FedEx delivers 727 to Big Bend

MOSES LAKE — FedEx delivered a package weighing approximately 80,000 pounds Thursday to Big Bend Community College.

The package was a Boeing 727-100 donated from FedEx.

After landing at Grant County International Airport, where it was sprayed with fire hoses and greeted with applause, the plane was retired to begin a new life at Big Bend.

"This is a gift to the college," Big Bend President Bill Bonaudi said. "This is a gift to our current students and future students."

Students of the aviation maintenance and commercial pilot programs are going to use the plane as a classroom.

"I think they will both be able to get tremendous benefit from this aircraft," said former Big Bend flight student and FedEx employee Steve Lloyd, who facilitated the donation.

The plane was among the last three of its kind to be given away by FedEx, said Managing Director of Aircraft Development, Acquisitions and Sales David Sutton. Approximately 40 other 727-100 models were donated to educational facilities, museums, airports, fire departments and law enforcement agencies. The other two planes are destined for Pittsburgh, Pa., and Paris, France.

FedEx receives many requests from institutions for the retiring planes, he said.

"We try to spread them out geographically and try to put them in areas where FedEx has a presence," Sutton said. "We were just taken with the quality of the program here and the diversity."

The 727 at Big Bend spent 20 years as a passenger jet for United Airlines and 20 years as a cargo jet for FedEx. Now, it has a third life as a training tool at Big Bend, Sutton said.

Students are going to be in an advantageous position by having a transportation-class aircraft as a classroom, and the training makes them more valuable to employers, he said.

During its time in the air, the plane accrued more than 53,000 flight hours and landed nearly 40,000 times.

A plaque is being installed inside the plane to acknowledge the donation. The FedEx logo is being painted over with a logo of Big Bend Community College.

Dean of Professional Technical Instruction Clyde Rasmussen applied for the donation after receiving a phone call from Lloyd about the possibility of acquiring a plane.

"It was really exciting that we could get something like this for this school," he said.

Rasmussen thanked those who helped put the application packet together.

Lloyd joined the aviation program at Big Bend Community College winter quarter of 1969. He was hired as a flight instructor in 1971.

He thanked Sutton and FedEx Chief Executive Officer Fred Smith for selecting Big Bend for the donation.

"It's a great day for Big Bend, and I'm glad this aircraft ended up on this ramp," he said.