Brussels, Belgium: Newark Liberty, NJ to Houston, TX

CO23 21FEB08 Newark Liberty International, Newark, NJ (EWR) to Houston Intercontinental, Houston TX (IAH) 1:45p 4:47p 752 N??127

Flying Time: 3:43

On board, there was major congestion as passengers tried to find places for their bags in the already filled overhead bins. This aircraft has a configuration of 2-2 reclinable cloth seats in the First Class cabin and 3-3 cloth seats in Economy class. The is Audio/Video On Demand (AVOD) in First class and overhead monitors in Economy class. There is also in-seat power up to the second exit row in Economy class. Some of the 757s actually have AVOD in Economy and power in every seat, but I was not lucky that this was one of those airplanes. This flight is actually the continuation of CO23 from Dublin, Ireland (DUB).

I was lucky enough to snag that last space after moving around a small bag and a jacket in the overhead. As I sat and waited for departure, the Captain came on the PA and said he was expecting an ontime departure. At this point, we were about 5 minutes from the scheduled departure time.

A passenger had put his bag under the seat in front of him, but it was too big, so that took a little while to sort out. Luckily there was a Spanish speaking flight attendant around to help out the situation. Our departure time came and left as passengers continued to board and put their stuff away. There were at least three bags brought forward by the crew to be checked.

Eventually at about 2:00p, the door closed and at 2:06p, we pushed back as the safety demo played on the overheads. We had a short enough taxi out to the runway and was airborne at 2:29p. As we taxied out, I could see a Jet Airways (9W), Boeing 777-300ER at the hard stand, a few Continental jets at Terminal B, including a Boeing 777 (I wonder where that one came from since most of the 777s arrive at Terminal C), two Privatair jets (Airbus A319 BJ and a Boeing 737-700 BJ), an Alitalia Boeing 767-300 and Silverjet’s Boeing 767-300. I could not take any pictures as I was not at a window seat.

After takeoff, the lead flight attendant welcomed everyone and announced that the movie for today is ‘Bee Movie” with Jerry Seinfeld. Headsets were 1 USD or you could use your own. I opted not to bother watching this movie as I know I will be flying again soon and won’t have anything to watch. She also said that there would be beverages served on this 3:43 flight to Houston today.

As we got to our cruising altitude, the Captain came on the PA and welcomed everyone onboard and said that we should arrive in Houston at 4p. I think he mean 5p though. He also said that we should try to allow the flight attendants to serve us by keeping out of the aisle unless necessary.

Soon, headsets and a pack of pretzel were passed out and then the movie started. Beverages of choice came next, with alcoholic drinks costing 5 USD. As the flight attendant got to me, she exclaimed that she had recognized me from a previous flight. I recognized her too, so we exchanged pleasantries while she served me and the others around me. After the initial service, the thrash was cleared away, then a second drink service was made.

We had quite a bit of turbulence for a portion of the flight, so the seatbelt sign was on for quite a bit. I ended falling asleep after doing some work. I had plugged in my computer so I could get a charge. This took me about 5 minutes as I wrestled to plug the computer in into the receptacle at the left of my foot. The lady next to me was even helping me.

I awoke to prepare for landing and ended up falling asleep again.