soft drink. At SEA it will be a Boeing, usually a Boeing 777, and sometimes a Korean Air Cargo 747. AI image is on the left.
Chevron zigzags
You will always know it’s a Boeing if it has this specific feature — the vertical squiggles or zigzags on the end of the engines. These are called “chevrons” and you will only see them on Boeing planes (737 MAX, 787, and 747 cargo) at SEA. These squiggles help mix exhaust and air flow to minimize noise for the airport’s neighbors.
Flying pickle
If you live in Seattle or are spending some time here, keep your eyes to the sky for a flying pickle! While these do not fly into SEA, they are in the skies surrounding it and often seen being transported on local rail lines. Okay, okay, they aren’t actual pickles; they are unpainted Boeing airplanes on test flights from the local Boeing factories. This green color is a protective coating over the aluminum skin and it is washed off before painting.
Happy Spotting!! Subscribe to my X channel and Instagram feed to learn more about planes.
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