If you happen to be flying Northwest on or near a transatlantic (TATL) route in the near future, keep an eye out for the 757 with a UPS rudder. Looks like Northwest needed a replacement part and the only thing they could find was from a UPS jet. I guess if it comes to operating with a ridiculous looking plane for profit versus a broken plane with no profit you have to go with the money; but its also easy to see here how high of a priority aesthetics are.
A plane like this reminds of driving around in my hometown in West Michigan seeing the beat up junkers with off-color fenders and hoods. Heck, for a couple of years I even drove a ’93 Ford Ranger that was tarp-blue with black quarter panels. And from my past experiences with these type of vehicles, well, it makes me kind of feel like this plane is kind of jerry-rigged.
But hey, it flies, right? Off the top of my head, the TATL 757 flies between Detroit, Hartford, Amsterdam and Dusseldorf, so if you’re in those areas, stay alert. Here’s another picture.