Here at Blue Sky, we’re quite familiar with writing about airlines commended for all sorts of things: best in-flight service, most on-time flights and so on.

But today we’re breaking new ground.

This week’s lead photo is of a TAP Air Portugal A330neo, shared with us by our friend Devin. As you can see from the “first to fly” tag on the livery, this is notable because the carrier was the first ever to operate the aircraft type commercially, beginning in December 2018.

However, that isn’t the most, shall we say, eye-catching thing about Air Portugal.

No, that would be the pair of awards it won in 2017-18 and 2019-20 from London-based travel magazine Monocle: Most Handsome Crew.

We aren’t sure how that particular award is evaluated, but it’s certainly a feather in Air Portugal’s cap, along with more traditional honors like regularly winning the title of world’s leading airline to Africa and South America by World Travel Awards and being named the world’s best airline by British Condé Nast Traveler magazine in 2010.

Speaking of not judging books by their covers (or airlines by their attractive crews), Matthew Slafka sent us a photo from John Wayne Airport in Orange County, Calif., that may be a bit deceiving at first.

It would appear two aircraft from Alaska Airlines and Delta Air Lines got a little too close for comfort on the ramp, with their winglets just inches away from each other. But there’s a little bit of optical illusion there with the depth of field and angle of the image.

Thanks, Devin and Matthew!

Our readers continue to pass along shots of unique aircraft, international airports, historical events, gorgeous views and even family vacation photos for this feature. We love them! Keep them coming—you can click here for submission guidelines.

A Boeing 737 split scimitar winglet (left) and an Airbus A320 wingtip fence (right) next to each other at John Wayne Airport in Orange County, Calif. (Photo summitted by Matthew Slafka)