Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Philadelphia, PA, USA
Posts: 540
Re: Strange lines inthe sky
There are absolutely no intentional "chemtrail" airplanes, particularly in the commercial or private aircraft markets. Im involved in General Aviation, and I have two relatives who used to be in the airlines.
The most prohibitive thing for any aircraft is weight. Airlines will do anything to shave extra pounds off of an airframe (or baggage, or crew, or even passengers...). I wouldn't be surprised if they told us all to lose another 5 pounds before boarding sometime....
On top of that, there is a massive amount of regulation on airframes, aircraft movements, routes, and on the airlines themselves. Any "extra" installed equipment that doesn't belong there would be quickly spotted during maintenance. "Extra" equipment would also affect the weight and balance of the airliner, which is figured into calculations done before takeoff, and weight and balance is also figured into the W&B record for that airliner.
Airlines historically make next to no money. Some years they make a few percent, and some years they go bankrupt. All of their effort is in maximizing extra passengers. And that means getting whatever they can out of weight and space.
What's more likely (and still unfortunate) is that the aircraft probably had a maintenance issue and is leaking oil or something else equally grim.