Hello, just arrived in Tokyo; here is the most current report.
Tijuana International Airport, Tijauna, Mexico (TIJ)
I had to show my passport as well as my Transit card on my way into the jetway. I did not have my immigration form as the officer had taken it, so the agent had to ensure that I had a departure stamp; after searching a bit and with my help, he found it. By the way, I have to find a place to get a shower in Tokyo as when I get to Singapore, I won’t really have enough time to do so.
3 AM58 25DEC TU Tijauna, Mexico (TIJ) toTokyoNarita, Japan (NRT) 777 1:25A 645A 26DEC N777AM
As we boarded the flight, the chief purser, a lady greeted us and again told us which aisle to take to our seats. The Business Class cabin was a lot fuller this time around, but still not completely full. We actually boarded through the first door as opposed to the second one this time.
I made my way back to my same seat as I had a through seat. There were lots of new faces on this leg of the trip. I think that most of the through passengers were sitting in the rear cabin.
I noticed that I had a new blanket; I am assuming a new pillow as well. Plus there was a bottle of water (similar o the one I got from McDonald’s in Mexico City) as well as an amenity kit which had toothpaste, a toothbrush, a pair of socks and a blindfold all in a see through plastic zippered case. A nice touch I thought.
The nice young couple soon joined me again and we greeted each other. We pushed back at 1:41a for this 12:10 journey to Tokyo’s Narita airport. The right engine was started as we commenced our pushback and so were the safety videos. The same drill as before, except this time, the Japanese one ran to completion before takeoff.
Takeoff was smooth and swift; I noted that the TV monitor said 514’ as the elevation; a drastic difference from the 7,348’ at which we started in Mexico City.
We are having a little chop as we head off the coast of Long Beach and toward Malibu at about 30,000’.
About ½ hour after takeoff an announcement came on about documentation for Japan that we will receive shortly.
The Captain came on at 2:47a and made an announcement as we continued to experience rough air as we made our way up the northern California coast line. He said that we had to leave 34,000’ then to 30,000’, then 29,000’ and finally 28,000’ as that is smoother. He said that we would fly to Anchorage, AK then to Petro (something) in Russia then to Sapporo, Japan before making our final descent into Narita.
We are expecting a delay of twenty minutes (arrival time is 6:24a) as we have a very strong headwind for most of the flight, he continued. Forecast for Tokyo at arrival is overcast skies with a temperate of 8C; local time in Narita is +15 hours from Mexico City and +13 hours from Tijuana. As he finished up his speech in English the turbulence ceased. Then the Japanese agent came on and translated what he said.
The flight attendants then came through with the immigration forms as well as a menu which highlighted a midnight service and breakfast.
Midnight service
So that you can rest during the flight, our flight attendants will offer you a Light Meal Service.
Later, if you wish, you may choose from a variety of refreshments available in the rear cabin.
Breakfast
Appetizer
Seasonal fruit plate
Main Course
Chicken enchiladas, dressed with Poblana sauce and cheese, offered with refried beans
Or
Rice omelet with tonkatsu sauce
Muffin
That chicken enchiladas really sounds great. The flight attendants then handed out a Tokio guide which was only available in Spanish.
The light snack turned out to be a cold 6” turkey and cheese sandwich with lettuce and a Nestle Crunch bar. The Airshow now predicts our arrival time to be 7:10a. That really cuts into my valuable ground time. Oh, the system is only Video on Demand as there is no way to interact with the audio at all.
Oh, I did talk with the guy who was next to me a bit and found out they are married for 6 months and this will be his first time to Tokyo, they would be staying for a week; this after many moments of silence and smiling a lot.
Movies started about 3:27a Tijuana time; we were just passing Cape Mendocino just north of San Francisco, CA with 10:33 to go at 32,000’. The system seemed to work properly this time as when I changed channels the movie was not playing, it only started once the channel was selected.
I fell asleep with about 10 or so hours to go and with 4:24 to go and at 9:20a TIJ time Dec. 25, we started to almost butt the Int’l dateline, so our day became Dec. 26; our arrival time was now estimated to be 6:45a, so this means that it is now 2:21a on Dec. 26 at the dateline. This is a bit confusing.
With 4:10 to go, the crew handed out hot towels; a much needed refreshment. I was already up and about having done the morning things when you wake up at 11:30a on Christmas Day in your time zone. Enchiladas are on their way; yeah!!!
The breakfast was great, but kind of odd since it was so early in the morning local Tokyo time and also local Tijuana and even Mexico City time. After breakfast, I finally watched Stardust, listened to some retro music; I then decided to watch Ratouille and fell asleep before it got finished.
I was awoken when we started our descent into Tokyo by the guy next to me as it was time to get the cabin ready for landing.
We landed smoothly and as soon as we did so, everyone was in a mad rush to put their jackets on and you could hear the seatbelts clicking throughout the cabin. I shook my head in dismay. As soon as we slowed down somewhat, people started getting up and opening the overhead bins. I motioned to the ones closest to me and they sat down. The flight attendants were also in the cabin trying to get everyone seated. One kid decided he would not listen so I shouted to him in English to sit down; he did and gave me a stare. I did not care really, as the last thing I wanted was for us to make a sudden stop and he comes crashing down on someone. I am not sure why there was such a rush to get off the plane. As it turns out, our taxi time was 16 minutes! As we stopped short of the gate, he got up and jumped about four rows only sitting down when the flight attendant made yet another announcement.
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Delayed in TIJ
It is 1:13a and we are all lined up and ready to board. Not sure of the delay, but I am certain we will not make our 1:25a scheduled departure time. I have until 10:40a to arrive in Tokyo, I think we still have plenty of time.
Ah, boarding now...See you on the other side of the dateline.
Ah, boarding now...See you on the other side of the dateline.
Merry Christmas from Tijuana: Next stop Tokyo, Japan
I've decided to try WordPad as using Notepad or Word 2007 and pasting the text into blogger messes up the formatting. We'll see how this works as we continue (I just pasted it in and it still re-formats everything incorrectly).
The boarding process was smooth; we were greeted by the Chief Purser who told us which aisle to use to get to our seats. Other crew members were placed throughout the cabin saying hello as well.
I turned right and was greeted by a really clean green cabin in a 2-3-2 layout with three rows numbering from 5 to 7. I looked to my left and saw the rest of the Business Class cabin in a similar layout with what seemed like four rows. I assume starting at row 1 to 4 (I later verified and that is correct).
I got to the first row of Economy which started at row 8 in its 3-3-3 configuration. I noticed that the seats looked wider and that there appeared to be more leg room. After sitting down, this was indeed true. In addition, the seats all have footrest. Footrest usually don't work for as I am too tall so it actually invades my space; I tried this one and it is neither here nor there.
Pillows and blankets were already on each seat and there were white headrests on the seats with the word 'AEROMEXICO" emblazoned in white on them.
I started getting settled in and checked out the individual TV screens in every seat. The Deciembre/Enero Guide said we would have ten movies and four TV shows during the flight. This was in addition to music channels as well as the Airshow program. The movies were:
No Reservations
Transformers
The Bourne Ultimatum
Stardust
Ratatouille
An Arctic Life
The Ultimate Gift
The Invasion
Ladrones
A long Walk
For TV shows, we had:
Monica Patino
Everybody Hates Chris
Friends
Treks in a wild world
Movies were offered in anywhere from one to four languages; Spanish, English, Portuguese and Japanese.
I said hello to the young couple who were sitting on my left. The male indicated that he only spoke Spanish and his wife who appeared Japanese was talking Spanish to him. I turned and in the worst Spanish I know asked her where she learned Spanish and she said Japan. There will be lots of laughter on this flight as that is what usually what happens when people cannot speak the same language and tries to interact. I had lots of questions for them both; like how did they meet? How is his Japanese, they seem to be speaking O.K. in Spanish.
We pushed back five minutes early and after a short delay was on our way. The safety announcement was first done in Spanish, then English and finally Japanese. About a third of the way through the Japanese version, the Captain said in Spanish something like prepare for departure. The screens then went back to the Airshow and the flight attendants quickly checked the cabin and took their seats.
The TV screens said 7,348' as our altitude; wow that is high I thought; at 10:12p, we started our takeoff roll. The Captain had said in both Spanish and English that it would be 3:15 to Tijuana, except the TVs said 2:46, not sure why there was a discrepancy.
As we took off, we made a right hand turn from about a 50 degree angle to a 345 degree angle to pick up our heading for Tijuana. It was fun to look out the right window and see the city's lights bounce off the top of the wing. The effect made it look as if we were flying backwards. I pointed it out to the couple next to me and they too found it amusing as well.
As soon as we cleared 10,000', the seat belt sign came off and the safety video continued in Japanese as it was not quite finished before it was our time for takeoff.
In a few minutes, the flight attendants came through with complimentary headsets followed by a menu; an especially nice touch I thought. I really like it when airlines have menus in Economy class. I kept getting two of everything as the flight attendant on the left gave me stuff when she served the couple next to me.
The menu was in Spanish, English and Japanese on a two-sided sheet of paper; it read:
Appetizer
Nopal tsukidani
Mixed marinated vegetables
Main Course
Filet of beef accented by black peppercorn sauce, presented with buttered green noodles, sautéed vegetables, red bell peppers, carrots and corn
or
Hoisin breast of chicken with rice and peas served with teriyaki sauce
Dessert
Guava compote
To complement your meal, we are pleased to offer you tea, regular or decaffeinated coffee.
Apparently, the movies started right after the headsets were handed out as by the time I switched channels, they had been going for 10 minutes already :-(. I never heard an announcement though; in any language. But not to worry, I pressed rewind and voila, it rewound; hey, the system is Audio/Video on Demand (AVOD), who knew!
The crew of six was in the aisle with the meal service at about 10:44p.
The service was stellar although they don't offer wines on board; just strong spirits, beer, juice and of course water, and it was Japanese beer as opposed to both Mexican and Japanese beers. The service took less than an hour as the flight load was light.
A lady across from me ask how long was the flight; I told her that the total time was 3:15 I could see the "OMG" in her eyes as she was having trouble with her little new born baby (about three weeks I'd say). She wanted to the eat and the baby was fidgety; eventually she changed her, fed her and lay her on her back; this seemed to calm the baby a bit as all I heard after that was cooing.
After dinner, I went to brush my teeth and also check out the plane; while waiting for a lav to be available, I sat in one of the three empty seats in the middle at row 22; the bulkhead row which has so much legroom I can sit and stretch out my legs and the base of my feet just touch the bulkhead. In addition, the Exit Rows at row 23 are fantastic; they are pushed back so that the person in the window has a lot of legroom. The aircraft goes back to row 36 where row 36 actually sits between the two rear doors. Row 35 also has three seats. Row 34 is the last row with a 3-3-3 configuration with a lav behind each seat. There is awesome legroom on ths plane. Can't say there is a bad seat on this one at all.
I also found a menu stuffed in row 22; it was from a Madrid/Barcelona to Mexico City flight; the menu was in Spanish and English only.
I was fussing about not being able to go back to the beginning of the movie easily when I accidentally pressed the Stop button twice, voila!
I started watching "Stardust" and eventually fell asleep. I was awoken by the announcement saying that we were descending into Tijuana and would be landing in 18 minutes. The movie had been going for 1:14 I think or was it 1:45. No sweat, I have about 12 hours to go on this leg of the flight so I can catch up. I just have to figure out where I fell asleep.
Tijuana International Airport, Tijuana Mexico (TIJ)
We touched down at 11:18p and taxied to the gate. The instructions were that the Tijuana bound passengers should get off first. Everyone seemed confused for some odd reason. Eventually we all started off, except for the Japanese passengers; the announcements were only made in Spanish and English. Eventually, everyone started to get off.
On my way out the young lady with the baby, said that she was going to Los Angeles and she wondered where I was going. I told her Tokyo, she said "Oh." Not sure what that meant. She said she was living in Los Angeles in the Watts area; I asked why she was flying into San Diego and not Los Angeles, she said it was easier and that Mexico is too slow for her and she needed a more hip city to live, hence Los Angeles. We bade goodbye at the exit as she entered Mexico and I followed the Transit signs, with the Transit sign in my hand.
There were quite a bit of transit passengers; about 70 or so I'd say and equally split among Nationals and non-Mexicans. We were split into two groups. There was only one office for at least ten minutes and then eventually there were four officers. I could not understand why there was confusion, but there was; not with the Foreigners, but with the Mexican citizens. Eventually it was my turn and the machine would not scan my passport. The officer called another over and they started banging the reader; that did not help either. I was sent to another post where eventually that reader worked. I hope my passport is not ill.
It was now Christmas day in Tijuana. Our flight would leave at 1:25a. I headed upstairs and to the right to wait with the rest of the passengers. It is 12:40a and we await the boarding. One of the pilots just arrived.
I'm plugged in and using the same access to the Internet I had in Mexico City; there is no Lounge in sight.
The boarding process was smooth; we were greeted by the Chief Purser who told us which aisle to use to get to our seats. Other crew members were placed throughout the cabin saying hello as well.
I turned right and was greeted by a really clean green cabin in a 2-3-2 layout with three rows numbering from 5 to 7. I looked to my left and saw the rest of the Business Class cabin in a similar layout with what seemed like four rows. I assume starting at row 1 to 4 (I later verified and that is correct).
I got to the first row of Economy which started at row 8 in its 3-3-3 configuration. I noticed that the seats looked wider and that there appeared to be more leg room. After sitting down, this was indeed true. In addition, the seats all have footrest. Footrest usually don't work for as I am too tall so it actually invades my space; I tried this one and it is neither here nor there.
Pillows and blankets were already on each seat and there were white headrests on the seats with the word 'AEROMEXICO" emblazoned in white on them.
I started getting settled in and checked out the individual TV screens in every seat. The Deciembre/Enero Guide said we would have ten movies and four TV shows during the flight. This was in addition to music channels as well as the Airshow program. The movies were:
No Reservations
Transformers
The Bourne Ultimatum
Stardust
Ratatouille
An Arctic Life
The Ultimate Gift
The Invasion
Ladrones
A long Walk
For TV shows, we had:
Monica Patino
Everybody Hates Chris
Friends
Treks in a wild world
Movies were offered in anywhere from one to four languages; Spanish, English, Portuguese and Japanese.
I said hello to the young couple who were sitting on my left. The male indicated that he only spoke Spanish and his wife who appeared Japanese was talking Spanish to him. I turned and in the worst Spanish I know asked her where she learned Spanish and she said Japan. There will be lots of laughter on this flight as that is what usually what happens when people cannot speak the same language and tries to interact. I had lots of questions for them both; like how did they meet? How is his Japanese, they seem to be speaking O.K. in Spanish.
We pushed back five minutes early and after a short delay was on our way. The safety announcement was first done in Spanish, then English and finally Japanese. About a third of the way through the Japanese version, the Captain said in Spanish something like prepare for departure. The screens then went back to the Airshow and the flight attendants quickly checked the cabin and took their seats.
The TV screens said 7,348' as our altitude; wow that is high I thought; at 10:12p, we started our takeoff roll. The Captain had said in both Spanish and English that it would be 3:15 to Tijuana, except the TVs said 2:46, not sure why there was a discrepancy.
As we took off, we made a right hand turn from about a 50 degree angle to a 345 degree angle to pick up our heading for Tijuana. It was fun to look out the right window and see the city's lights bounce off the top of the wing. The effect made it look as if we were flying backwards. I pointed it out to the couple next to me and they too found it amusing as well.
As soon as we cleared 10,000', the seat belt sign came off and the safety video continued in Japanese as it was not quite finished before it was our time for takeoff.
In a few minutes, the flight attendants came through with complimentary headsets followed by a menu; an especially nice touch I thought. I really like it when airlines have menus in Economy class. I kept getting two of everything as the flight attendant on the left gave me stuff when she served the couple next to me.
The menu was in Spanish, English and Japanese on a two-sided sheet of paper; it read:
Appetizer
Nopal tsukidani
Mixed marinated vegetables
Main Course
Filet of beef accented by black peppercorn sauce, presented with buttered green noodles, sautéed vegetables, red bell peppers, carrots and corn
or
Hoisin breast of chicken with rice and peas served with teriyaki sauce
Dessert
Guava compote
To complement your meal, we are pleased to offer you tea, regular or decaffeinated coffee.
Apparently, the movies started right after the headsets were handed out as by the time I switched channels, they had been going for 10 minutes already :-(. I never heard an announcement though; in any language. But not to worry, I pressed rewind and voila, it rewound; hey, the system is Audio/Video on Demand (AVOD), who knew!
The crew of six was in the aisle with the meal service at about 10:44p.
The service was stellar although they don't offer wines on board; just strong spirits, beer, juice and of course water, and it was Japanese beer as opposed to both Mexican and Japanese beers. The service took less than an hour as the flight load was light.
A lady across from me ask how long was the flight; I told her that the total time was 3:15 I could see the "OMG" in her eyes as she was having trouble with her little new born baby (about three weeks I'd say). She wanted to the eat and the baby was fidgety; eventually she changed her, fed her and lay her on her back; this seemed to calm the baby a bit as all I heard after that was cooing.
After dinner, I went to brush my teeth and also check out the plane; while waiting for a lav to be available, I sat in one of the three empty seats in the middle at row 22; the bulkhead row which has so much legroom I can sit and stretch out my legs and the base of my feet just touch the bulkhead. In addition, the Exit Rows at row 23 are fantastic; they are pushed back so that the person in the window has a lot of legroom. The aircraft goes back to row 36 where row 36 actually sits between the two rear doors. Row 35 also has three seats. Row 34 is the last row with a 3-3-3 configuration with a lav behind each seat. There is awesome legroom on ths plane. Can't say there is a bad seat on this one at all.
I also found a menu stuffed in row 22; it was from a Madrid/Barcelona to Mexico City flight; the menu was in Spanish and English only.
I was fussing about not being able to go back to the beginning of the movie easily when I accidentally pressed the Stop button twice, voila!
I started watching "Stardust" and eventually fell asleep. I was awoken by the announcement saying that we were descending into Tijuana and would be landing in 18 minutes. The movie had been going for 1:14 I think or was it 1:45. No sweat, I have about 12 hours to go on this leg of the flight so I can catch up. I just have to figure out where I fell asleep.
Tijuana International Airport, Tijuana Mexico (TIJ)
We touched down at 11:18p and taxied to the gate. The instructions were that the Tijuana bound passengers should get off first. Everyone seemed confused for some odd reason. Eventually we all started off, except for the Japanese passengers; the announcements were only made in Spanish and English. Eventually, everyone started to get off.
On my way out the young lady with the baby, said that she was going to Los Angeles and she wondered where I was going. I told her Tokyo, she said "Oh." Not sure what that meant. She said she was living in Los Angeles in the Watts area; I asked why she was flying into San Diego and not Los Angeles, she said it was easier and that Mexico is too slow for her and she needed a more hip city to live, hence Los Angeles. We bade goodbye at the exit as she entered Mexico and I followed the Transit signs, with the Transit sign in my hand.
There were quite a bit of transit passengers; about 70 or so I'd say and equally split among Nationals and non-Mexicans. We were split into two groups. There was only one office for at least ten minutes and then eventually there were four officers. I could not understand why there was confusion, but there was; not with the Foreigners, but with the Mexican citizens. Eventually it was my turn and the machine would not scan my passport. The officer called another over and they started banging the reader; that did not help either. I was sent to another post where eventually that reader worked. I hope my passport is not ill.
It was now Christmas day in Tijuana. Our flight would leave at 1:25a. I headed upstairs and to the right to wait with the rest of the passengers. It is 12:40a and we await the boarding. One of the pilots just arrived.
I'm plugged in and using the same access to the Internet I had in Mexico City; there is no Lounge in sight.
Monday, December 24, 2007
Amex Lounge closed
Oh, I forgot to mention that there was an American Express Centurion Club, but it was closed.
I am at the gate and there are no markings that this is the Tokyo/Tijuana flight, so I will inquire befor I board. People were lined up. but don't know why.
A muffled announcement was now made and I heard Tijuana, so I am in the right place. I also double checked on the board and I am in the right place.
I am at the gate and there are no markings that this is the Tokyo/Tijuana flight, so I will inquire befor I board. People were lined up. but don't know why.
A muffled announcement was now made and I heard Tijuana, so I am in the right place. I also double checked on the board and I am in the right place.
The boarding announcement
The agent just made the announcement so I have to go; funnily enough it was all in Spanish :-). But Tijuana and Narita is the same in Spanish and everyone else was leaving anyways andit is 9:26p, so I don't think I need anything more.
So there are four computers in the computer room as well as fax machine and also two work ares for computers.
Finally the message came on again and this time English was added, they must know I am here.
Oh, by the way, there is an ATM in this Lounge, nice an convenient...
next entry will be from Tijuana or Tokyo.
So there are four computers in the computer room as well as fax machine and also two work ares for computers.
Finally the message came on again and this time English was added, they must know I am here.
Oh, by the way, there is an ATM in this Lounge, nice an convenient...
next entry will be from Tijuana or Tokyo.
Finally a lounge
Inside Benito Juárez International Airport
I went to area B as I was told by the agent who checked me in. As is customary when I travel, I double check any information that I think sounds odd. I asked three agents who were together and one answered and said that she thinks I need to go back to the International departure area since I have an international boarding pass; sure enough the gate was 23 in the International area.
The Security area was empty and it was a breeze to get through. No beeps!
I followed the signs to the Lounges and the Continental Presidents Club was closed at 3p due to the Holiday. United's Red Carpet and American's Admiral CLub are in teh same area, but I do not have a membership for either.
A LH B747-400 is taxiing by; it is my goal to take that flight to Frankfurt at some point in 2008.
I digress... I stayed outside the Presidents Club for a bit while I finished up some online work. Then I pressed on to find the Aeromexico Salon Premier Lounge. The sign on the door of the Presidents Club indicated that I needed to find that Lounge if the Presidents Club was closed.
After walking in a circle following the signs, I found the Lounge. i stood by the door and nothing happened. I saw an agent inside who just looked at me. I walked away thinking they were closed and then he motioned to me to come forward and the door opened. Apparently, they are having trouble with the door.
I presented my documents, they were accepted and I got a firm "Welcome to the Lounge" from the female agent who did the verification.
The Lounge is quite nice, with complimentary drinks, Internet access, a few computers, plenty of chairs and a view of the field. An Aeromexico Boeing 737-700 was at the gate just outside the window.
An old movie with Patrick Dempsey as a teenager was playing, but it was dubbed in Spanish, it sounded really funny :-).
I await the call for boarding of the flight.
I went to area B as I was told by the agent who checked me in. As is customary when I travel, I double check any information that I think sounds odd. I asked three agents who were together and one answered and said that she thinks I need to go back to the International departure area since I have an international boarding pass; sure enough the gate was 23 in the International area.
The Security area was empty and it was a breeze to get through. No beeps!
I followed the signs to the Lounges and the Continental Presidents Club was closed at 3p due to the Holiday. United's Red Carpet and American's Admiral CLub are in teh same area, but I do not have a membership for either.
A LH B747-400 is taxiing by; it is my goal to take that flight to Frankfurt at some point in 2008.
I digress... I stayed outside the Presidents Club for a bit while I finished up some online work. Then I pressed on to find the Aeromexico Salon Premier Lounge. The sign on the door of the Presidents Club indicated that I needed to find that Lounge if the Presidents Club was closed.
After walking in a circle following the signs, I found the Lounge. i stood by the door and nothing happened. I saw an agent inside who just looked at me. I walked away thinking they were closed and then he motioned to me to come forward and the door opened. Apparently, they are having trouble with the door.
I presented my documents, they were accepted and I got a firm "Welcome to the Lounge" from the female agent who did the verification.
The Lounge is quite nice, with complimentary drinks, Internet access, a few computers, plenty of chairs and a view of the field. An Aeromexico Boeing 737-700 was at the gate just outside the window.
An old movie with Patrick Dempsey as a teenager was playing, but it was dubbed in Spanish, it sounded really funny :-).
I await the call for boarding of the flight.
Awaiting the flight
Benito Juárez International Airport
I took a walk to the "A" zone at the other end of the terminal. I was at the "F' zone when I arrived. This airport is huge and it looks like they've made a lot of improvements since my last visit. There is even a new terminal opened 15 November; it said that the following airlines are using it; Aeromar, Delta Air Lines and Lan Copa Continental and Aermexico; but all these airlines are still in Terminal 1, so I guess the move is still on.
I did see the Air Train that goes over there, but you have to have a ticket to do so and I could not bother with it all.
I got hungry and had McDonald's (grilled chicken sandwich and fries, plus water) for 80 pesos plus 15% tax of some kind. It is actually more expensive than Subway (65 pesos) which I thought was odd. The fries were good though :-). Just outside, I found a seat with a power plug, but in the smoking area. From this base of operation, you are reading this blog entry. I was also able to correct a few typos on the original blog post and cleaned it up a bit.
At 80% charge now.
I took a walk to the "A" zone at the other end of the terminal. I was at the "F' zone when I arrived. This airport is huge and it looks like they've made a lot of improvements since my last visit. There is even a new terminal opened 15 November; it said that the following airlines are using it; Aeromar, Delta Air Lines and Lan Copa Continental and Aermexico; but all these airlines are still in Terminal 1, so I guess the move is still on.
I did see the Air Train that goes over there, but you have to have a ticket to do so and I could not bother with it all.
I got hungry and had McDonald's (grilled chicken sandwich and fries, plus water) for 80 pesos plus 15% tax of some kind. It is actually more expensive than Subway (65 pesos) which I thought was odd. The fries were good though :-). Just outside, I found a seat with a power plug, but in the smoking area. From this base of operation, you are reading this blog entry. I was also able to correct a few typos on the original blog post and cleaned it up a bit.
At 80% charge now.
Christmas 2007 Trip: Off to nowhere; first stop Mexico City
Planned Itinerary
1 CO1524 24DEC MO Houston-Intercontinental, TX (IAH) to Mexico City, Mexico (MEX) 738 214P 439P
2 AM 58 24DEC MO MEX toTokyoNarita, Japan (NRT) 777 1005P 645A 26DEC
3 NH 111 26DEC WE NRT to Singapore (SIN) 744 1040A 515P
3 JL 719 26DEC WE NRT to SIN 744 1055A 535P
4 SQ 221 26DEC WE SIN to Sydney, Australia (SYD) 380 830P 700A 27DEC
5 QF 167 27DEC TH SYD to Cairns, Australia (CNS) SS1 905A 1105A
5 QF 922 27DEC TH SYDto CNS SS1 1040A 1245P
5 QF 926 27DEC TH SYD to CNS SS1 120P 325P
5 QF 932 27DEC TH SYD to CNS 73H 725P 930P
6 CO 903 28DEC FR CNS to Guam (GUM) 738 135A 605A
7 CO 956 28DEC FR GUM to Honolulu, HI (HNL) 738 820A 230A
8 CO 905 28DEC FR HNL to Nagoya, Japan (NGO) 764 205P 640P 29DEC
9 NH 338 30DEC SU NGO to NRT SS1 750A 855A
9 JL 54 30DEC SU NGO to NRT 744 835A 950A
9 NH3204 30DEC SU NGO to NRT 763 230P 355P
10 CO 6 30DEC SU NRT to IAH 772 510P 150P
Houston George Bush Intercontinental
I arrived at the airport with 40 minutes to spare. The security lines were not crowded at all, so it was a snap to get through. I did not beep so that made it easier. I made my way to gate E2 and waited for my name to be called.
While there I decided to check for all my tickets one more time. Every ticket was accounted for except the Mexico to Tokyo-Narita ticket. Strange as I could swear I had it. There was a snafu with the tickets as when I ordered them on Friday last, the machine ran out of paper. So I had received some of the tickets and not others. I did not reconcile them before I went to pick up the rest earlier this morning, hence the error. I also think that I may have left the ticket on my sofa in my living room at home.
I now found myself wishing I would not make the flight just so I could go get the ticket a few doors down the hallway. Had I noticed earlier, I would have gone straight there when I arrived at the airport.
The gate agent who was quite busy checking documentation made an announcement that all standbys should go to the wall to his left. I was already standing there, so there was no need to move. Quite a few people came over and stood to the left and right of me. This is not a good thing I thought or maybe it is. Many of them appeared to not look like airline employees as well. As it turns out, I got a seat (normally I am happy that I get a seat, but this time, I had mixed emotions).
Apparently, many of the customers on the standby list had already cleared on the earlier flight and the list was not cleaned up. One of the agents was not happy about that as he cleared up that issue. His action freed up several seats; at least ten.
I figured that I arrive in Mexico City at 4:39p so the ticket office should still be open, then I'd just get a ticket then. At worst, I'd have to fly back to Houston to get one. Then I'd have to fly to San Diego, CA (SAN) if there was still a flight and take the train down to Tijuana, Mexico, walk across the border and take a cab to the airport to catch the same flight when it departed at 1:25a on Christmas Day, so no worries.
Or just fly to Los Angeles, CA (LAX) and take Japan Airlines (JL) nonstop to Tokyo, Japan (NRT) or possibly get to Vancouver, BC Canada (YVR) and take Air Canada's (AC) late flight. I'd get there somehow as long as the timing of getting back into Houston was right.
1 CO1524 24DEC MO IAHMEX 738 214P 439P
I boarded and headed for seat 11F. The twenty seats in First Class were full and I actually think that they had done an involuntary upgrade so they could accommodate all the standbys in Economy Class. There was someone sitting in my seat, so I asked him which seat he was assigned. He just moved over and allowed me to sit, so he was banking on my not showing up so he could claim my seat. I sat down and got settled.
Before the gate departure commenced, the safety demonstration started on the overhead monitors; first in English and then in Spanish. During the demos, the pushback started and we departed the gate at 2:23p (9 minutes late) and had a semi-long taxi to the runway and without delay had a nice takeoff that took us down towards Houston-Hobby airport and towards the Gulf of Mexico.
The flight attendant had advised us that the flying time would be 1:50. As is customary, later, the Captain came on the PA, added his welcome aboard and said we should arrive early at 4:30p.
It's been a while since I've been to Mexico City, the country of Mexico in general as I'm protesting the departure tax. Which is kind of an oxymoron since the departure tax out of London is about twice as much as that of Mexico and I go to London quite often.
The movie on the flight is "Daddy Day Care," which they started playing right away due to the short flying time. I hope it finishes before we land.
Before the meal, the flight attendant came by with the immigration documents. The documentation is different for Mexican nationals as opposed to others. Actually it appears that the Nationals have to fill out an extra form. I had to do a Customs form and a regular immigration form. I placed "In TRANSIT" where it asked for a hotel since I was only staying a few hours. Actually had I not forgotten to purchase the ticket for the Mexico City to Tokyo segment of the trip, I would not have had to fill out any documentation at all as I would just have stayed in the gate area and hung out in the airport lounges instead, but oh well.
The meal of a larger than usual turkey sandwich with lettuce and a packet of mayonnaise, baby carrots and a Milky Way was served right away. One thing I can always credit Continental on is that the meal is always served within the first hour after take off unless there is some kind of turbulence. I ate the sandwich healthily after applying some mayonnaise, then ate the baby carrots and to my surprise the Milky Way. I was full now.
I did not really care for the movie as it’s been playing on all my flights all month and for some reason I don't really care for it. The formula has been done several times is the reason I think. It does provide comedic content and serves as a way of passing the time. I decided to continue writing a few lines in my current books instead.
At 4:02p, we started our descent into Mexico City; man that was quick. As I thought, the movie was still playing and I’m not sure if it would be finished in the next 30 minutes. It was a pretty bumpy ride on the descent. The Captain had also said that the conditions at the field were hazy. Well, the movie finished twelve minutes later as we continued our slow descent; the haze and clouds were pretty apparent and quite unbelievable. It was a pretty site as we swooped down on this 60M plus population city, high above the mountains.
Benito Juárez International Airport
We landed safely at 4:30p and taxied to the open gate. I could see a Boeing 777 across the way in the Aeromexico hangars and wondered if that was the one for our trip. On exiting the plane, I quickly made my way to immigration and customs so I could go get the ticket. I was in luck as they were still there.
As it turns out, they are closing early today as they have two less flights. I got my ticket and then checked in for AM58 to Tokyo via Tijuana. I actually have to board as a domestic passenger from here as the flight is a domestic flight until it gets to Tijuana. So I have to keep my immigration card until then. I will also have to show my arriving boarding pass so that I am not charged the departure tax.
I walked around checking for Internet access and found a place for $8/hour; ridiculous I thought. I powered up my computer and voila there was free Wifi from a neighboring restaurant. I've been standing for the past 30 minutes finishing this up...
1 CO1524 24DEC MO Houston-Intercontinental, TX (IAH) to Mexico City, Mexico (MEX) 738 214P 439P
2 AM 58 24DEC MO MEX toTokyoNarita, Japan (NRT) 777 1005P 645A 26DEC
3 NH 111 26DEC WE NRT to Singapore (SIN) 744 1040A 515P
3 JL 719 26DEC WE NRT to SIN 744 1055A 535P
4 SQ 221 26DEC WE SIN to Sydney, Australia (SYD) 380 830P 700A 27DEC
5 QF 167 27DEC TH SYD to Cairns, Australia (CNS) SS1 905A 1105A
5 QF 922 27DEC TH SYDto CNS SS1 1040A 1245P
5 QF 926 27DEC TH SYD to CNS SS1 120P 325P
5 QF 932 27DEC TH SYD to CNS 73H 725P 930P
6 CO 903 28DEC FR CNS to Guam (GUM) 738 135A 605A
7 CO 956 28DEC FR GUM to Honolulu, HI (HNL) 738 820A 230A
8 CO 905 28DEC FR HNL to Nagoya, Japan (NGO) 764 205P 640P 29DEC
9 NH 338 30DEC SU NGO to NRT SS1 750A 855A
9 JL 54 30DEC SU NGO to NRT 744 835A 950A
9 NH3204 30DEC SU NGO to NRT 763 230P 355P
10 CO 6 30DEC SU NRT to IAH 772 510P 150P
Houston George Bush Intercontinental
I arrived at the airport with 40 minutes to spare. The security lines were not crowded at all, so it was a snap to get through. I did not beep so that made it easier. I made my way to gate E2 and waited for my name to be called.
While there I decided to check for all my tickets one more time. Every ticket was accounted for except the Mexico to Tokyo-Narita ticket. Strange as I could swear I had it. There was a snafu with the tickets as when I ordered them on Friday last, the machine ran out of paper. So I had received some of the tickets and not others. I did not reconcile them before I went to pick up the rest earlier this morning, hence the error. I also think that I may have left the ticket on my sofa in my living room at home.
I now found myself wishing I would not make the flight just so I could go get the ticket a few doors down the hallway. Had I noticed earlier, I would have gone straight there when I arrived at the airport.
The gate agent who was quite busy checking documentation made an announcement that all standbys should go to the wall to his left. I was already standing there, so there was no need to move. Quite a few people came over and stood to the left and right of me. This is not a good thing I thought or maybe it is. Many of them appeared to not look like airline employees as well. As it turns out, I got a seat (normally I am happy that I get a seat, but this time, I had mixed emotions).
Apparently, many of the customers on the standby list had already cleared on the earlier flight and the list was not cleaned up. One of the agents was not happy about that as he cleared up that issue. His action freed up several seats; at least ten.
I figured that I arrive in Mexico City at 4:39p so the ticket office should still be open, then I'd just get a ticket then. At worst, I'd have to fly back to Houston to get one. Then I'd have to fly to San Diego, CA (SAN) if there was still a flight and take the train down to Tijuana, Mexico, walk across the border and take a cab to the airport to catch the same flight when it departed at 1:25a on Christmas Day, so no worries.
Or just fly to Los Angeles, CA (LAX) and take Japan Airlines (JL) nonstop to Tokyo, Japan (NRT) or possibly get to Vancouver, BC Canada (YVR) and take Air Canada's (AC) late flight. I'd get there somehow as long as the timing of getting back into Houston was right.
1 CO1524 24DEC MO IAHMEX 738 214P 439P
I boarded and headed for seat 11F. The twenty seats in First Class were full and I actually think that they had done an involuntary upgrade so they could accommodate all the standbys in Economy Class. There was someone sitting in my seat, so I asked him which seat he was assigned. He just moved over and allowed me to sit, so he was banking on my not showing up so he could claim my seat. I sat down and got settled.
Before the gate departure commenced, the safety demonstration started on the overhead monitors; first in English and then in Spanish. During the demos, the pushback started and we departed the gate at 2:23p (9 minutes late) and had a semi-long taxi to the runway and without delay had a nice takeoff that took us down towards Houston-Hobby airport and towards the Gulf of Mexico.
The flight attendant had advised us that the flying time would be 1:50. As is customary, later, the Captain came on the PA, added his welcome aboard and said we should arrive early at 4:30p.
It's been a while since I've been to Mexico City, the country of Mexico in general as I'm protesting the departure tax. Which is kind of an oxymoron since the departure tax out of London is about twice as much as that of Mexico and I go to London quite often.
The movie on the flight is "Daddy Day Care," which they started playing right away due to the short flying time. I hope it finishes before we land.
Before the meal, the flight attendant came by with the immigration documents. The documentation is different for Mexican nationals as opposed to others. Actually it appears that the Nationals have to fill out an extra form. I had to do a Customs form and a regular immigration form. I placed "In TRANSIT" where it asked for a hotel since I was only staying a few hours. Actually had I not forgotten to purchase the ticket for the Mexico City to Tokyo segment of the trip, I would not have had to fill out any documentation at all as I would just have stayed in the gate area and hung out in the airport lounges instead, but oh well.
The meal of a larger than usual turkey sandwich with lettuce and a packet of mayonnaise, baby carrots and a Milky Way was served right away. One thing I can always credit Continental on is that the meal is always served within the first hour after take off unless there is some kind of turbulence. I ate the sandwich healthily after applying some mayonnaise, then ate the baby carrots and to my surprise the Milky Way. I was full now.
I did not really care for the movie as it’s been playing on all my flights all month and for some reason I don't really care for it. The formula has been done several times is the reason I think. It does provide comedic content and serves as a way of passing the time. I decided to continue writing a few lines in my current books instead.
At 4:02p, we started our descent into Mexico City; man that was quick. As I thought, the movie was still playing and I’m not sure if it would be finished in the next 30 minutes. It was a pretty bumpy ride on the descent. The Captain had also said that the conditions at the field were hazy. Well, the movie finished twelve minutes later as we continued our slow descent; the haze and clouds were pretty apparent and quite unbelievable. It was a pretty site as we swooped down on this 60M plus population city, high above the mountains.
Benito Juárez International Airport
We landed safely at 4:30p and taxied to the open gate. I could see a Boeing 777 across the way in the Aeromexico hangars and wondered if that was the one for our trip. On exiting the plane, I quickly made my way to immigration and customs so I could go get the ticket. I was in luck as they were still there.
As it turns out, they are closing early today as they have two less flights. I got my ticket and then checked in for AM58 to Tokyo via Tijuana. I actually have to board as a domestic passenger from here as the flight is a domestic flight until it gets to Tijuana. So I have to keep my immigration card until then. I will also have to show my arriving boarding pass so that I am not charged the departure tax.
I walked around checking for Internet access and found a place for $8/hour; ridiculous I thought. I powered up my computer and voila there was free Wifi from a neighboring restaurant. I've been standing for the past 30 minutes finishing this up...
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Thursday, February 03, 2005
February 3, 2005
Trip Date: January 3, 2005
HOUSEKEEPING ITEMS
Happy New Year, seems like only yesterday it was the start of 2004 and already it is Ground Hog Day and we can look forward to 6 more weeks of wintry weather.
Please support our advertisers as this keeps the newsletter and the site going.
Every now and then something occurs in the aviation industry that demands us to stop and take a look. Continental retiring their MD-80s is one such event. Here is the account of the last scheduled revenue service of such an airplane.
####### ADVERTISEMENT #######
American Express Publishing has developed an airline timetable program called eSKYGUIDE. It provides users with convenient access to electronic flight schedules. Users can review worldwide airline schedules which are updated weekly. The software is available for your PC, Palm, Pocket PC, Blackberry or mobile phone. We are offering it for FREE for two months. For additional details go to http://www.skyguideonline.com, then click on "eSkyGuide Electronic Downloads" on the left side of the page.
##############
THIS WEEK’S EDITION
I had read on my online aviation newsgroups that Continental’s MD-80 would have its last scheduled revenue flight on January 3, 2005. I really wanted to take that ride and as it turned out, I was able to pull it off.
I had taken a trip to London on the day after New Year’s Day and was scheduled to return on January 3, 2005. I was trying to fly directly into Dallas/ Forth Worth from London, but the British Airways (BA) flight would not work out as it was quite full and the American flight would have proved too expensive. Instead, I opted for the Continental flight to Houston and then take another Continental flight up to Dallas. This combination worked well until we were delayed arriving into Houston due to strong headwinds that day.
Houston-George Bush Intercontinental, Houston Texas (IAH)
Eventually, my ten hour and thirty-four minutes flight from London-Gatwick, England (LGW) arrived in Terminal D and taxied to our gate, after a few minutes of waiting, we were chocked and the deplaning process started.
It took about twenty minutes to clear immigration and then another few minutes to clear customs. I now had less than an hour to get to the gate in Terminal E. Since I was already checked in, I went straight to the gate using the new walkway between the two Terminals. This saved me a ton of time; at least fifteen minutes as walking from terminal D to E is no small feat in Houston Intercontinental.
At the gate I met a few co-workers who were also taking the flight. It was thirty minutes to the hour and standby seats were not yet distributed, so I chatted with them about our journey and my recent trip as well as how they had spent their New Year celebrations.
Since I realized that we were delayed for a few minutes, I took the opportunity to load my wireless card, then connected to the Internet by going to the nearby Presidents Club. I had tried to connect in Gatwick earlier that morning, but the networks were down so I was unable to do so.
In a few minutes, I was caught up and ready to go. By the time I got back to the gate, the agent had started clearing everyone, so I collected my Economy boarding pass and boarded.
CO315/03JAN05
Boeing Douglas DC9-82 (N72821)
Houston-George Bush Intercontinental, Houston Texas (IAH) to Dallas/ Ft. Worth, Dallas Texas (DFW)
This flight had actually filled up to about an 82% load factor with a full First Class cabin and about 8 standbys all in Economy. We had an uneventful taxi and takeoff and leveled off at about 29,000’. We were served beverages of choice and some peanuts as we headed on our way.
Our flying time was a quick forty-three minutes and we landed in Dallas/ Ft. Worth without incidents and any further delays.
Dallas/ Ft. Worth, Dallas Texas (DFW)
We had a short taxi to the gate, at which time I ensured that myself and the other four guys were the last to deplane. This enabled us to chat with the crew and take a few pictures (http://cruisinaltitude.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=1&pos=2). The crew was really nice and actually excited that we took the time to come fly with them. It was the Captain’s second to last career flight and he seemed pretty pleased with how it went. He was now ready for the historic return flight. A fitting way for an MD-80 Captain to retire, I thought.
We were lucky to be escorted onto the ramp for some additional pictures as well. While photographing the airplane, I was fortunate to get a few shots an ATA Airlines (TZ) Boeing 737-800 w/ winglets as well as an American Airlines (AA) Boeing 737-800 taxiing by. I also saw the new DFW Terminal train doing some proving runs. That train will be a life saver as the current system is outdated and does not work well.
We then exited the ramp to the concourse and I then went to the Presidents Club to relax before the departing flight. As I was settling in, one of my co-workers called me to find out if I was taking the last MD-80 flight which I acknowledged; he was more excited than I was.
Soon it was time for boarding, so I left the Club and headed for the gate area, a short five minutes walk away. At the gate I met up with the others once more and also saw a DC-9 captain from Northwest Airlines. As it turns out, his flight was cancelled due to an equipment problem and he was hitching a ride to Houston on our flight. He was thrilled to find out that it was the last flight of the Continental DC-9-82.
After initial greetings and some small talk about airline schedules, we all boarded and settled in.
CO714/03JAN05
Boeing Douglas DC-9-82 (N72821)
Dallas/ Ft. Worth, Dallas Texas (DFW) to Houston-George Bush Intercontinental, Houston Texas (IAH)
I went and took some pictures of the interior as this was the last I’d see of it forever (at least with a Continental interior). I also met another aviation fan who was along for the final ride as well. My taking pictures inspired him not to be shy so he took out his camera and snapped away. We had about a 42% load factor for this historic flight. It is Interesting that the majority of passengers had no clue that they were flying into history.
Soon, the doors were closed and we pushed back after a short delay. The weather was starting to get a little bad (rain) as we waited our turn for the runway. This took a little longer than I expected, but eventually we were airborne into the rainy skies. I took the time to catch up on my reading material and take a few pictures; despite the inclement weather.
We were served beverages in the dimly lit cabin as our historic flight continued. The captain came on the PA and announced that we had slowed down as the weather in Houston was bad and Air Traffic Control was spacing out the arrivals. I had wondered earlier why we were going so slow, but did not mind it as I had no pressing engagements that day and was enjoying the ride anyway.
The captain came on again and said we were going to circle for a while as air traffic was building up in Houston. Well, soon we were able to land and we did so, on runway 8. This of course made for a long taxi, but again who cared.
Houston-George Bush Intercontinental, Houston Texas (IAH)
As we approached the gate, the Captain made an announcement that this was the last flight of the airplane and that the airplane would be sprayed with water from the local fire trucks as a mark of respect. As I looked out the window, I could see the trucks waiting on both sides of the gate. As we pulled into the gate, the powerful jets sprayed us with gallons of water. It was really cool, but since the windows were wet, I was unable to get any pictures.
I waited for all the passengers to leave and then congratulated the crew on my way out, especially the Captain on his retirement. He had only flown Douglas equipment commercially since he started his career; how cool.
I later found out that we were actually going to divert to Austin, TX (AUS) as we were running low on fuel and was almost at that decision point and then at the last moment we received clearance into IAH. Wow.
I then headed to the parking lot with one of my friends who had made the trip with me. It was good to recount his feelings about the trip and we were both obviously elated.
In about 45 minutes or so we arrived downtown via US59. I then took the bus home and arrived in about ten minutes. A perfect end to quite an eventful day; thank you Mr. McDonnell and Mr. Douglas, for a fine piece of machinery that is still flying today with other airlines.
You can view pictures here: http://cruisinaltitude.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=1.
THIS WEEK’S QUESTION
None this week, but please feel free to send me a question if you have one.
COUNTRIES/ STATES/ CITIES VISITED/ TRAVERSED
Dallas, Texas
AIRLINES FLOWN
Continental Airlines (CO) http://www.continental.com
HOTELS STAYED
N/A
CARS RENTED
N/A
AIRPORTS VISITED
Dallas/Ft. Worth International, Dallas Texas (DFW)
TRIP ROUTING
Flight # Date Routing Aircraft Type Distance (miles) Aircraft Registration
CO315 03JAN IAH – DFW DC-9-82 224 N72821
CO714 03JAN DFW – IAH DC-9-82 224 N72821
Total Air Miles: 448
Copyright © 2005 Cruisinaltitude.com.
Trip Date: January 3, 2005
HOUSEKEEPING ITEMS
Happy New Year, seems like only yesterday it was the start of 2004 and already it is Ground Hog Day and we can look forward to 6 more weeks of wintry weather.
Please support our advertisers as this keeps the newsletter and the site going.
Every now and then something occurs in the aviation industry that demands us to stop and take a look. Continental retiring their MD-80s is one such event. Here is the account of the last scheduled revenue service of such an airplane.
####### ADVERTISEMENT #######
American Express Publishing has developed an airline timetable program called eSKYGUIDE. It provides users with convenient access to electronic flight schedules. Users can review worldwide airline schedules which are updated weekly. The software is available for your PC, Palm, Pocket PC, Blackberry or mobile phone. We are offering it for FREE for two months. For additional details go to http://www.skyguideonline.com, then click on "eSkyGuide Electronic Downloads" on the left side of the page.
##############
THIS WEEK’S EDITION
I had read on my online aviation newsgroups that Continental’s MD-80 would have its last scheduled revenue flight on January 3, 2005. I really wanted to take that ride and as it turned out, I was able to pull it off.
I had taken a trip to London on the day after New Year’s Day and was scheduled to return on January 3, 2005. I was trying to fly directly into Dallas/ Forth Worth from London, but the British Airways (BA) flight would not work out as it was quite full and the American flight would have proved too expensive. Instead, I opted for the Continental flight to Houston and then take another Continental flight up to Dallas. This combination worked well until we were delayed arriving into Houston due to strong headwinds that day.
Houston-George Bush Intercontinental, Houston Texas (IAH)
Eventually, my ten hour and thirty-four minutes flight from London-Gatwick, England (LGW) arrived in Terminal D and taxied to our gate, after a few minutes of waiting, we were chocked and the deplaning process started.
It took about twenty minutes to clear immigration and then another few minutes to clear customs. I now had less than an hour to get to the gate in Terminal E. Since I was already checked in, I went straight to the gate using the new walkway between the two Terminals. This saved me a ton of time; at least fifteen minutes as walking from terminal D to E is no small feat in Houston Intercontinental.
At the gate I met a few co-workers who were also taking the flight. It was thirty minutes to the hour and standby seats were not yet distributed, so I chatted with them about our journey and my recent trip as well as how they had spent their New Year celebrations.
Since I realized that we were delayed for a few minutes, I took the opportunity to load my wireless card, then connected to the Internet by going to the nearby Presidents Club. I had tried to connect in Gatwick earlier that morning, but the networks were down so I was unable to do so.
In a few minutes, I was caught up and ready to go. By the time I got back to the gate, the agent had started clearing everyone, so I collected my Economy boarding pass and boarded.
CO315/03JAN05
Boeing Douglas DC9-82 (N72821)
Houston-George Bush Intercontinental, Houston Texas (IAH) to Dallas/ Ft. Worth, Dallas Texas (DFW)
This flight had actually filled up to about an 82% load factor with a full First Class cabin and about 8 standbys all in Economy. We had an uneventful taxi and takeoff and leveled off at about 29,000’. We were served beverages of choice and some peanuts as we headed on our way.
Our flying time was a quick forty-three minutes and we landed in Dallas/ Ft. Worth without incidents and any further delays.
Dallas/ Ft. Worth, Dallas Texas (DFW)
We had a short taxi to the gate, at which time I ensured that myself and the other four guys were the last to deplane. This enabled us to chat with the crew and take a few pictures (http://cruisinaltitude.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=1&pos=2). The crew was really nice and actually excited that we took the time to come fly with them. It was the Captain’s second to last career flight and he seemed pretty pleased with how it went. He was now ready for the historic return flight. A fitting way for an MD-80 Captain to retire, I thought.
We were lucky to be escorted onto the ramp for some additional pictures as well. While photographing the airplane, I was fortunate to get a few shots an ATA Airlines (TZ) Boeing 737-800 w/ winglets as well as an American Airlines (AA) Boeing 737-800 taxiing by. I also saw the new DFW Terminal train doing some proving runs. That train will be a life saver as the current system is outdated and does not work well.
We then exited the ramp to the concourse and I then went to the Presidents Club to relax before the departing flight. As I was settling in, one of my co-workers called me to find out if I was taking the last MD-80 flight which I acknowledged; he was more excited than I was.
Soon it was time for boarding, so I left the Club and headed for the gate area, a short five minutes walk away. At the gate I met up with the others once more and also saw a DC-9 captain from Northwest Airlines. As it turns out, his flight was cancelled due to an equipment problem and he was hitching a ride to Houston on our flight. He was thrilled to find out that it was the last flight of the Continental DC-9-82.
After initial greetings and some small talk about airline schedules, we all boarded and settled in.
CO714/03JAN05
Boeing Douglas DC-9-82 (N72821)
Dallas/ Ft. Worth, Dallas Texas (DFW) to Houston-George Bush Intercontinental, Houston Texas (IAH)
I went and took some pictures of the interior as this was the last I’d see of it forever (at least with a Continental interior). I also met another aviation fan who was along for the final ride as well. My taking pictures inspired him not to be shy so he took out his camera and snapped away. We had about a 42% load factor for this historic flight. It is Interesting that the majority of passengers had no clue that they were flying into history.
Soon, the doors were closed and we pushed back after a short delay. The weather was starting to get a little bad (rain) as we waited our turn for the runway. This took a little longer than I expected, but eventually we were airborne into the rainy skies. I took the time to catch up on my reading material and take a few pictures; despite the inclement weather.
We were served beverages in the dimly lit cabin as our historic flight continued. The captain came on the PA and announced that we had slowed down as the weather in Houston was bad and Air Traffic Control was spacing out the arrivals. I had wondered earlier why we were going so slow, but did not mind it as I had no pressing engagements that day and was enjoying the ride anyway.
The captain came on again and said we were going to circle for a while as air traffic was building up in Houston. Well, soon we were able to land and we did so, on runway 8. This of course made for a long taxi, but again who cared.
Houston-George Bush Intercontinental, Houston Texas (IAH)
As we approached the gate, the Captain made an announcement that this was the last flight of the airplane and that the airplane would be sprayed with water from the local fire trucks as a mark of respect. As I looked out the window, I could see the trucks waiting on both sides of the gate. As we pulled into the gate, the powerful jets sprayed us with gallons of water. It was really cool, but since the windows were wet, I was unable to get any pictures.
I waited for all the passengers to leave and then congratulated the crew on my way out, especially the Captain on his retirement. He had only flown Douglas equipment commercially since he started his career; how cool.
I later found out that we were actually going to divert to Austin, TX (AUS) as we were running low on fuel and was almost at that decision point and then at the last moment we received clearance into IAH. Wow.
I then headed to the parking lot with one of my friends who had made the trip with me. It was good to recount his feelings about the trip and we were both obviously elated.
In about 45 minutes or so we arrived downtown via US59. I then took the bus home and arrived in about ten minutes. A perfect end to quite an eventful day; thank you Mr. McDonnell and Mr. Douglas, for a fine piece of machinery that is still flying today with other airlines.
You can view pictures here: http://cruisinaltitude.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=1.
THIS WEEK’S QUESTION
None this week, but please feel free to send me a question if you have one.
COUNTRIES/ STATES/ CITIES VISITED/ TRAVERSED
Dallas, Texas
AIRLINES FLOWN
Continental Airlines (CO) http://www.continental.com
HOTELS STAYED
N/A
CARS RENTED
N/A
AIRPORTS VISITED
Dallas/Ft. Worth International, Dallas Texas (DFW)
TRIP ROUTING
Flight # Date Routing Aircraft Type Distance (miles) Aircraft Registration
CO315 03JAN IAH – DFW DC-9-82 224 N72821
CO714 03JAN DFW – IAH DC-9-82 224 N72821
Total Air Miles: 448
Copyright © 2005 Cruisinaltitude.com.
Wednesday, July 21, 2004
A visit to Killen and Tyler, TX/ July 17, 2004
July 21, 2004
Trip Date: July 17, 2004
Hello Everyone,
If this newsletter was forwarded to you and you wish to subscribe please send an e-mail to mskonfa@yahoo.com with the word Subscribe in the Subject line. If you wish to unsubscribe send and e-mail to mskonfa@yahoo.com with the word Unsubscribe in the Subject line.
HOUSEKEEPING ITEMS
Thanks for your comments on the Singapore trip, I really appreciate it. At the suggestion of a co-worker, I’ve created a blog at http://cruisinaltitude.blogspot.com/. Please check it out and add comments if you wish.
THIS WEEK’S EDITION
This week, I am kind of in between some major trips and need to catch myself. All the international flights were full, except for Sao Paolo (and that trip would be costly to do what I had planned) and most domestic destinations, so I decided to just stay local.
I thought I’d just do some local Texas airports that are still on the “To Do” list. I remember that on August 2, 2004, Killeen, Texas would change its airport code from ILE to GRK. There is actually a physical change of location that goes with this as well. Since for the next two weeks, I’d be out of pocket, this was the only weekend to log Killeen, Texas (ILE). Here is what happened.
I had mentioned this to one of my co-workers and he said if I was going, I should give him a call. I did not finally decide until about 1:30 a.m. Friday night, so I though I’d just call him when I got up in the morning. At about 8 a.m. on my drive to the airport (he lives close to the airport); I called him and told him of my plans and to meet me if he can. Both the voicemail on his mobile and his home phone came on. I guess he was still asleep.
I got to the airport taking I-45 all the way to Beltway 8 as there was no traffic that early in the morning. Once at the Service Park parking lot, I noticed that my driver today would be the same guy that made me wait the last time at Terminal D; what luck I thought L. Well the van came and I told him my parking space number as well as my Terminal. I said “Terminal B-Baker” quite clearly. Well, we left the lot and he headed towards Terminal C-Charlie, I meant to say something, but knew he’d argue so I kept quiet. He then headed for Terminal D, stopped and indicated that I should alight. Well, I said, I’m going to Terminal B-Bravo Sir, not D-Delta. He shrugged and then pulled away and headed for Terminal B-Bravo; no explanation, no apology.
Houston/ George Bush Intercontinental, Houston Texas (IAH)
I walked into the terminal to the long lines of passengers checking in. As I had already checked in online, I headed to the security checkpoint, showed my documents and cleared without incident. I did notice a passenger in leg and handcuffs being escorted by two security personnel; I could not help but wonder what were the circumstances surrounding that.
I then headed to the Presidents Club for a quick breakfast and a trip online. While there, my phone rang and it was my co-worker. Indeed, he was up late and was asleep when I called. He could not meet for the Killeen flight, but would for the one to Tyler. I told him I’d call him once I departed Killeen.
The time got away from me and I noticed that it was 9:15 a.m. I got my stuff together and headed for the gate. Apologizing, I handed my ID to the agent. One other agent there told me that he had not seen me, so he unseated me, but cheerfully re-checked me in and gave me a seat assignment.
As I waited for the bus to take me to the stand, another passenger arrived. There was also talk about an unaccompanied minor who was on his way to the gate as well. The bus arrived and we both boarded. As we headed for the airplane, the bus stopped, picking up a pilot and deposited him at our airplane.
CO9517/17JUL04 operated by SkyWest Airlines dba Continental Connection
Embraer Brasilia 120 (N15732)
Houston/ George Bush Intercontinental, Houston Texas (IAH) to Killeen Municipal, Killeen Texas (ILE)
We both alighted behind the pilot and mounted the steps to the plane. The configuration is 1-2 with a total of 30 seats. There is one flight attendant as the number of seats exceeds 19 passengers and is less than 50. There is even a toilet on this little plane. You can see this seat map here: http://www.skywest.com/about/emb.php.
I went to my seat at 9A and noticed a passenger sitting in it. I told her that I was assigned that seat and she moved to her assigned seat at 9B next to her mom in 9C. Although 9A said Exit Row on my boarding pass, it was not, the Exit Row seats are really 9B and 9C as well as row 6.
As I settled in, the last passenger boarded. He was the unaccompanied minor that the gate agents were talking about. The flight attendant came by asking the passengers in rows 6B and C (no one in 6A) if they were all willing and able to help, they said yes and he moved on to row 9, where after some hesitation, he got the same answer.
The captain then came on the PA with his announcement and greeting. He sounded really enthusiastic; I felt like I was going to Honolulu, Hawaii or some other exotic destination. It was currently 75 degrees (exclamation from the passengers) and sunny, he said, cautioning that it would not be 75 when we got there. Our flying time today would be 44 minutes from take off to touch down he said in closing.
At 9:37 a.m., we rolled forward and headed for the runway. After handing out a half pint bottle of Ozarka water, the flight attendant did his demo, made his security checks and settled in his seat. The cool thing about being in a smaller plane is that you get expedited to the front of the line. So in a few minutes, we were lined up for runway 15R and took to the skies ahead of the Boeing 757s, Embraer 145s and Boeing 737s that were waiting.
After take off, we were served a packet of peanuts. A little after that, I heard the flight attendant call button go off. One of the passengers in the back wanted a beer, which she received for a charge of $5.00.
As we started our descent into Killeen, the Captain came on and told us that it was now 86 degrees! You have to love Texas in the summertime.
As we were landing, I noticed the airfield off to the left. We made a left-hand turn and then went in for a landing on runway 19, made a left onto the taxiway and taxied up to the terminal bearing a sign “Welcome Killeen.”
Killeen Municipal, Killeen Texas (ILE)
I was the last to deplane and headed for the terminal building with the others. We all waited a bit until someone came and opened the entry door. Once in the baggage claim and car rental area, I headed for the ticket lobby following the well placed sign (I had less than twenty minutes before departure). This was a busy little arrival area; the usual hugs and kisses, passengers picking up their bags, renting cars, etc. were going on. The minor was greeted by a lady who looked like his mom and some of his siblings possibly.
As expected, there was no one at the counter; usually in these small airports, there is a very small team that does everything. I counted about three and one of them looked like the station manager. I quickly went outside to get a few pictures of the terminal (http://www.cruisinaltitude.com/images/airports/ile/mainterminal20040717ilel.jpg and http://www.cruisinaltitude.com/images/airports/ile/mainterminalf20040717ilel.jpg) and then headed back in. This was a very quick turn; we landed at 10:31 a.m. and were scheduled to leave at 10:50 a.m.
I cleared security and headed over to the podium to see the gate agent. She told me that it did not look good and there is a strong possibility that I would not make; but I knew that before taking this journey. The back up plan was to wait for a later American Eagle flight to Dallas/ Forth Worth and then take a connecting American Airlines (AA) flight back to Houston.
Soon she made the boarding calls and everyone was boarded including two more unaccompanied minors (it must be summer). Two more passengers showed up and waited for her return. Once she boarded them, she radioed to see if there was any room for one standby without bags (me). Luckily, there was; she wrote 5A on my standby boarding card as she has no boarding card printer at the gate and told me to go and I did, thanking her as I did so.
CO9526/17JUL04 operated by SkyWest Airlines dba Continental Connection
Embraer Brasilia 120 (N15732)
Killeen Municipal, Killeen Texas (ILE) to Houston/ George Bush Intercontinental, Houston Texas (IAH)
I got back on board and took seat 5A. I did notice that 6B and C were open so I moved over there. This is the other Exit Row. There are actually no chair tables in this row at all.
I glanced back and there was this kid sitting at the window that looked so excited; his mom was sitting across from him. He then commented that he had not flown in four years (holding up four fingers); he looked like he was about nine or so years old. I remember when I was that excited, I still get that way J. I looked out the window and I could see family members waving to their loved ones through the fence at the parking lot.
The Captain came on with his greeting and announced that it would be 90 degrees when we got back to Houston and that our cruisin’ altitude would be 17,000’ today with :35 minute flying time enroute.
The doors soon closed, the engines started and we were off to the taxiway. The flight attendant gave his demo and safety checks and we were all set to go. It was a quick taxi to the threshold of runway 19, where we made a right turn onto the runway, taxied the short distance to the end, made a tight right turn, straightened up, held the brakes, revved up the engines and took off like a pellet out of a slingshot. About midway down the runway, the wheels lifted, we were off.
I was trying to see if I could spot the new airport in the distance and I think I did; the next trip in these parts will be to log it. Once we reached our cruisin’ altitude, we were served a half pint bottle of water followed by a pack of peanuts again. Our little flyer off to my left was delighted and so was I.
I made a trip back to the restroom and it was quite interesting. Tip: ensure that if you are a little taller than average use the facilities on the ground J before you board these small planes. It was even more interesting as we started our descent into Houston while I was in there. This airplane has no running water, so wet wipes are provided.
Back at my seat, I continued writing until we buzzed past 10,000’. We landed on the newly opened 8L and taxied to the hard stand near Terminal B.
Houston/ George Bush Intercontinental, Houston Texas (IAH)
On the taxi, I could see an Air Canada Jazz CRJ-200 (http://www.cruisinaltitude.com/images/crjs/acjazzcrjg20040717iahl.jpg) parked at the gate over by Terminal A. Prior to that, on landing, I saw an Antonov cargo plane (http://www.cruisinaltitude.com/images/antonov/an124h20040717iahl.jpg) in the cargo area. As we taxied to our hard stand, I called my co-worker to let him know I had landed (did not have a chance to do so in ILE at all). He was all set; he had checked in for the flight to Tyler and would meet me in the Presidents Club in a few minutes.
Houston Texas (IAH) to Tyler Pounds Regional, Tyler Texas (TYR)
We pulled up to our berth, deplaned and headed for the waiting bus that took us over to Terminal B. Once there, I checked for the departure gate for Tyler and as it turns out, it was the same as the earlier gate for Killeen, 84B. I headed towards the Presidents Club, where I relaxed with a glass of Chardonnay accompanied by some cheese and crackers. I made sure to take a seat where I could see the planes as they headed for the departure runway. As I waited, a Boeing 777, 757-300 and a 767-400 passed by as well as a few ERJs, busy morning at IAH.
Soon, my phone rang, it was my co-worker, he was just clearing security. He came in as my guest and we chatted until it was within 30 minutes of departure. We then went down to the gate and received our boarding passes. We had 1B and C, but when we boarded the flight attendant told us to take any open seats. Since 9B and C were open, we took those.
CO9548/17JUL04 operated by SkyWest Airlines dba Continental Connection
Embraer Brasilia 120 (N15732)
Houston/ George Bush Intercontinental, Houston Texas (IAH) to Tyler Pounds Regional, Tyler Texas (TYR)
As we got ready for our departure, World Airways MD-11 landed. I think it arrived from somewhere in East Africa. Soon, we departed, ontime and headed for the runway. This time around, when we got to the runway, we had to wait a bit before we got our clearance to go. Once we got the clearance, the take off was swift with a hard right turn flying parallel to the departing runway for it full length. This gave us a chance to see the airport in its full glory. It was great to see the Boeing 737-300 that was following us on the take off roll, also making a right turn.
Once we were at cruise, we were served water or another beverage of choice and peanuts. I chatted with my co-worker for the entire journey, it was good to catch up. Soon, it was time to land and we started our descent.
Tyler Pounds Regional, Tyler Texas (TYR)
When we landed, I noticed there was an American Eagle Saab SF3 at the gate. It was preparing to depart (http://www.cruisinaltitude.com/images/sf3/aasf3h20040717tyrl.jpg).
We deplaned and entered the terminal with the other passengers. We had about an hour on the ground, so we decided to explore a bit. Not much to see really; this is a brand new terminal (two years old), with typical airport facilities. Tyler is apparently the rose capital of Texas and possibly the U.S. so they airport had a big rose on it (http://www.cruisinaltitude.com/images/airports/tyr/mainterminal220040717tyrl.jpg). I was also able to take a photo of the departing American Eagle flight to Dallas/ Fort Worth (http://www.cruisinaltitude.com/images/sf3/aasf3to20040717tyrl.jpg).
We went inside as the heat was sweltering! We made a quick stop by the food court, well the lone restaurant, to see what they had to offer. We stopped short as the prices were so high for a burger. The agent later told us that it is not for a ¼ pounder as normal, but Tyler is famous for the one pound burger; of course, the name “Pounds Field.” There is no way I can eat a full pound of beef on a bun, so I decided against it. So did my co-worker.
We then cleared security and waited for a seat. This was another touch and go situation as well; it was fine earlier, by a family of five had shown up since we departed Houston and now we were booked at 28. The agent said it was not looking to good as they were weight restricted. We waited for word and it came in the form of good news at the last minute. We were given the only two seats left 6A and 9A and told to board.
CO9549/17JUL04 operated by SkyWest Airlines dba Continental Connection
Embraer Brasilia 120 (N58733)
Tyler Pounds Regional, Tyler Texas (ILE) to Houston/ George Bush Intercontinental, Houston Texas (IAH)
Elated and relieved, we boarded, the doors closed and we were off with seven minutes to spare. By now, the wind direction had changed so we headed for runway 4 and took to the skies.
As we flew out, one could see the old terminal close to the end of the runway. The control tower still remained there. We did find out that the new terminal is only two years old.
We were served refreshments once more as we leveled out. This flight was without incident and we landed safely at George Bush on runway 8R.
Houston/ George Bush Intercontinental, Houston Texas (IAH)
We had a long taxi back and had to wait for a Boeing 737-300 to land on runway 8L. By now, there was another Antonov on the ground.
We headed to the ramp where we all deplaned, took the bus to the terminal and headed for the Exit. Soon, I was in my, dropped my co-worker home and then headed south towards the city. Not bad for a few hours of fun, I thought.
THIS WEEK’S QUESTION
None this week, but please feel free to send me a question if you have one.
COUNTRIES/ STATES/ CITIES VISITED/ TRAVERSED
Killeen, Texas
Tyler, Texas
AIRLINES FLOWN
SkyWest Airlines dba Continental Connection (CO*) http://www.continental.com
HOTELS STAYED
N/A
CARS RENTED
N/A
AIRPORTS VISITED
Killeen Municipal, Killeen Texas (ILE)
Tyler Pounds Regional, Tyler Texas (TYR)
TRIP ROUTING
Flight # Date Routing Aircraft Type Distance (miles) Aircraft Registration
CO9517 17JUL IAH – ILE EMB-120 159 N15732
CO9526 17JUL ILE – IAH EMB-120 159 N15732
CO9548 17JUL IAH – TYR EMB-120 163 N58733
CO9549 17JUL TYR – IAH EMB-120 163 N58733
Total Air Miles: 644
Copyright © 2004 Cruisinaltitude.com. Please feel free to re-distribute this newsletter. The only caveat is that it is distributed in its entirety. Feel free to offer feedback at mskonfa@yahoo.com or if you have any question(s) that you would like answered that relates to Commercial Aviation and or Travel. If you wish to subscribe or unsubscribe please send an e-mail to mskonfa@yahoo.com.
Cruisinaltitude.com – P.O. Box 130771 – River Oaks Station, Texas USA 77219
Trip Date: July 17, 2004
Hello Everyone,
If this newsletter was forwarded to you and you wish to subscribe please send an e-mail to mskonfa@yahoo.com with the word Subscribe in the Subject line. If you wish to unsubscribe send and e-mail to mskonfa@yahoo.com with the word Unsubscribe in the Subject line.
HOUSEKEEPING ITEMS
Thanks for your comments on the Singapore trip, I really appreciate it. At the suggestion of a co-worker, I’ve created a blog at http://cruisinaltitude.blogspot.com/. Please check it out and add comments if you wish.
THIS WEEK’S EDITION
This week, I am kind of in between some major trips and need to catch myself. All the international flights were full, except for Sao Paolo (and that trip would be costly to do what I had planned) and most domestic destinations, so I decided to just stay local.
I thought I’d just do some local Texas airports that are still on the “To Do” list. I remember that on August 2, 2004, Killeen, Texas would change its airport code from ILE to GRK. There is actually a physical change of location that goes with this as well. Since for the next two weeks, I’d be out of pocket, this was the only weekend to log Killeen, Texas (ILE). Here is what happened.
I had mentioned this to one of my co-workers and he said if I was going, I should give him a call. I did not finally decide until about 1:30 a.m. Friday night, so I though I’d just call him when I got up in the morning. At about 8 a.m. on my drive to the airport (he lives close to the airport); I called him and told him of my plans and to meet me if he can. Both the voicemail on his mobile and his home phone came on. I guess he was still asleep.
I got to the airport taking I-45 all the way to Beltway 8 as there was no traffic that early in the morning. Once at the Service Park parking lot, I noticed that my driver today would be the same guy that made me wait the last time at Terminal D; what luck I thought L. Well the van came and I told him my parking space number as well as my Terminal. I said “Terminal B-Baker” quite clearly. Well, we left the lot and he headed towards Terminal C-Charlie, I meant to say something, but knew he’d argue so I kept quiet. He then headed for Terminal D, stopped and indicated that I should alight. Well, I said, I’m going to Terminal B-Bravo Sir, not D-Delta. He shrugged and then pulled away and headed for Terminal B-Bravo; no explanation, no apology.
Houston/ George Bush Intercontinental, Houston Texas (IAH)
I walked into the terminal to the long lines of passengers checking in. As I had already checked in online, I headed to the security checkpoint, showed my documents and cleared without incident. I did notice a passenger in leg and handcuffs being escorted by two security personnel; I could not help but wonder what were the circumstances surrounding that.
I then headed to the Presidents Club for a quick breakfast and a trip online. While there, my phone rang and it was my co-worker. Indeed, he was up late and was asleep when I called. He could not meet for the Killeen flight, but would for the one to Tyler. I told him I’d call him once I departed Killeen.
The time got away from me and I noticed that it was 9:15 a.m. I got my stuff together and headed for the gate. Apologizing, I handed my ID to the agent. One other agent there told me that he had not seen me, so he unseated me, but cheerfully re-checked me in and gave me a seat assignment.
As I waited for the bus to take me to the stand, another passenger arrived. There was also talk about an unaccompanied minor who was on his way to the gate as well. The bus arrived and we both boarded. As we headed for the airplane, the bus stopped, picking up a pilot and deposited him at our airplane.
CO9517/17JUL04 operated by SkyWest Airlines dba Continental Connection
Embraer Brasilia 120 (N15732)
Houston/ George Bush Intercontinental, Houston Texas (IAH) to Killeen Municipal, Killeen Texas (ILE)
We both alighted behind the pilot and mounted the steps to the plane. The configuration is 1-2 with a total of 30 seats. There is one flight attendant as the number of seats exceeds 19 passengers and is less than 50. There is even a toilet on this little plane. You can see this seat map here: http://www.skywest.com/about/emb.php.
I went to my seat at 9A and noticed a passenger sitting in it. I told her that I was assigned that seat and she moved to her assigned seat at 9B next to her mom in 9C. Although 9A said Exit Row on my boarding pass, it was not, the Exit Row seats are really 9B and 9C as well as row 6.
As I settled in, the last passenger boarded. He was the unaccompanied minor that the gate agents were talking about. The flight attendant came by asking the passengers in rows 6B and C (no one in 6A) if they were all willing and able to help, they said yes and he moved on to row 9, where after some hesitation, he got the same answer.
The captain then came on the PA with his announcement and greeting. He sounded really enthusiastic; I felt like I was going to Honolulu, Hawaii or some other exotic destination. It was currently 75 degrees (exclamation from the passengers) and sunny, he said, cautioning that it would not be 75 when we got there. Our flying time today would be 44 minutes from take off to touch down he said in closing.
At 9:37 a.m., we rolled forward and headed for the runway. After handing out a half pint bottle of Ozarka water, the flight attendant did his demo, made his security checks and settled in his seat. The cool thing about being in a smaller plane is that you get expedited to the front of the line. So in a few minutes, we were lined up for runway 15R and took to the skies ahead of the Boeing 757s, Embraer 145s and Boeing 737s that were waiting.
After take off, we were served a packet of peanuts. A little after that, I heard the flight attendant call button go off. One of the passengers in the back wanted a beer, which she received for a charge of $5.00.
As we started our descent into Killeen, the Captain came on and told us that it was now 86 degrees! You have to love Texas in the summertime.
As we were landing, I noticed the airfield off to the left. We made a left-hand turn and then went in for a landing on runway 19, made a left onto the taxiway and taxied up to the terminal bearing a sign “Welcome Killeen.”
Killeen Municipal, Killeen Texas (ILE)
I was the last to deplane and headed for the terminal building with the others. We all waited a bit until someone came and opened the entry door. Once in the baggage claim and car rental area, I headed for the ticket lobby following the well placed sign (I had less than twenty minutes before departure). This was a busy little arrival area; the usual hugs and kisses, passengers picking up their bags, renting cars, etc. were going on. The minor was greeted by a lady who looked like his mom and some of his siblings possibly.
As expected, there was no one at the counter; usually in these small airports, there is a very small team that does everything. I counted about three and one of them looked like the station manager. I quickly went outside to get a few pictures of the terminal (http://www.cruisinaltitude.com/images/airports/ile/mainterminal20040717ilel.jpg and http://www.cruisinaltitude.com/images/airports/ile/mainterminalf20040717ilel.jpg) and then headed back in. This was a very quick turn; we landed at 10:31 a.m. and were scheduled to leave at 10:50 a.m.
I cleared security and headed over to the podium to see the gate agent. She told me that it did not look good and there is a strong possibility that I would not make; but I knew that before taking this journey. The back up plan was to wait for a later American Eagle flight to Dallas/ Forth Worth and then take a connecting American Airlines (AA) flight back to Houston.
Soon she made the boarding calls and everyone was boarded including two more unaccompanied minors (it must be summer). Two more passengers showed up and waited for her return. Once she boarded them, she radioed to see if there was any room for one standby without bags (me). Luckily, there was; she wrote 5A on my standby boarding card as she has no boarding card printer at the gate and told me to go and I did, thanking her as I did so.
CO9526/17JUL04 operated by SkyWest Airlines dba Continental Connection
Embraer Brasilia 120 (N15732)
Killeen Municipal, Killeen Texas (ILE) to Houston/ George Bush Intercontinental, Houston Texas (IAH)
I got back on board and took seat 5A. I did notice that 6B and C were open so I moved over there. This is the other Exit Row. There are actually no chair tables in this row at all.
I glanced back and there was this kid sitting at the window that looked so excited; his mom was sitting across from him. He then commented that he had not flown in four years (holding up four fingers); he looked like he was about nine or so years old. I remember when I was that excited, I still get that way J. I looked out the window and I could see family members waving to their loved ones through the fence at the parking lot.
The Captain came on with his greeting and announced that it would be 90 degrees when we got back to Houston and that our cruisin’ altitude would be 17,000’ today with :35 minute flying time enroute.
The doors soon closed, the engines started and we were off to the taxiway. The flight attendant gave his demo and safety checks and we were all set to go. It was a quick taxi to the threshold of runway 19, where we made a right turn onto the runway, taxied the short distance to the end, made a tight right turn, straightened up, held the brakes, revved up the engines and took off like a pellet out of a slingshot. About midway down the runway, the wheels lifted, we were off.
I was trying to see if I could spot the new airport in the distance and I think I did; the next trip in these parts will be to log it. Once we reached our cruisin’ altitude, we were served a half pint bottle of water followed by a pack of peanuts again. Our little flyer off to my left was delighted and so was I.
I made a trip back to the restroom and it was quite interesting. Tip: ensure that if you are a little taller than average use the facilities on the ground J before you board these small planes. It was even more interesting as we started our descent into Houston while I was in there. This airplane has no running water, so wet wipes are provided.
Back at my seat, I continued writing until we buzzed past 10,000’. We landed on the newly opened 8L and taxied to the hard stand near Terminal B.
Houston/ George Bush Intercontinental, Houston Texas (IAH)
On the taxi, I could see an Air Canada Jazz CRJ-200 (http://www.cruisinaltitude.com/images/crjs/acjazzcrjg20040717iahl.jpg) parked at the gate over by Terminal A. Prior to that, on landing, I saw an Antonov cargo plane (http://www.cruisinaltitude.com/images/antonov/an124h20040717iahl.jpg) in the cargo area. As we taxied to our hard stand, I called my co-worker to let him know I had landed (did not have a chance to do so in ILE at all). He was all set; he had checked in for the flight to Tyler and would meet me in the Presidents Club in a few minutes.
Houston Texas (IAH) to Tyler Pounds Regional, Tyler Texas (TYR)
We pulled up to our berth, deplaned and headed for the waiting bus that took us over to Terminal B. Once there, I checked for the departure gate for Tyler and as it turns out, it was the same as the earlier gate for Killeen, 84B. I headed towards the Presidents Club, where I relaxed with a glass of Chardonnay accompanied by some cheese and crackers. I made sure to take a seat where I could see the planes as they headed for the departure runway. As I waited, a Boeing 777, 757-300 and a 767-400 passed by as well as a few ERJs, busy morning at IAH.
Soon, my phone rang, it was my co-worker, he was just clearing security. He came in as my guest and we chatted until it was within 30 minutes of departure. We then went down to the gate and received our boarding passes. We had 1B and C, but when we boarded the flight attendant told us to take any open seats. Since 9B and C were open, we took those.
CO9548/17JUL04 operated by SkyWest Airlines dba Continental Connection
Embraer Brasilia 120 (N15732)
Houston/ George Bush Intercontinental, Houston Texas (IAH) to Tyler Pounds Regional, Tyler Texas (TYR)
As we got ready for our departure, World Airways MD-11 landed. I think it arrived from somewhere in East Africa. Soon, we departed, ontime and headed for the runway. This time around, when we got to the runway, we had to wait a bit before we got our clearance to go. Once we got the clearance, the take off was swift with a hard right turn flying parallel to the departing runway for it full length. This gave us a chance to see the airport in its full glory. It was great to see the Boeing 737-300 that was following us on the take off roll, also making a right turn.
Once we were at cruise, we were served water or another beverage of choice and peanuts. I chatted with my co-worker for the entire journey, it was good to catch up. Soon, it was time to land and we started our descent.
Tyler Pounds Regional, Tyler Texas (TYR)
When we landed, I noticed there was an American Eagle Saab SF3 at the gate. It was preparing to depart (http://www.cruisinaltitude.com/images/sf3/aasf3h20040717tyrl.jpg).
We deplaned and entered the terminal with the other passengers. We had about an hour on the ground, so we decided to explore a bit. Not much to see really; this is a brand new terminal (two years old), with typical airport facilities. Tyler is apparently the rose capital of Texas and possibly the U.S. so they airport had a big rose on it (http://www.cruisinaltitude.com/images/airports/tyr/mainterminal220040717tyrl.jpg). I was also able to take a photo of the departing American Eagle flight to Dallas/ Fort Worth (http://www.cruisinaltitude.com/images/sf3/aasf3to20040717tyrl.jpg).
We went inside as the heat was sweltering! We made a quick stop by the food court, well the lone restaurant, to see what they had to offer. We stopped short as the prices were so high for a burger. The agent later told us that it is not for a ¼ pounder as normal, but Tyler is famous for the one pound burger; of course, the name “Pounds Field.” There is no way I can eat a full pound of beef on a bun, so I decided against it. So did my co-worker.
We then cleared security and waited for a seat. This was another touch and go situation as well; it was fine earlier, by a family of five had shown up since we departed Houston and now we were booked at 28. The agent said it was not looking to good as they were weight restricted. We waited for word and it came in the form of good news at the last minute. We were given the only two seats left 6A and 9A and told to board.
CO9549/17JUL04 operated by SkyWest Airlines dba Continental Connection
Embraer Brasilia 120 (N58733)
Tyler Pounds Regional, Tyler Texas (ILE) to Houston/ George Bush Intercontinental, Houston Texas (IAH)
Elated and relieved, we boarded, the doors closed and we were off with seven minutes to spare. By now, the wind direction had changed so we headed for runway 4 and took to the skies.
As we flew out, one could see the old terminal close to the end of the runway. The control tower still remained there. We did find out that the new terminal is only two years old.
We were served refreshments once more as we leveled out. This flight was without incident and we landed safely at George Bush on runway 8R.
Houston/ George Bush Intercontinental, Houston Texas (IAH)
We had a long taxi back and had to wait for a Boeing 737-300 to land on runway 8L. By now, there was another Antonov on the ground.
We headed to the ramp where we all deplaned, took the bus to the terminal and headed for the Exit. Soon, I was in my, dropped my co-worker home and then headed south towards the city. Not bad for a few hours of fun, I thought.
THIS WEEK’S QUESTION
None this week, but please feel free to send me a question if you have one.
COUNTRIES/ STATES/ CITIES VISITED/ TRAVERSED
Killeen, Texas
Tyler, Texas
AIRLINES FLOWN
SkyWest Airlines dba Continental Connection (CO*) http://www.continental.com
HOTELS STAYED
N/A
CARS RENTED
N/A
AIRPORTS VISITED
Killeen Municipal, Killeen Texas (ILE)
Tyler Pounds Regional, Tyler Texas (TYR)
TRIP ROUTING
Flight # Date Routing Aircraft Type Distance (miles) Aircraft Registration
CO9517 17JUL IAH – ILE EMB-120 159 N15732
CO9526 17JUL ILE – IAH EMB-120 159 N15732
CO9548 17JUL IAH – TYR EMB-120 163 N58733
CO9549 17JUL TYR – IAH EMB-120 163 N58733
Total Air Miles: 644
Copyright © 2004 Cruisinaltitude.com. Please feel free to re-distribute this newsletter. The only caveat is that it is distributed in its entirety. Feel free to offer feedback at mskonfa@yahoo.com or if you have any question(s) that you would like answered that relates to Commercial Aviation and or Travel. If you wish to subscribe or unsubscribe please send an e-mail to mskonfa@yahoo.com.
Cruisinaltitude.com – P.O. Box 130771 – River Oaks Station, Texas USA 77219
Monday, July 12, 2004
World's Longest Flight-SQ21/June 30 - July 5, 2004
July 12, 2004
Trip Date: June 30 - July 5, 2004
THIS WEEK’S EDITION
Well, I’m not sure if you know, but for the longest while the three longest distance nonstop commercial airline routes in the world were Atlanta, Georgia (ATL) to Cape Town, South Africa (CPT) – 8,127 flown by South African Airlines (SA); Newark, New Jersey (EWR) to Hong Kong (HKG) – 8,047 flown by Continental Airlines (CO) and now also Cathay Pacific Airways (CX) from New York’s (JFK); Los Angeles, California (LAX) to Melbourne, Australia (MEL) – 7, 922 flown by Qantas (QF) and United Airlines (UA).
Back on February 3 of this year, Singapore Airlines (SQ) changed that by flying nonstop using an Airbus A340-500 from LAX to Singapore (SIN) – 8,758 miles. Until June 28, 2004, this routing was the record, then, Singapore Airlines flew from Singapore to Newark and broke their own record by flying 9,524 nonstop miles to now hold the record for the longest distance commercial airline flight in the world. They also have the record for the longest flight as well on the same route.
I have flown the LAX to MEL route on United, the Hong Kong to Newark route on Continental, wanted to do the LAX to Singapore route but could not make it work, so I decided to waste no time and go for the new Newark to Singapore route. Here is what happened beginning on June 30, 2004.
I departed work on Wednesday at about noon and headed for the post office. I had received a package slip from the post office which stated that I had a package waiting and wanted to get it before I headed for the airport. I also needed to pay my rent since I would not be around when it became due.
Of course, there was a line there and the wait lasted about 10 minutes, but it seemed like a few hours for some reason. I guess when you are in a rush; everything seems to take so long.
Soon, all that was over and I was on my way to the airport. I-45 was crowded as usual, so I headed for I-10 and then to I-59, to the Hardy Toll Road, paid my $1.25 toll and was at the airport by 12:50 p.m. All these years and I’ve never bought the EZ-Pass. I parked and then a bus showed up soon. In about 10 minutes, I was at Terminal C.
Houston/ George Bush Intercontinental, Houston Texas (IAH)
I had to make a decision whether to take the 1:15 p.m. nonstop to Newark airport that was very overbooked or take the direct flight with the one-stop in Huntsville, Alabama (HSV). A friend was checking on the flights for me and with the information he gave me, I decided to head for Huntsville. Besides, it was too late to make it to gate E-2 anyway.
I cleared security and then headed for the monorail that runs between Terminals C and B. In about a minute or so, one arrived and within another ninety seconds, I was in Terminal B. It was now 1:10 p.m. I verified that I was still leaving from B77 and headed there. At the same moment, I heard an announcement that it was the final call for Huntsville. I guess they wanted to leave early as there was a rain storm brewing. As a matter of fact, it had already started raining a little.
At the gate, I was told just to take any open seat as the boarding pass printer was broken; I had checked in online, but had not received a seat assignment just yet. Myself and two other standbys walked down the jetway with the agent.
CO2084/30JUN04 operated by ExpessJet Airlines, Inc. dba Continental Express
Embraer Regional Jet 145 (N15948)
Houston/ George Bush Intercontinental, Houston Texas (IAH) to Huntsville International, Huntsville Alabama (HSV) [new airport for me!]
As the Exit Row seats were all taken, I settled into 10C. We pushed back about 1:25 p.m. and headed for the runway. It was a quick taxi and there were not many airplanes waiting. We straightened up for runway 33R-15L and were airborne in no time. Man, these ERJs are very quick!
As we climbed out, I could see Taca’s Airbus A320 arriving on a perpendicular runway. Off in the distance was downtown Houston. One could clearly see US59 heading into the city with no traffic either way. We had a slow climb out, but eventually cleared 10,000’. Our service today would be mini pretzels and beverage of choice.
At 33,000’ the Captain came on with an update. As there were a few thunderstorms, we had to deviate from our routing a bit to avoid them. They were huge as you could see them just outside the window. At this point, we had about 56 minutes remaining in our flight; we had been airborne for about 40 minutes now. I busied myself with updating this report and tried to catch up on e-mails.
Soon, we commenced our descent into Huntsville, as we landed on runway 18L-36R; I saw what looked like a Delta Connection CRJ-700 waiting at the threshold of the runway (http://www.cruisinaltitude.com/images/longest_flight/hsv/dlcr7tx20040630hsv.htm). As we landed, a driving rain started. We taxied up to the gate and everyone disembarked.
Huntsville International, Huntsville Alabama (HSV)
I went over to the gate and the agent printed me a boarding pass for the next segment. As I walked around the airport, I noticed they had a sign that said there was complimentary wireless access available. I powered up and took advantage of it and sent some e-mails I had crafted on the flight over. Thanks Huntsville.
I also noticed a painting of a single engine old prop plane that looked like a DC-3, a Cargolux Boeing 747-300 and an Air France Concorde in landing configuration. The artist had done the painting in 1990 (http://www.cruisinaltitude.com/images/longest_flight/hsv/art20040630hsv.htm). As I looked at the registration of the Concorde, I noticed that it was G-BOAA, which if I am not mistaken is that of a British Airways Concorde. I laughed to myself and went back to my computer and waited for my e-mail to finish downloading. Check out this link to see what I mean: http://www.jetphotos.net/census/aircraft.php?reg=G-BOAA&msn=206.
It was time to board, so I did. I boarded last so that I could take an open seat if necessary. It was fine, so I took my assigned seat a few rows in front of the Exit Row.
CO2084/30JUN04 operated by ExpessJet Airlines, Inc. dba Continental Express
Embraer Regional Jet 145 (N15948)
Huntsville International, Huntsville Alabama (HSV) to Newark Liberty International, Newark New Jersey (EWR)
There was actually a crew change here, but the flight number and aircraft remained the same. The departing crew would fly the Houston-bound flight back. It had stopped raining by now and we were ready for pushback. We headed for the runway and were off in no time.
The Captain came on the PA with about 1:22 to go and gave his welcome message. We were at 27,000’ and had now been airborne for about 35 minutes.
We were being served pretzels and a beverage of choice at this point. Soon after the service, the Captain came on again and said that Newark had bad weather so we would be circling for a while. About 20 minutes after, we stopped circling but ended up circling again in another area closer to the airport. By the time it was all over, we had circled for about 45 minutes due to weather delays and traffic at the airport. I took the opportunity to sleep a bit.
We then started our descent eventually turning right close to the Tappan Zee Bridge and headed down the Hudson, then turning right again for the runway. It was good to see New York City off in the distance albeit a little hazy. Directly below were the Continental Airlines Arena and then the Giants Stadium.
Newark Liberty International, Newark New Jersey (EWR)
As I landed, I could see the Singapore Airlines (SQ) A340-500 waiting at the gate (http://www.cruisinaltitude.com/images/longest_flight/ewr/sqa345g20040630ewr.htm). It was being catered at the moment. There was also a Virgin Atlantic Airways (VS) Boeing 747-400 at gate 65. In addition to the last British Airways (BA) Boeing 777-200 destined for London, England. Moments later, another British Airways Boeing 777-200 arrived. This would be the day flight the next morning to London and finally, an Air India Boeing 747-400 and a Swiss Airbus A330. Oh, off in the distance, by Terminal A, was a Hooters Air Boeing 757-200. You can see them all here: http://www.cruisinaltitude.com/images/longest_flight/ewr/planes.htm.
My flight made its way to gate 115A where I disembarked. I headed for the gate 75 area so that I could shoot some closer shots of the A340-500 in Terminal B. After taking a bunch of photos, I headed to the Presidents Club near that gate. I had to send some e-mails and make some last minute transactions before I headed out. At about 9:05 p.m., I left and headed for Terminal B.
As the weather was good and I did not feel like walking up the stairs to the AirTrain, I decided to just walk to Terminal B. As I arrived in Terminal B, there was no line for the flight. They had two sections for check-in that matched the two classes of service on the flight (Raffles and Executive Economy). I stood on the Executive Economy line, and was called over to the Raffles section when a space became available.
As I was being checked in, I noticed a sheet of paper on the desk that offered the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse before security or the Star Alliance Lounge after security and near the gate as choices for a Lounge; I was wondering what they were going to do for a lounge and there you have it.
The agent checked me in and advised that it was a bit touch and go today as the flight was overbooked, adding that the next day looked much better. As it turned out, this was the return flight for many of the passengers who had come over on the inaugural two days ago.
I cleared security which was quite a chore. The TSA agent was only allowing three customers at a time to approach the machines, not sure why. Meanwhile, the line was building behind us. Eventually, it was my turn. I cleared and then headed for the gate area. I need to charge my batteries so I searched for a plug and was able to find one not too far from the gate. This as quite a chore for some reason.
At about 10:40 p.m., I was paged by the agent in charge. He had a seat for me in Executive Economy Class; this was the last available seat. There were still a few seats available in Raffles Class, I later found out. I made a quick stop in the men’s room and then boarded the flight.
SQ21/30JUN04
Airbus A340-500 (9V-SGB)
Newark Liberty International, Newark New Jersey (EWR) to Singapore Changi International, Singapore (SIN)
As I boarded, I could see that the configuration in Raffles Class was 2-2-2 and in the split Executive Economy cabin (Raffles is a split cabin as well), it was 2-3-2 tapering to 2-2-2 in the last two rows. You can see the configuration at http://img.singaporeair.com/images/english/AboutSia/FleetInformation/CabinLayouts/A345-500.gif.
Singapore Airlines’ Web site has this to say about Raffles Class:
The Raffles (business) Class cabin has 64 of SIA’s renowned SpaceBeds. Arranged in a 2-2-2 configuration, the seats have a generous pitch of 64 inches, bed width of 26 inches, bed length of 78 inches, adjustable head rest, leg rest and lumbar support, a 10.4 inch personal video monitor, AC power supply outlet and a DVD port.
The interior colors were very soothing, making me feel immediately at home as I walked to my middle seat close to the back of the plane. There is ample leg room (37 inches seat pitch), butt room (Singapore Airlines says they have the widest Economy seat (20 inches) in the world) and feet and leg room. Each seat has its own laptop power outlet (accepts Australian, European (except UK), US and Japanese plugs) and its own in-seat 9 inch video monitor with Audio and Video On Demand entertainment. This included 60 movies, 83 TV programs, 205 CDs, 12 Audio Channels, 33 Nintendo Games, 20 PC Games and 3 Multi-player games! The only other airline that I’ve flown with such an extensive programming is Emirates (EK) from London/ Gatwick (LGW) to Dubai, United Arab Emirates (DXB) on their A340-500 with 500 channels and also video on demand.
I settled in, said hello to my seat mates and delved in the reading material. Once everyone was boarded, the flight attendants came by with hot towels; these are white wash rag-sized towels complete with the Singapore Airlines logo. I was convinced then that this flight would be exceptional. I told the lady (returning home from a business trip) sitting to my left to slap me if I start getting too excited. She then turned to the guy on my right (a freshman Engineering college student from Northwestern University who was returning home for the summer) and said jokingly; “Will you be my witness?” Yes, this was going to be a good flight.
Menus (with pictures of red whole and cut apples on the cover) and amenity kits (containing a pair of light bluish gray socks, toothbrush and toothpaste) were handed out just before the safety video commenced; both nice touches.
In terms of food, here is what we had on tap for our journey:
SUPPER MENU
Tasty Beginnings
Ham with mesclun salad and mustard sauce, chicken
The Main Event
A choice of:
Chicken in natural jus with potato puree, sauerkraut with bacon and pear (Exclusively created by Alfred Portale of Gotham Bar & Grill, New York)
or
Braised fillet of fish with spicy hoisin sauce, seasonal vegetables and steamed rice
The Cheese Corner
Cheese and crackers
Sweet Overtones
Ice Cream bar
From The Bakery
Roll and butter
Choice Brews
Coffee
Tea
Chinese tea
BETWEEN MEALS MENU
Light Bites
An assortment of snacks will be offered
Choice Brews
Coffee
Tea
Chinese tea
BREAKFAST MENU
A Tantalising Note
Fresh fruits with champagne syrup
Tasty Beginnings
Fruit yoghurt
The Main Event
A choice of:
Ah Yat’s braised beef brisket in live spice with Chinese greens and egg noodles (Exclusively created by Mr. Yeung Koon Hat, Hong Kong)
or
Cheese omelette with chicken sausage, grilled tomato and potatoes
From The Bakery
Assorted breakfast rolls, butter and fruit preserve
Choice Brews
Coffee
Tea
Chinese tea
REFRESHING BEVERAGES
Typically, you name it; you can perhaps get it on board, including of course a Singapore Sling.
The safety video commenced and as it continued, we commenced the push back at three minutes shy of 11 p.m. The taxi to the runway was short and we were airborne at 10 after the hour. Our flying time was booked at 17:50 tonight; yes we had a crazy tailwind most of the way. Also, we would not go over the North Pole, but head north to Boston, then across the Atlantic Ocean, head for England, then across Europe then the Middle East and head south over Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, cross the Bay of Bengal and then onto Singapore (http://www.cruisinaltitude.com/images/longest_flight/onboard/P7010020.htm).
Of course immediately after takeoff, I started to play with the entertainment system. The system was actually activated while on the ground. Here is an overview:
There are six main sections:
Wisemen (SQ’s trademark) Audio & Video
Video and Audio on Demand Movies and TV Shows; movie trailers are also included
There were 60 choices including:
Pleasantville
The Replacements
Independence Day
The Full Monty
Agent Cody Banks 2
Torque
Starsky & Hutch
50 First Dates
Anita & Me
Walking Tall
Man on Fire
News & Info
Live Text News
Satellite news in various categories; this is a text service that is up to the minute
Flight Path
Destination Info
What’s the Buzz
Gizmos
Games
A number of Nintendo, Multiplayer, PC Games and Brain Teasers
Learn A language
A cool application that teaches you words in other languages, based on the language you speak
Just for Kids
Games, Video and Audio on Demand for the Kids
Communications
KrisFone
Has information on how to use the in-seat phone as well as a list of country codes
Feedback
A survey on what you think of the flight (thumbs up for me!)
After checking out the system, I initially settled on “Agent Cody Banks 2” and fast forwarded it to the part where I had left off on my last flight. Don’t you just love Video On Demand? As it turns out, I never actually watched any movie in its entirety as there was just too much stuff to do all flight long.
As the service started, the flight attendants came by with an offering of champagne and orange juice, water or whatever you wanted. Most others took the champagne offering and so did I. I had to place the glass on my chair table as it was too small for the cup holder. The cup holder is really designed for the normal sized cups. Soon after that, dinner with more drinks was served from the front of the cabin backwards (breakfast was served from the rear forward).
One thing about sitting in the middle seat is that you get served by whom ever gets to either side first, so there is a plus to sitting in the middle seat after all.
Dinner was quite delicious. As stated, there was a choice of chicken or fish, so I had the fish (http://www.cruisinaltitude.com/images/longest_flight/onboard/sqa345execonmeal20040702sin.htm). I complemented it all with some white wine which was poured into an accompanying glass with the Executive Economy logo (an “e”) on the bottom (another nice touch).
The new seat has a pretty decent recline (8 inches), a foot rest, head wings to keep your head from drooping when asleep and a leg rest. As I started to use the new seat, I noticed an ergonomic oddity: in order to plug in your computer, you have to feel for the insertion position of the plug; after a few futile minutes, I gave up, got on my knees (my seatmate on the left was away in the back socializing), figured it out and plugged in my computer. There is a chart that talks about it, but how hard could it be to plug in your computer, I thought J. The plus is that you don’t need an adapter, just your normal plug from home. The flight attendants as well as the literature did advise that you should remove your computer’s batteries before plugging in, not sure why this was a stipulation. Apart from this idiosyncrasy, these seats are awesome and here is why.
The person in front of you can recline and you can still get out of your seat without too much fuss
You can recline and not interrupt the person’s dinner behind you
No matter how far you or the person in front of you reclines, you can still watch the big in seat video screen as it tilts really well.
While you can see what others who are sitting in front of you are watching, you cannot see what the persons next to you are watching, unless you purposely lean over.
The leg rest and footrest combination works very well and are both adjustable
I can still use my computer when the person in front of me reclines, even with my feet on the foot rest. I cannot do this on any other carrier I’ve flown, and I’ve flown many with footrests.
The overhead light is soft and fades on and off, so it does not disturb the passengers around you
It has a coat hook and a compartment for knick knacks
And one subjective reason; the colors are soothing
After dinner, I headed to the lounge area in the back to check it out. It is an area just behind the last row on the left with about three or so windows. There is a place to place your drinks or eats and you can just stand there and talk. There is also a walkway to get from one side of the plane to the next without walking through the galley. Further back just in front of the galley was the snack area. There was a fruit basket, snacks galore, juices and if you wanted alcohol, all you had to do was ask. The crew is just superb. There are also areas next to the exit doors that are out of the way of the crew which can be used for standing and stretching.
There were a few other passengers standing in the “hang out area”; a guy who had flown over on the inaugural flight on 28 June. He had brought his daughter over for summer camp and was now returning. His wife would make the return trip to pick her up. There was also another lady who was returning home and thought that the trip’s timing would work for her. She was timing her arrival with her husband’s arrival from his business trip on the p.m. of 2 July.
We all chatted for maybe about 2 hours or so as we watched the sun rise over the North Atlantic Ocean. It was a beautiful thing. I had always wanted to experience that, but since I always need to be sleeping as I cross the Atlantic (need to be up when I arrived in Europe), I never did.
I made sure I put my order in for Duty Free as if you bought the 1/400th scale model of the A340-500, you get a complimentary signed certificate from the Captain saying you took the world’s longest flight, so of course I did!
This “hang out area” is a great idea and quite worth it I think. At one point it was full; there are no seats, but it promotes conversation. All they need now is some music and a disco ball J.
With about 13.5 hours to go, I said “see ya later” to my new friends and headed to my seat for a nap. We had been flying for fours hours and it did not seem that way. Before napping, I waded through the channels and found that they had the best of the Commodores CD. I dialed that in and went to sleep. Five hours later, I awoke; I got some fluid and then took another hour worth of sleep. I am sure I will take another nap before we get there.
As we passed over Lahore, Pakistan you could see the city lights below. By now the rest of the world was seeing daylight and we were into night once again. For this journey, we started at night, flew into the morning, seeing the sun rise, then flew all day, saw the sun set and will see the sun rise again when we arrive in Singapore at 4:55 a.m. or so local time. Wow, is an understatement. Picture this: since I departed Newark, you’ve gone to bed, woken up, had breakfast, gone to work, then head home and at that point I arrive in Singapore. As I write this we have 5:14 to go and we are just north of Delhi, India on a southerly heading.
One thing to note is that the flight attendants were very good about being by all the time with water and juice. This coupled with the snacks in the back (they also brought them through the cabin) made the flight so much nicer.
I had made another trip back to the “hang out area” and met some more new people; one guy who came over on Singapore’s one-stop flight via Frankfurt on the 28th, just wanted to go back on this new flight. He had left Singapore on 27 June. Another guy from Ohio was returning home to Malaysia for a visit and decided to connect in Singapore as opposed to Dubai (DXB) using Malaysia Airlines (MH) so that he could take the long flight. Still another guy who was also going to Malaysia after having worked in New York for a major electronics manufacturer was along for the longest flight claim as well. See, there are other strange people in the world J.
We ate and chatted for another hour or so and then I returned to my seat. I came back a few minutes later as I finally read the menu and noticed that I could get a Singapore Sling, so of course I ordered one, well two, as they are quite good. I will have to ensure that I get the official thing when I get to Singapore at the Long Bar in the Raffles Hotel (http://www.cruisinaltitude.com/images/longest_flight/singapore/the%20longbar120040702sin.htm). While having my Sling and some roasted peanuts, I chatted for a bit again in the “hang out area.” Then I retired to my seat once again.
I was looking through the electronic catalog on the entertainment system and saw that they had “Pleasantville” with Tobey McGuire and Reese Witherspoon. It was fun to watch this movie with these two young actors before they became big time stars. I never finished it as I fell asleep about 45 minutes or so into it, just when they started to change Pleasantville due to their presence.
I awoke as there was movement in the cabin and the lights were on. It was three hours to go so we were given hot towels in preparation for breakfast. At that moment though, I was not stressed at all; I had eaten, slept, socialized, watched some TV and was in a generally good mood along with the rest of the passengers. There is something to be said about this more space thing I think.
Breakfast was orange juice, yoghurt, a choice of an omelet or beef noodles (I opted for that), a muffin and a fruit salad with a roll (http://www.cruisinaltitude.com/images/longest_flight/onboard/sqa345execonmeal220040702sin.htm).
After all that was over, they announced Duty Free sales. I continued to watch the entertainment system as well as listening to music, reading, talking to my seat mates and writing this story.
At about 200 miles out of Singapore, the Captain said his good morning, announced that Singapore was 28 degrees Celsius and that our arrival was set at 5 a.m. He signed off with saying thank you for taking the historic nonstop flight to Singapore. I was just too giddy with excitement.
At 4:29 a.m. local, we started our descent, touching down at 4:55 a.m. on Friday morning (having lost Thursday, July 1, 2004). Never lost a day heading East before, but there is always a first time. You see, we never crossed the International Date Line. The landing had a little bounce, but a perfect end to what was indeed a perfect flight.
Singapore Changi International, Singapore (SIN) – 2 July 2004
Once we got to the gate (it was still dark out), I grabbed my stuff, said goodbye to my seat mates and headed for the Exit door. I paused to take a photo of both cabins (http://www.cruisinaltitude.com/images/longest_flight/onboard/sqa345execon20040702sin.htm) and also to watch some ladies who were in Executive Economy try out the Raffles Class seats (http://www.cruisinaltitude.com/images/longest_flight/onboard/sqa345raffles20040702sin.htm).
In the jetway, I had a chance to talk with one of the Captains that flew us over (there were four flight crew members on board, they take turns flying in groups of two). He told me that the winds over the Atlantic were favorable (I did notice that we had quite the tail wind almost all the way), so they decided to take the shortest route; much to my dismay (http://www.cruisinaltitude.com/images/longest_flight/onboard/P7010029.htm). This is the second time I’ve attempted to go over the poles and did not make it; I will try yet a third time. The first was doing Hong Kong to Newark; we came the regular way by going from Hong Kong to Tokyo, then skirting the Russian Coast, crossing the Bearing Straight into Alaska, crossing Northern Canada and then coming down into the Newark area.
After stopping to check my e-mail at the free Internet kiosks all over the Terminal, I followed the signs to the Transit Hotel (Ambassador Transit Hotel) and on inquiring, found out that it was not practical. This hotel works if you want to stay in the transit area, not if you want to get into the city and do anything. The primary reason why it did not work for me this time is that the rates are based on a 6-hour stay; I have about a 17-hour stay, so by the time you do the two 6-hour rates, plus the hourly rate, it is more expensive than a hotel in the city even when you add transportation (http://www.airport-hotel.com.sg/).
I had not booked a hotel prior to my arrival as I was not sure of what I would be doing once I got here. In addition, I knew the flight was not looking too good, so I decided to play it by ear. I did take a look at a few and the best rate was the Swissotel for 120 SGD (http://www.wotif.com).
With the new found hotel price knowledge, I entered the country and then cleared customs without any incidents (last time I was here, my passport was within 6 months of expiring and I heard about it J). I headed to the Hotel Reservations desk where the agent showed me a long list of hotels and rates. The price range was from about 60 to 650 SGD (The Raffles Hotel), the exchange rate is about 1.72 to the USD. After the agent made a few calls to the hotels, I settled on the Peninsular Excelsior as it had rooms available and would be able to make one available by 8 a.m. or so.
There was a 10 SGD deposit (but no charge for the service) and as I had no local currency, I went to a nearby ATM. While there, I did notice that it was now pouring rain outside, I hope that this would not keep up all day. Once back at the hotel reservations desk, I gave the agent a fifty dollar bill, but as she had no change, I headed to the currency exchange across the hallway, where I was able to get five tens, I then returned to the desk.
I paid the 10 SGD deposit to the agent, then I reserved a space on the next shuttle to the city (the 6:40 a.m.). The cost was 7 SGD. A family of three and another single guy also got rooms at the Peninsular Excelsior and we all headed out ontime on the same shuttle.
Singapore
In about 25 minutes, we were deposited at the hotel door. We all boarded the elevator and headed towards the lobby which is actually on the 6th floor.
I was first to be checked in and the check-in agent advised me that normal check in is at 2 p.m. but they would be able to accommodate me as soon as they had some rooms cleaned. Although they were fully booked last night, it would take about two hours or so to clean the rooms as guests had already checked out. [There are several early flights out of Singapore Changi to the rest of Asia, Europe and North America]. The agent at the airport had already advised me of this situation.
The only drawback with early a.m. check-in is that you cannot really get a choice room, but what the heck, I’m only here till 7 p.m. or so and I won’t be in the room for any length of time so who cares.
The desk clerk even offered me a welcome drink (fruit punch) while I waited, noting that the bar only opened at 8 a.m. She said I could wait around here, leave my bags and come back. I opted to wait there as I really had nothing better to do.
The unique thing about this hotel is its pool. It has one glass side.
As I waited, I noticed that they paged two guests and I was not called. When I inquired, I was told that they had requested smoking rooms and there were no non-smoking rooms cleaned as yet. I told her that I’d like to go and smell the smoking room and see if it would suffice (I was just tired of waiting). At that moment, she checked her computer again and found a room with two beds that had just come available. She asked me if I wanted that one and of course I said yes. She then informed me that she had upgraded me to a better room. Well, I’m in luck I guess.
I finished up my writing and then headed for the room. The room did not look like an upgraded room to me at all, I wondered what the regular room would have looked like…
I took the time to just relax a bit, after all, I had just flown half way across the world in 17:50 minutes… I got myself together after a bit and headed downstairs. It was time to see a bit of Singapore.
I started to walk toward Chinatown; stopping to check out the MRT (subway). They did not have any special day passes, you just had to pay as you go. I started to walk some more and saw a sign for the Singapore Museum. After paying 2 SGD for the entrance fee, I walked in; I was in time for a show about the History of Singapore. This was quite good as I had no idea of this topic. I sat down in the theatre and watched in awe for about 50 minutes in all; there were two films. By the way, I was the only one in the theatre, and yes, I did nod off a few times J.
After the show, I headed out and walked down to Chinatown, walked around a bit and then took the subway to Little India. I was in search of a backpack and that took me to one of the markets in Little India; Tekka Market. This was a bunch of stalls that surround a meat/ fish market (http://www.cruisinaltitude.com/images/longest_flight/singapore/P7020056.htm).
I continued my walk and soaked up the culture and the fragrances. Eventually I found a bag in a 10 SGD store in the Tekka Mall. I then headed back to the subway (http://www.cruisinaltitude.com/images/longest_flight/singapore/P7010033.htm) and headed toward Singapore’s main street, Orchard Road.
At Orchard Road, I saw a few ads (http://www.cruisinaltitude.com/images/longest_flight/singapore/P7010035.htm) for the new nonstop service, there were also a few in the Newark and Singapore airports. They are quite nice as you can see.
By now, I was hungry, but although I wanted some curry, my stomach dictated otherwise, so I headed for McDonalds and had a grilled chicken sandwich meal. While there I noticed a guy with a computer. He told me that McDonalds had wireless access.
After my meal, I left and headed for the subway once more. It was time to head back to the hotel as I was tired and it was getting late now.
Back at the hotel, I relaxed for a bit and then got ready and departed at about 7:30 p.m. I headed for the subway once more, paying the 2.75 SGD fare for the 30 minutes or so ride. You actually have to switch trains to get there from the city. It is very convenient though and highly recommended.
Singapore Changi International, Singapore (SIN)
At the airport station, I disembarked and I headed upstairs to the Terminal. We were in Terminal 2 (Singapore Airlines’ terminal) and I was departing from Terminal 1. I took the train over and was there in about 2 minutes. I headed for the Qantas check-in counter to check in for QF9 to London. As I checked in, the agent told me that it did not look good at all; there were already 8 standbys on the list; later found out there were 13 in all.
I had an alternate routing, well a few; via Paris (CDG) or Frankfurt (FRA) all on Qantas. I also though of Air France (AF) over Paris or Lufthansa (LH) over Frankfurt, but they both left from Terminal 2 and that just was not going to work. There was even KLM (KL) over Amsterdam (AMS), I also had two British Airway (BA) flights to London (LHR) as backup as well. But everything was either full or weight restricted. Finally, if all else failed, there was a 5:40 a.m. flight the next day on Qantas to London. There were other options such as Emirates (EK) over Dubai (they had two flights) or lastly, Northwest Airlines (NW) to Tokyo at 6 a.m., but I was hoping that I would not have to get to that; besides I had no tickets for the latter options. Qantas or BA to London was pretty much it.
I waited until 10 p.m. to be called for a seat. When I was not called, I rushed over to the KLM counter, but I was too late, they had already closed that flight. Boy, I hope that I get on that Qantas flight. At 10:15 p.m. I was cleared for the flight; hooray!!!
I collected my boarding pass and headed for the immigration line and then towards the gate area. I wanted to send a quick e-mail, but there was no time. I quickly changed my remaining Singapore dollars and then headed to the plane.
QF9/02JUL04
Boeing 747-400 (VH-OJS)
Singapore Changi International, Singapore (SIN) to London/ Heathrow, London England (LHR)
As I boarded, I noticed that the flight attendant uniforms looked different from the last time I flew on Qantas. I later found out that they had just changed them last September. As an airline enthusiast, you just notice these things, I guess.
I made my way down the aisle to my middle seat close to the back of the airplane; this is a big plane. I said hello to my seat mates and took my place. The configuration here is a 3-4-3 tapering to 2-4-2. You can see the configuration here at http://www.qantas.com.au/infodetail/flying/inTheAir/ourAircraft/744-14P50J315Y.pdf and the Upper Deck at http://www.qantas.com.au/infodetail/flying/inTheAir/ourAircraft/744-14P50J315Y.pdf. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view these files.
My seat mate at the window was from Indonesia and a lawyer who was on his way to London for a business trip. This was his first time. On my right, the young lady was returning from a 10-day trip to Australia and had started her trip in Melbourne, the origination of QF9. She was in transit in Singapore for about 1.5 hours where she said she had checked her e-mail and was happy that she could have done so. Her total journey time is 22:50!
Then the flight attendants did the safety demonstrations. It was now time for pushback, so we did and headed for the runway. Oh, our flying time today was going to be 12:35; another long flight ahead of me in less than 24 hours.
We headed for the runway and started the takeoff roll. This was an incredible takeoff. We were very heavy and you could tell. We kept going and going and going. Eventually, we lifted off at the end of the runway as I could see the fences just outside of the window.
Just after takeoff, the flight attendants came through with headsets and then an amenity kit. The kit had a toothbrush, a pair of socks, and a blindfold in a zippered pouch with a neck strap.
The entertainment system was turned on about 20 minutes after departure. Here is an overview of what we had in store via our individual in seat video screens:
Q movies & tv
movies
Man on Fire
Jersey Girl
Laws of Attraction
The Prince and Me
The Girl Next Door
Starsky & Hutch
The Cat in the Hat
tv
iQ
Documentaries
QTV
Lifestyle and Travel
Nick on Q
QComedy
Mr. Bean
Stadium
Sports
Q radio
16 channels
Q games
10 games
Q flightpath
Map of our flight path
Q news & weather
controls
all the seat controls
languages (English, French and Japanese are the choices)
I settled on watching “The Cat in the Hat” with Mike Myers. This was quite a colorful movie; real color, not language. Soon, the crew came through with drinks. I opted for some white wine. Apparently, the menus were only given out in Melbourne which is where the flight originated as I did notice one in my seat back pocket.
Here is what the menu said we would have on this segment:
Supper
Green Leaf Salad with Cucumber and Tomato
Choice of
Salmon with Fennel Sauce
Or
Spinach and Ricotta Tortellini with Tomato Chilli Sauce
Apple Strudel
Coffee
Tea
I opted for the Salmon with Fennel Sauce and was not disappointed at all, I opted for some white wine in the real glass that was provided.
After dinner, we were handed a plastic pouch labeled “Snack on Q.” It contained a bottle of water, an apple, a Mars bar, a small pack of Mentos and a pack of Oreos chocolate chip cookies. The flight attendant said that since we would not be fed for about another 8 hours, this packet would be our snack.
I continued watching the movie, but I knew that would not last long, since I was already sleeping before our take off, and true enough, I was asleep in no time.
I awoke up with about 5:22 to go, stretched and went to find the Duty Free sales. I wanted to get a model airplane and a Qantas bear. They only had 1/200th scale airplanes and as I did not have any place to carry it, I only opted for the bear. I also took the opportunity to chat with the flight attendants to pass some time. Later, I went back to my seat and watched some more TV. I ended up watching “Man on Fire” with Denzel Washington. This was actually based on a true story. I caught it with about 45 minutes or so to, so I have to watch it once again.
With three hours to go, we were served breakfast; a choice of:
a Continental breakfast with
Orange juice
Yoghurt with strawberry Purée
Raisin Brioche
Fresh Fruit Platter
Or Hot Breakfast with
Orange Juice
Fresh Fruit Salad
Raisin Brioche
Scrambled Egg with French Toast
Coffee
Tea
Although I hate mushrooms, I chose the hot breakfast, skipping he mushrooms.
Looking out the window, it was clear that we would be experiencing the rising sun until we got to London. This all started two and a half hours ago as we approached Southern Russia from the Middle East. Amazing, we were chasing the dawn.
After 11:13 flying time, we had just about 1:34 to go and halfway between Poznan, Poland and Berlin Germany at 38,000’; ground speed 530 mph. I busied myself with writing this piece and watching the Comedy Channel; it was hilarious and I kept getting looks from my seat mates who eventually joined me watching that channel.
Three hundred kilometers out of London, the second officer gave the good morning call. Apparently, we had made up time and would now arrive, ontime. It was now time to get ready for landing. We were now 37 minutes to landing, just crossing the North Sea having just passed directly over Rotterdam, Netherlands.
The sun was still on its rise although it was pretty bright out. Local time at our destination was 4:55 a.m., at present position 5:55 a.m. Hooray for summer and early sunrise times. Thirty-two minutes out, we commenced our descent from 38,000’. It had been 12:15 flying time so far, we had 31 minutes more to go.
We touched down safely at 5:24 a.m. local time, and after about 10 minutes, arrived at our gate in Terminal 4.
London/ Heathrow, London England (LHR)
I made the walk out of the airplane and then headed for the immigration area, cleared and then headed to the customs area. As I walked through, I noticed a passenger being inspected by a customs officer with his suitcase open. Next to it was a pile of cigarettes; I saw no clothes in sight, interesting.
I continued my walk to the arrivals lounge and headed towards the Heathrow Express for the free ride to Terminals 1, 2 and 3. as I got down to the trains, I was in time for the first train. In about 4 minutes, I was at the Terminal 1, 2 and 3 area. I then headed for Terminal 3 to check on the Virgin Atlantic Airways’ (VS) flight to Newark, New Jersey (EWR) on Monday. I then headed to the Tube and took the Picadilly Line into London after purchasing a Weekend TravelCard.
London, England
Once in the city, I headed for my friend’s flat. He was moving that weekend, so I’d be kept busy for a bit. After the move, I got a chance to sleep a bit before going out for dinner that evening and an afternoon on the city.
On Sunday night, after a day indoors and a bit of sightseeing, I was trying to determine which routing to take back home. I was considering going to Amsterdam and taking the 9:35 a.m. flight to Houston or even Paris for the 12:55 p.m. The best option although it looked like the BusinessFirst cabin would not be available was the 9:30 a.m. departure from London/ Gatwick (LGW).
On Monday morning, I got up about 5:45 a.m. and got ready. By 6:35 a.m. I was out of the flat and headed for the Tube station. At 7:15 a.m. I arrived at Victoria Station in time for the 7:30 a.m. Gatwick Express. At 8:02 a.m. I arrived at the train station in Gatwick.
London/ Gatwick International, London England (LGW)
I headed downstairs to the Continental check-in counter, checked in, headed back upstairs, then went through security and to the Presidents Club. The view from the Club is great as you can see all the landings and takeoffs. As usual one is never disappointed when plane spotting in Gatwick even though the Spectator Gallery is temporarily closed. easyJet, flybe., Maersk, British Airways, Air France, MyTravel.com, Britannia, Monarch, Aurigny, First Choice and Croatia Airlines are a few of the airlines that I saw during my 40 minute stay there.
In between watching takeoffs and landings, I had time to have some tea and relax a little. So, it was time for boarding. I got my stuff together and headed down to the gate. Once there, got my boarding pass and as predicted, I was in Economy class. I also saw one of my co-worker and her fiancé at the gate. They had spent the weekend in London as well.
CO35/5JUL04
Boeing 777-200ER (N78004)
London/ Gatwick International, London England (LGW) to Houston/ George Bush Intercontinental, Houston Texas (IAH)
We all boarded and took our seats. I switched with my co-worker’s fiancé so that they could at least be aisles across. There were a few more seat switches by others who wanted to be close to their families.
This airplane is configured with a 2-2-2 configuration in the BusinessFirst Cabin and a 3-3-3 configuration in Economy class. There are individual seat monitors with music, movies and games (http://www.continental.com/travel/inflight/entertainment/default.asp). I lucked out and had the middle seat empty. There were quite a few empty seats around the cabin as well.
Soon, our departure time arrived and we pushed back on schedule and then headed to the runway. It was going to be a 9:40 flying time today; quite a long one, but in the scheme of things; short J.
After takeoff, I started watching “Walking Tall” with The Rock; quite a good movie. As that continued, we were served drinks with a packet of peanuts; there is a charge for alcohol of 3 GBP or 5 USD, but beverages are complimentary. For lunch, I had a roll, crackers, chicken with potatoes, carrots, spinach, brownie and a salad.
I soon fell asleep after lunch. With about 3:30 to go, just above Bangor, Maine, we were served vanilla ice cream and beverages. I ate and then went back to sleep.
As we passed over Fredericksburg, Virginia, I glanced at the moving map display and we were at 41,000’. I’ve not flown at this altitude much, so this was a neat experience.
I scanned the channels and watched episodes of Absolutely Fabulous, Friends. With 1:30 to go, we were served an arrival snack. That consisted of a hot chicken and cheese sandwich, a scone with Cornish clotted cream and jam. There was also mayonnaise. That really hit the spot as I was so hungry by now.
We soon started our descent for Houston George Bush. We had a very smooth landing and taxied towards Terminal D. We paused momentarily for the ground staff to prepare for our arrival, then pulled into the gate a few minutes early.
Houston/ George Bush Intercontinental, Houston Texas (IAH)
We disembarked and headed for the immigration area. As we were the first flight to arrive there was no crowd at all; it gets uglier as the day progresses. Within minutes, it was my turn. I presented my documents and then I was asked what I did for a living. I told the agent and then he questioned me about why I had been to Singapore and England in such short succession. I told him and he had a puzzled look on his face. He then told me to go.
I cleared customs and headed to the bus stand, pausing to wait for my co-worker and her fiancé to catch up. The Service Park bus arrived and we all boarded the bus and waited, and waited and waited. You see, one of the airport employees showed up and said he was waiting for another. So we waited and waited. Eventually I got annoyed and told the driver to go and then he got annoyed. I refused to argue with him, but I had to let him know my displeasure at having to wait without been told why we were waiting.
Eventually we left, not sure if he got who he was waiting for though. We headed to the lot, I picked up my car, paid and headed towards I-45. It had been quite a journey. So now I have to do the shortest commercial flight from West Ray to Papa Ray in the Orkney Islands. It is operated by Logan Air for British Airways.
THIS WEEK’S QUESTION
None this week, but please feel free to send me a question if you have one.
COUNTRIES/ STATES/ CITIES VISITED/ TRAVERSED
Huntsville, Alabama
Newark, New Jersey
Singapore
London, England
AIRLINES FLOWN
ExpressJet Airlines, Inc. dba Continental Express (CO) http://www.continental.com
Continental Airlines (CO) http://www.continental.com
Singapore Airlines (SQ) http://www.singaporeair.com
Qantas (QF) http://www.qantas.com.au
HOTELS STAYED
Peninsula Excelsior Hotel
5 Coleman Street
Singapore 179 805
Reservation Tel: (65) 6339 0708 or (65) 6337 8080
Reservation Fax: (65) 6339 3580
E-Mail:pehreservation@ytchotels.com.sg
http://www.ytchotels.com.sg/peninsulaexcelsior/
RATE: 100 SGD
CARS RENTED
N/A
AIRPORTS VISITED
Huntsville International, Huntsville Alabama (HSV)
Newark Liberty International, Newark New Jersey (EWR)
Singapore Changi International, Singapore (SIN)
London/ Heathrow, London England (LHR)
London/ Gatwick, London England (LGW)
TRIP ROUTING
Flight # Date Routing Aircraft Type Distance (miles) Aircraft Registration
CO2084 30JUN IAH – HSV ERJ-145 594 N15948
CO2084 30JUN HSV – EWR ERJ-145 804 N15948
SQ21 30JUN EWR – SIN A340-500 9,524 9V-SGB
QF9 2JUL SIN – LHR B747-400 6,757 VH-OJS
CO35 5JUL LGW – IAH B777-200 4,841 N78004
Total Air Miles: 22,520
Trip Date: June 30 - July 5, 2004
THIS WEEK’S EDITION
Well, I’m not sure if you know, but for the longest while the three longest distance nonstop commercial airline routes in the world were Atlanta, Georgia (ATL) to Cape Town, South Africa (CPT) – 8,127 flown by South African Airlines (SA); Newark, New Jersey (EWR) to Hong Kong (HKG) – 8,047 flown by Continental Airlines (CO) and now also Cathay Pacific Airways (CX) from New York’s (JFK); Los Angeles, California (LAX) to Melbourne, Australia (MEL) – 7, 922 flown by Qantas (QF) and United Airlines (UA).
Back on February 3 of this year, Singapore Airlines (SQ) changed that by flying nonstop using an Airbus A340-500 from LAX to Singapore (SIN) – 8,758 miles. Until June 28, 2004, this routing was the record, then, Singapore Airlines flew from Singapore to Newark and broke their own record by flying 9,524 nonstop miles to now hold the record for the longest distance commercial airline flight in the world. They also have the record for the longest flight as well on the same route.
I have flown the LAX to MEL route on United, the Hong Kong to Newark route on Continental, wanted to do the LAX to Singapore route but could not make it work, so I decided to waste no time and go for the new Newark to Singapore route. Here is what happened beginning on June 30, 2004.
I departed work on Wednesday at about noon and headed for the post office. I had received a package slip from the post office which stated that I had a package waiting and wanted to get it before I headed for the airport. I also needed to pay my rent since I would not be around when it became due.
Of course, there was a line there and the wait lasted about 10 minutes, but it seemed like a few hours for some reason. I guess when you are in a rush; everything seems to take so long.
Soon, all that was over and I was on my way to the airport. I-45 was crowded as usual, so I headed for I-10 and then to I-59, to the Hardy Toll Road, paid my $1.25 toll and was at the airport by 12:50 p.m. All these years and I’ve never bought the EZ-Pass. I parked and then a bus showed up soon. In about 10 minutes, I was at Terminal C.
Houston/ George Bush Intercontinental, Houston Texas (IAH)
I had to make a decision whether to take the 1:15 p.m. nonstop to Newark airport that was very overbooked or take the direct flight with the one-stop in Huntsville, Alabama (HSV). A friend was checking on the flights for me and with the information he gave me, I decided to head for Huntsville. Besides, it was too late to make it to gate E-2 anyway.
I cleared security and then headed for the monorail that runs between Terminals C and B. In about a minute or so, one arrived and within another ninety seconds, I was in Terminal B. It was now 1:10 p.m. I verified that I was still leaving from B77 and headed there. At the same moment, I heard an announcement that it was the final call for Huntsville. I guess they wanted to leave early as there was a rain storm brewing. As a matter of fact, it had already started raining a little.
At the gate, I was told just to take any open seat as the boarding pass printer was broken; I had checked in online, but had not received a seat assignment just yet. Myself and two other standbys walked down the jetway with the agent.
CO2084/30JUN04 operated by ExpessJet Airlines, Inc. dba Continental Express
Embraer Regional Jet 145 (N15948)
Houston/ George Bush Intercontinental, Houston Texas (IAH) to Huntsville International, Huntsville Alabama (HSV) [new airport for me!]
As the Exit Row seats were all taken, I settled into 10C. We pushed back about 1:25 p.m. and headed for the runway. It was a quick taxi and there were not many airplanes waiting. We straightened up for runway 33R-15L and were airborne in no time. Man, these ERJs are very quick!
As we climbed out, I could see Taca’s Airbus A320 arriving on a perpendicular runway. Off in the distance was downtown Houston. One could clearly see US59 heading into the city with no traffic either way. We had a slow climb out, but eventually cleared 10,000’. Our service today would be mini pretzels and beverage of choice.
At 33,000’ the Captain came on with an update. As there were a few thunderstorms, we had to deviate from our routing a bit to avoid them. They were huge as you could see them just outside the window. At this point, we had about 56 minutes remaining in our flight; we had been airborne for about 40 minutes now. I busied myself with updating this report and tried to catch up on e-mails.
Soon, we commenced our descent into Huntsville, as we landed on runway 18L-36R; I saw what looked like a Delta Connection CRJ-700 waiting at the threshold of the runway (http://www.cruisinaltitude.com/images/longest_flight/hsv/dlcr7tx20040630hsv.htm). As we landed, a driving rain started. We taxied up to the gate and everyone disembarked.
Huntsville International, Huntsville Alabama (HSV)
I went over to the gate and the agent printed me a boarding pass for the next segment. As I walked around the airport, I noticed they had a sign that said there was complimentary wireless access available. I powered up and took advantage of it and sent some e-mails I had crafted on the flight over. Thanks Huntsville.
I also noticed a painting of a single engine old prop plane that looked like a DC-3, a Cargolux Boeing 747-300 and an Air France Concorde in landing configuration. The artist had done the painting in 1990 (http://www.cruisinaltitude.com/images/longest_flight/hsv/art20040630hsv.htm). As I looked at the registration of the Concorde, I noticed that it was G-BOAA, which if I am not mistaken is that of a British Airways Concorde. I laughed to myself and went back to my computer and waited for my e-mail to finish downloading. Check out this link to see what I mean: http://www.jetphotos.net/census/aircraft.php?reg=G-BOAA&msn=206.
It was time to board, so I did. I boarded last so that I could take an open seat if necessary. It was fine, so I took my assigned seat a few rows in front of the Exit Row.
CO2084/30JUN04 operated by ExpessJet Airlines, Inc. dba Continental Express
Embraer Regional Jet 145 (N15948)
Huntsville International, Huntsville Alabama (HSV) to Newark Liberty International, Newark New Jersey (EWR)
There was actually a crew change here, but the flight number and aircraft remained the same. The departing crew would fly the Houston-bound flight back. It had stopped raining by now and we were ready for pushback. We headed for the runway and were off in no time.
The Captain came on the PA with about 1:22 to go and gave his welcome message. We were at 27,000’ and had now been airborne for about 35 minutes.
We were being served pretzels and a beverage of choice at this point. Soon after the service, the Captain came on again and said that Newark had bad weather so we would be circling for a while. About 20 minutes after, we stopped circling but ended up circling again in another area closer to the airport. By the time it was all over, we had circled for about 45 minutes due to weather delays and traffic at the airport. I took the opportunity to sleep a bit.
We then started our descent eventually turning right close to the Tappan Zee Bridge and headed down the Hudson, then turning right again for the runway. It was good to see New York City off in the distance albeit a little hazy. Directly below were the Continental Airlines Arena and then the Giants Stadium.
Newark Liberty International, Newark New Jersey (EWR)
As I landed, I could see the Singapore Airlines (SQ) A340-500 waiting at the gate (http://www.cruisinaltitude.com/images/longest_flight/ewr/sqa345g20040630ewr.htm). It was being catered at the moment. There was also a Virgin Atlantic Airways (VS) Boeing 747-400 at gate 65. In addition to the last British Airways (BA) Boeing 777-200 destined for London, England. Moments later, another British Airways Boeing 777-200 arrived. This would be the day flight the next morning to London and finally, an Air India Boeing 747-400 and a Swiss Airbus A330. Oh, off in the distance, by Terminal A, was a Hooters Air Boeing 757-200. You can see them all here: http://www.cruisinaltitude.com/images/longest_flight/ewr/planes.htm.
My flight made its way to gate 115A where I disembarked. I headed for the gate 75 area so that I could shoot some closer shots of the A340-500 in Terminal B. After taking a bunch of photos, I headed to the Presidents Club near that gate. I had to send some e-mails and make some last minute transactions before I headed out. At about 9:05 p.m., I left and headed for Terminal B.
As the weather was good and I did not feel like walking up the stairs to the AirTrain, I decided to just walk to Terminal B. As I arrived in Terminal B, there was no line for the flight. They had two sections for check-in that matched the two classes of service on the flight (Raffles and Executive Economy). I stood on the Executive Economy line, and was called over to the Raffles section when a space became available.
As I was being checked in, I noticed a sheet of paper on the desk that offered the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse before security or the Star Alliance Lounge after security and near the gate as choices for a Lounge; I was wondering what they were going to do for a lounge and there you have it.
The agent checked me in and advised that it was a bit touch and go today as the flight was overbooked, adding that the next day looked much better. As it turned out, this was the return flight for many of the passengers who had come over on the inaugural two days ago.
I cleared security which was quite a chore. The TSA agent was only allowing three customers at a time to approach the machines, not sure why. Meanwhile, the line was building behind us. Eventually, it was my turn. I cleared and then headed for the gate area. I need to charge my batteries so I searched for a plug and was able to find one not too far from the gate. This as quite a chore for some reason.
At about 10:40 p.m., I was paged by the agent in charge. He had a seat for me in Executive Economy Class; this was the last available seat. There were still a few seats available in Raffles Class, I later found out. I made a quick stop in the men’s room and then boarded the flight.
SQ21/30JUN04
Airbus A340-500 (9V-SGB)
Newark Liberty International, Newark New Jersey (EWR) to Singapore Changi International, Singapore (SIN)
As I boarded, I could see that the configuration in Raffles Class was 2-2-2 and in the split Executive Economy cabin (Raffles is a split cabin as well), it was 2-3-2 tapering to 2-2-2 in the last two rows. You can see the configuration at http://img.singaporeair.com/images/english/AboutSia/FleetInformation/CabinLayouts/A345-500.gif.
Singapore Airlines’ Web site has this to say about Raffles Class:
The Raffles (business) Class cabin has 64 of SIA’s renowned SpaceBeds. Arranged in a 2-2-2 configuration, the seats have a generous pitch of 64 inches, bed width of 26 inches, bed length of 78 inches, adjustable head rest, leg rest and lumbar support, a 10.4 inch personal video monitor, AC power supply outlet and a DVD port.
The interior colors were very soothing, making me feel immediately at home as I walked to my middle seat close to the back of the plane. There is ample leg room (37 inches seat pitch), butt room (Singapore Airlines says they have the widest Economy seat (20 inches) in the world) and feet and leg room. Each seat has its own laptop power outlet (accepts Australian, European (except UK), US and Japanese plugs) and its own in-seat 9 inch video monitor with Audio and Video On Demand entertainment. This included 60 movies, 83 TV programs, 205 CDs, 12 Audio Channels, 33 Nintendo Games, 20 PC Games and 3 Multi-player games! The only other airline that I’ve flown with such an extensive programming is Emirates (EK) from London/ Gatwick (LGW) to Dubai, United Arab Emirates (DXB) on their A340-500 with 500 channels and also video on demand.
I settled in, said hello to my seat mates and delved in the reading material. Once everyone was boarded, the flight attendants came by with hot towels; these are white wash rag-sized towels complete with the Singapore Airlines logo. I was convinced then that this flight would be exceptional. I told the lady (returning home from a business trip) sitting to my left to slap me if I start getting too excited. She then turned to the guy on my right (a freshman Engineering college student from Northwestern University who was returning home for the summer) and said jokingly; “Will you be my witness?” Yes, this was going to be a good flight.
Menus (with pictures of red whole and cut apples on the cover) and amenity kits (containing a pair of light bluish gray socks, toothbrush and toothpaste) were handed out just before the safety video commenced; both nice touches.
In terms of food, here is what we had on tap for our journey:
SUPPER MENU
Tasty Beginnings
Ham with mesclun salad and mustard sauce, chicken
The Main Event
A choice of:
Chicken in natural jus with potato puree, sauerkraut with bacon and pear (Exclusively created by Alfred Portale of Gotham Bar & Grill, New York)
or
Braised fillet of fish with spicy hoisin sauce, seasonal vegetables and steamed rice
The Cheese Corner
Cheese and crackers
Sweet Overtones
Ice Cream bar
From The Bakery
Roll and butter
Choice Brews
Coffee
Tea
Chinese tea
BETWEEN MEALS MENU
Light Bites
An assortment of snacks will be offered
Choice Brews
Coffee
Tea
Chinese tea
BREAKFAST MENU
A Tantalising Note
Fresh fruits with champagne syrup
Tasty Beginnings
Fruit yoghurt
The Main Event
A choice of:
Ah Yat’s braised beef brisket in live spice with Chinese greens and egg noodles (Exclusively created by Mr. Yeung Koon Hat, Hong Kong)
or
Cheese omelette with chicken sausage, grilled tomato and potatoes
From The Bakery
Assorted breakfast rolls, butter and fruit preserve
Choice Brews
Coffee
Tea
Chinese tea
REFRESHING BEVERAGES
Typically, you name it; you can perhaps get it on board, including of course a Singapore Sling.
The safety video commenced and as it continued, we commenced the push back at three minutes shy of 11 p.m. The taxi to the runway was short and we were airborne at 10 after the hour. Our flying time was booked at 17:50 tonight; yes we had a crazy tailwind most of the way. Also, we would not go over the North Pole, but head north to Boston, then across the Atlantic Ocean, head for England, then across Europe then the Middle East and head south over Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, cross the Bay of Bengal and then onto Singapore (http://www.cruisinaltitude.com/images/longest_flight/onboard/P7010020.htm).
Of course immediately after takeoff, I started to play with the entertainment system. The system was actually activated while on the ground. Here is an overview:
There are six main sections:
Wisemen (SQ’s trademark) Audio & Video
Video and Audio on Demand Movies and TV Shows; movie trailers are also included
There were 60 choices including:
Pleasantville
The Replacements
Independence Day
The Full Monty
Agent Cody Banks 2
Torque
Starsky & Hutch
50 First Dates
Anita & Me
Walking Tall
Man on Fire
News & Info
Live Text News
Satellite news in various categories; this is a text service that is up to the minute
Flight Path
Destination Info
What’s the Buzz
Gizmos
Games
A number of Nintendo, Multiplayer, PC Games and Brain Teasers
Learn A language
A cool application that teaches you words in other languages, based on the language you speak
Just for Kids
Games, Video and Audio on Demand for the Kids
Communications
KrisFone
Has information on how to use the in-seat phone as well as a list of country codes
Feedback
A survey on what you think of the flight (thumbs up for me!)
After checking out the system, I initially settled on “Agent Cody Banks 2” and fast forwarded it to the part where I had left off on my last flight. Don’t you just love Video On Demand? As it turns out, I never actually watched any movie in its entirety as there was just too much stuff to do all flight long.
As the service started, the flight attendants came by with an offering of champagne and orange juice, water or whatever you wanted. Most others took the champagne offering and so did I. I had to place the glass on my chair table as it was too small for the cup holder. The cup holder is really designed for the normal sized cups. Soon after that, dinner with more drinks was served from the front of the cabin backwards (breakfast was served from the rear forward).
One thing about sitting in the middle seat is that you get served by whom ever gets to either side first, so there is a plus to sitting in the middle seat after all.
Dinner was quite delicious. As stated, there was a choice of chicken or fish, so I had the fish (http://www.cruisinaltitude.com/images/longest_flight/onboard/sqa345execonmeal20040702sin.htm). I complemented it all with some white wine which was poured into an accompanying glass with the Executive Economy logo (an “e”) on the bottom (another nice touch).
The new seat has a pretty decent recline (8 inches), a foot rest, head wings to keep your head from drooping when asleep and a leg rest. As I started to use the new seat, I noticed an ergonomic oddity: in order to plug in your computer, you have to feel for the insertion position of the plug; after a few futile minutes, I gave up, got on my knees (my seatmate on the left was away in the back socializing), figured it out and plugged in my computer. There is a chart that talks about it, but how hard could it be to plug in your computer, I thought J. The plus is that you don’t need an adapter, just your normal plug from home. The flight attendants as well as the literature did advise that you should remove your computer’s batteries before plugging in, not sure why this was a stipulation. Apart from this idiosyncrasy, these seats are awesome and here is why.
The person in front of you can recline and you can still get out of your seat without too much fuss
You can recline and not interrupt the person’s dinner behind you
No matter how far you or the person in front of you reclines, you can still watch the big in seat video screen as it tilts really well.
While you can see what others who are sitting in front of you are watching, you cannot see what the persons next to you are watching, unless you purposely lean over.
The leg rest and footrest combination works very well and are both adjustable
I can still use my computer when the person in front of me reclines, even with my feet on the foot rest. I cannot do this on any other carrier I’ve flown, and I’ve flown many with footrests.
The overhead light is soft and fades on and off, so it does not disturb the passengers around you
It has a coat hook and a compartment for knick knacks
And one subjective reason; the colors are soothing
After dinner, I headed to the lounge area in the back to check it out. It is an area just behind the last row on the left with about three or so windows. There is a place to place your drinks or eats and you can just stand there and talk. There is also a walkway to get from one side of the plane to the next without walking through the galley. Further back just in front of the galley was the snack area. There was a fruit basket, snacks galore, juices and if you wanted alcohol, all you had to do was ask. The crew is just superb. There are also areas next to the exit doors that are out of the way of the crew which can be used for standing and stretching.
There were a few other passengers standing in the “hang out area”; a guy who had flown over on the inaugural flight on 28 June. He had brought his daughter over for summer camp and was now returning. His wife would make the return trip to pick her up. There was also another lady who was returning home and thought that the trip’s timing would work for her. She was timing her arrival with her husband’s arrival from his business trip on the p.m. of 2 July.
We all chatted for maybe about 2 hours or so as we watched the sun rise over the North Atlantic Ocean. It was a beautiful thing. I had always wanted to experience that, but since I always need to be sleeping as I cross the Atlantic (need to be up when I arrived in Europe), I never did.
I made sure I put my order in for Duty Free as if you bought the 1/400th scale model of the A340-500, you get a complimentary signed certificate from the Captain saying you took the world’s longest flight, so of course I did!
This “hang out area” is a great idea and quite worth it I think. At one point it was full; there are no seats, but it promotes conversation. All they need now is some music and a disco ball J.
With about 13.5 hours to go, I said “see ya later” to my new friends and headed to my seat for a nap. We had been flying for fours hours and it did not seem that way. Before napping, I waded through the channels and found that they had the best of the Commodores CD. I dialed that in and went to sleep. Five hours later, I awoke; I got some fluid and then took another hour worth of sleep. I am sure I will take another nap before we get there.
As we passed over Lahore, Pakistan you could see the city lights below. By now the rest of the world was seeing daylight and we were into night once again. For this journey, we started at night, flew into the morning, seeing the sun rise, then flew all day, saw the sun set and will see the sun rise again when we arrive in Singapore at 4:55 a.m. or so local time. Wow, is an understatement. Picture this: since I departed Newark, you’ve gone to bed, woken up, had breakfast, gone to work, then head home and at that point I arrive in Singapore. As I write this we have 5:14 to go and we are just north of Delhi, India on a southerly heading.
One thing to note is that the flight attendants were very good about being by all the time with water and juice. This coupled with the snacks in the back (they also brought them through the cabin) made the flight so much nicer.
I had made another trip back to the “hang out area” and met some more new people; one guy who came over on Singapore’s one-stop flight via Frankfurt on the 28th, just wanted to go back on this new flight. He had left Singapore on 27 June. Another guy from Ohio was returning home to Malaysia for a visit and decided to connect in Singapore as opposed to Dubai (DXB) using Malaysia Airlines (MH) so that he could take the long flight. Still another guy who was also going to Malaysia after having worked in New York for a major electronics manufacturer was along for the longest flight claim as well. See, there are other strange people in the world J.
We ate and chatted for another hour or so and then I returned to my seat. I came back a few minutes later as I finally read the menu and noticed that I could get a Singapore Sling, so of course I ordered one, well two, as they are quite good. I will have to ensure that I get the official thing when I get to Singapore at the Long Bar in the Raffles Hotel (http://www.cruisinaltitude.com/images/longest_flight/singapore/the%20longbar120040702sin.htm). While having my Sling and some roasted peanuts, I chatted for a bit again in the “hang out area.” Then I retired to my seat once again.
I was looking through the electronic catalog on the entertainment system and saw that they had “Pleasantville” with Tobey McGuire and Reese Witherspoon. It was fun to watch this movie with these two young actors before they became big time stars. I never finished it as I fell asleep about 45 minutes or so into it, just when they started to change Pleasantville due to their presence.
I awoke as there was movement in the cabin and the lights were on. It was three hours to go so we were given hot towels in preparation for breakfast. At that moment though, I was not stressed at all; I had eaten, slept, socialized, watched some TV and was in a generally good mood along with the rest of the passengers. There is something to be said about this more space thing I think.
Breakfast was orange juice, yoghurt, a choice of an omelet or beef noodles (I opted for that), a muffin and a fruit salad with a roll (http://www.cruisinaltitude.com/images/longest_flight/onboard/sqa345execonmeal220040702sin.htm).
After all that was over, they announced Duty Free sales. I continued to watch the entertainment system as well as listening to music, reading, talking to my seat mates and writing this story.
At about 200 miles out of Singapore, the Captain said his good morning, announced that Singapore was 28 degrees Celsius and that our arrival was set at 5 a.m. He signed off with saying thank you for taking the historic nonstop flight to Singapore. I was just too giddy with excitement.
At 4:29 a.m. local, we started our descent, touching down at 4:55 a.m. on Friday morning (having lost Thursday, July 1, 2004). Never lost a day heading East before, but there is always a first time. You see, we never crossed the International Date Line. The landing had a little bounce, but a perfect end to what was indeed a perfect flight.
Singapore Changi International, Singapore (SIN) – 2 July 2004
Once we got to the gate (it was still dark out), I grabbed my stuff, said goodbye to my seat mates and headed for the Exit door. I paused to take a photo of both cabins (http://www.cruisinaltitude.com/images/longest_flight/onboard/sqa345execon20040702sin.htm) and also to watch some ladies who were in Executive Economy try out the Raffles Class seats (http://www.cruisinaltitude.com/images/longest_flight/onboard/sqa345raffles20040702sin.htm).
In the jetway, I had a chance to talk with one of the Captains that flew us over (there were four flight crew members on board, they take turns flying in groups of two). He told me that the winds over the Atlantic were favorable (I did notice that we had quite the tail wind almost all the way), so they decided to take the shortest route; much to my dismay (http://www.cruisinaltitude.com/images/longest_flight/onboard/P7010029.htm). This is the second time I’ve attempted to go over the poles and did not make it; I will try yet a third time. The first was doing Hong Kong to Newark; we came the regular way by going from Hong Kong to Tokyo, then skirting the Russian Coast, crossing the Bearing Straight into Alaska, crossing Northern Canada and then coming down into the Newark area.
After stopping to check my e-mail at the free Internet kiosks all over the Terminal, I followed the signs to the Transit Hotel (Ambassador Transit Hotel) and on inquiring, found out that it was not practical. This hotel works if you want to stay in the transit area, not if you want to get into the city and do anything. The primary reason why it did not work for me this time is that the rates are based on a 6-hour stay; I have about a 17-hour stay, so by the time you do the two 6-hour rates, plus the hourly rate, it is more expensive than a hotel in the city even when you add transportation (http://www.airport-hotel.com.sg/).
I had not booked a hotel prior to my arrival as I was not sure of what I would be doing once I got here. In addition, I knew the flight was not looking too good, so I decided to play it by ear. I did take a look at a few and the best rate was the Swissotel for 120 SGD (http://www.wotif.com).
With the new found hotel price knowledge, I entered the country and then cleared customs without any incidents (last time I was here, my passport was within 6 months of expiring and I heard about it J). I headed to the Hotel Reservations desk where the agent showed me a long list of hotels and rates. The price range was from about 60 to 650 SGD (The Raffles Hotel), the exchange rate is about 1.72 to the USD. After the agent made a few calls to the hotels, I settled on the Peninsular Excelsior as it had rooms available and would be able to make one available by 8 a.m. or so.
There was a 10 SGD deposit (but no charge for the service) and as I had no local currency, I went to a nearby ATM. While there, I did notice that it was now pouring rain outside, I hope that this would not keep up all day. Once back at the hotel reservations desk, I gave the agent a fifty dollar bill, but as she had no change, I headed to the currency exchange across the hallway, where I was able to get five tens, I then returned to the desk.
I paid the 10 SGD deposit to the agent, then I reserved a space on the next shuttle to the city (the 6:40 a.m.). The cost was 7 SGD. A family of three and another single guy also got rooms at the Peninsular Excelsior and we all headed out ontime on the same shuttle.
Singapore
In about 25 minutes, we were deposited at the hotel door. We all boarded the elevator and headed towards the lobby which is actually on the 6th floor.
I was first to be checked in and the check-in agent advised me that normal check in is at 2 p.m. but they would be able to accommodate me as soon as they had some rooms cleaned. Although they were fully booked last night, it would take about two hours or so to clean the rooms as guests had already checked out. [There are several early flights out of Singapore Changi to the rest of Asia, Europe and North America]. The agent at the airport had already advised me of this situation.
The only drawback with early a.m. check-in is that you cannot really get a choice room, but what the heck, I’m only here till 7 p.m. or so and I won’t be in the room for any length of time so who cares.
The desk clerk even offered me a welcome drink (fruit punch) while I waited, noting that the bar only opened at 8 a.m. She said I could wait around here, leave my bags and come back. I opted to wait there as I really had nothing better to do.
The unique thing about this hotel is its pool. It has one glass side.
As I waited, I noticed that they paged two guests and I was not called. When I inquired, I was told that they had requested smoking rooms and there were no non-smoking rooms cleaned as yet. I told her that I’d like to go and smell the smoking room and see if it would suffice (I was just tired of waiting). At that moment, she checked her computer again and found a room with two beds that had just come available. She asked me if I wanted that one and of course I said yes. She then informed me that she had upgraded me to a better room. Well, I’m in luck I guess.
I finished up my writing and then headed for the room. The room did not look like an upgraded room to me at all, I wondered what the regular room would have looked like…
I took the time to just relax a bit, after all, I had just flown half way across the world in 17:50 minutes… I got myself together after a bit and headed downstairs. It was time to see a bit of Singapore.
I started to walk toward Chinatown; stopping to check out the MRT (subway). They did not have any special day passes, you just had to pay as you go. I started to walk some more and saw a sign for the Singapore Museum. After paying 2 SGD for the entrance fee, I walked in; I was in time for a show about the History of Singapore. This was quite good as I had no idea of this topic. I sat down in the theatre and watched in awe for about 50 minutes in all; there were two films. By the way, I was the only one in the theatre, and yes, I did nod off a few times J.
After the show, I headed out and walked down to Chinatown, walked around a bit and then took the subway to Little India. I was in search of a backpack and that took me to one of the markets in Little India; Tekka Market. This was a bunch of stalls that surround a meat/ fish market (http://www.cruisinaltitude.com/images/longest_flight/singapore/P7020056.htm).
I continued my walk and soaked up the culture and the fragrances. Eventually I found a bag in a 10 SGD store in the Tekka Mall. I then headed back to the subway (http://www.cruisinaltitude.com/images/longest_flight/singapore/P7010033.htm) and headed toward Singapore’s main street, Orchard Road.
At Orchard Road, I saw a few ads (http://www.cruisinaltitude.com/images/longest_flight/singapore/P7010035.htm) for the new nonstop service, there were also a few in the Newark and Singapore airports. They are quite nice as you can see.
By now, I was hungry, but although I wanted some curry, my stomach dictated otherwise, so I headed for McDonalds and had a grilled chicken sandwich meal. While there I noticed a guy with a computer. He told me that McDonalds had wireless access.
After my meal, I left and headed for the subway once more. It was time to head back to the hotel as I was tired and it was getting late now.
Back at the hotel, I relaxed for a bit and then got ready and departed at about 7:30 p.m. I headed for the subway once more, paying the 2.75 SGD fare for the 30 minutes or so ride. You actually have to switch trains to get there from the city. It is very convenient though and highly recommended.
Singapore Changi International, Singapore (SIN)
At the airport station, I disembarked and I headed upstairs to the Terminal. We were in Terminal 2 (Singapore Airlines’ terminal) and I was departing from Terminal 1. I took the train over and was there in about 2 minutes. I headed for the Qantas check-in counter to check in for QF9 to London. As I checked in, the agent told me that it did not look good at all; there were already 8 standbys on the list; later found out there were 13 in all.
I had an alternate routing, well a few; via Paris (CDG) or Frankfurt (FRA) all on Qantas. I also though of Air France (AF) over Paris or Lufthansa (LH) over Frankfurt, but they both left from Terminal 2 and that just was not going to work. There was even KLM (KL) over Amsterdam (AMS), I also had two British Airway (BA) flights to London (LHR) as backup as well. But everything was either full or weight restricted. Finally, if all else failed, there was a 5:40 a.m. flight the next day on Qantas to London. There were other options such as Emirates (EK) over Dubai (they had two flights) or lastly, Northwest Airlines (NW) to Tokyo at 6 a.m., but I was hoping that I would not have to get to that; besides I had no tickets for the latter options. Qantas or BA to London was pretty much it.
I waited until 10 p.m. to be called for a seat. When I was not called, I rushed over to the KLM counter, but I was too late, they had already closed that flight. Boy, I hope that I get on that Qantas flight. At 10:15 p.m. I was cleared for the flight; hooray!!!
I collected my boarding pass and headed for the immigration line and then towards the gate area. I wanted to send a quick e-mail, but there was no time. I quickly changed my remaining Singapore dollars and then headed to the plane.
QF9/02JUL04
Boeing 747-400 (VH-OJS)
Singapore Changi International, Singapore (SIN) to London/ Heathrow, London England (LHR)
As I boarded, I noticed that the flight attendant uniforms looked different from the last time I flew on Qantas. I later found out that they had just changed them last September. As an airline enthusiast, you just notice these things, I guess.
I made my way down the aisle to my middle seat close to the back of the airplane; this is a big plane. I said hello to my seat mates and took my place. The configuration here is a 3-4-3 tapering to 2-4-2. You can see the configuration here at http://www.qantas.com.au/infodetail/flying/inTheAir/ourAircraft/744-14P50J315Y.pdf and the Upper Deck at http://www.qantas.com.au/infodetail/flying/inTheAir/ourAircraft/744-14P50J315Y.pdf. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view these files.
My seat mate at the window was from Indonesia and a lawyer who was on his way to London for a business trip. This was his first time. On my right, the young lady was returning from a 10-day trip to Australia and had started her trip in Melbourne, the origination of QF9. She was in transit in Singapore for about 1.5 hours where she said she had checked her e-mail and was happy that she could have done so. Her total journey time is 22:50!
Then the flight attendants did the safety demonstrations. It was now time for pushback, so we did and headed for the runway. Oh, our flying time today was going to be 12:35; another long flight ahead of me in less than 24 hours.
We headed for the runway and started the takeoff roll. This was an incredible takeoff. We were very heavy and you could tell. We kept going and going and going. Eventually, we lifted off at the end of the runway as I could see the fences just outside of the window.
Just after takeoff, the flight attendants came through with headsets and then an amenity kit. The kit had a toothbrush, a pair of socks, and a blindfold in a zippered pouch with a neck strap.
The entertainment system was turned on about 20 minutes after departure. Here is an overview of what we had in store via our individual in seat video screens:
Q movies & tv
movies
Man on Fire
Jersey Girl
Laws of Attraction
The Prince and Me
The Girl Next Door
Starsky & Hutch
The Cat in the Hat
tv
iQ
Documentaries
QTV
Lifestyle and Travel
Nick on Q
QComedy
Mr. Bean
Stadium
Sports
Q radio
16 channels
Q games
10 games
Q flightpath
Map of our flight path
Q news & weather
controls
all the seat controls
languages (English, French and Japanese are the choices)
I settled on watching “The Cat in the Hat” with Mike Myers. This was quite a colorful movie; real color, not language. Soon, the crew came through with drinks. I opted for some white wine. Apparently, the menus were only given out in Melbourne which is where the flight originated as I did notice one in my seat back pocket.
Here is what the menu said we would have on this segment:
Supper
Green Leaf Salad with Cucumber and Tomato
Choice of
Salmon with Fennel Sauce
Or
Spinach and Ricotta Tortellini with Tomato Chilli Sauce
Apple Strudel
Coffee
Tea
I opted for the Salmon with Fennel Sauce and was not disappointed at all, I opted for some white wine in the real glass that was provided.
After dinner, we were handed a plastic pouch labeled “Snack on Q.” It contained a bottle of water, an apple, a Mars bar, a small pack of Mentos and a pack of Oreos chocolate chip cookies. The flight attendant said that since we would not be fed for about another 8 hours, this packet would be our snack.
I continued watching the movie, but I knew that would not last long, since I was already sleeping before our take off, and true enough, I was asleep in no time.
I awoke up with about 5:22 to go, stretched and went to find the Duty Free sales. I wanted to get a model airplane and a Qantas bear. They only had 1/200th scale airplanes and as I did not have any place to carry it, I only opted for the bear. I also took the opportunity to chat with the flight attendants to pass some time. Later, I went back to my seat and watched some more TV. I ended up watching “Man on Fire” with Denzel Washington. This was actually based on a true story. I caught it with about 45 minutes or so to, so I have to watch it once again.
With three hours to go, we were served breakfast; a choice of:
a Continental breakfast with
Orange juice
Yoghurt with strawberry Purée
Raisin Brioche
Fresh Fruit Platter
Or Hot Breakfast with
Orange Juice
Fresh Fruit Salad
Raisin Brioche
Scrambled Egg with French Toast
Coffee
Tea
Although I hate mushrooms, I chose the hot breakfast, skipping he mushrooms.
Looking out the window, it was clear that we would be experiencing the rising sun until we got to London. This all started two and a half hours ago as we approached Southern Russia from the Middle East. Amazing, we were chasing the dawn.
After 11:13 flying time, we had just about 1:34 to go and halfway between Poznan, Poland and Berlin Germany at 38,000’; ground speed 530 mph. I busied myself with writing this piece and watching the Comedy Channel; it was hilarious and I kept getting looks from my seat mates who eventually joined me watching that channel.
Three hundred kilometers out of London, the second officer gave the good morning call. Apparently, we had made up time and would now arrive, ontime. It was now time to get ready for landing. We were now 37 minutes to landing, just crossing the North Sea having just passed directly over Rotterdam, Netherlands.
The sun was still on its rise although it was pretty bright out. Local time at our destination was 4:55 a.m., at present position 5:55 a.m. Hooray for summer and early sunrise times. Thirty-two minutes out, we commenced our descent from 38,000’. It had been 12:15 flying time so far, we had 31 minutes more to go.
We touched down safely at 5:24 a.m. local time, and after about 10 minutes, arrived at our gate in Terminal 4.
London/ Heathrow, London England (LHR)
I made the walk out of the airplane and then headed for the immigration area, cleared and then headed to the customs area. As I walked through, I noticed a passenger being inspected by a customs officer with his suitcase open. Next to it was a pile of cigarettes; I saw no clothes in sight, interesting.
I continued my walk to the arrivals lounge and headed towards the Heathrow Express for the free ride to Terminals 1, 2 and 3. as I got down to the trains, I was in time for the first train. In about 4 minutes, I was at the Terminal 1, 2 and 3 area. I then headed for Terminal 3 to check on the Virgin Atlantic Airways’ (VS) flight to Newark, New Jersey (EWR) on Monday. I then headed to the Tube and took the Picadilly Line into London after purchasing a Weekend TravelCard.
London, England
Once in the city, I headed for my friend’s flat. He was moving that weekend, so I’d be kept busy for a bit. After the move, I got a chance to sleep a bit before going out for dinner that evening and an afternoon on the city.
On Sunday night, after a day indoors and a bit of sightseeing, I was trying to determine which routing to take back home. I was considering going to Amsterdam and taking the 9:35 a.m. flight to Houston or even Paris for the 12:55 p.m. The best option although it looked like the BusinessFirst cabin would not be available was the 9:30 a.m. departure from London/ Gatwick (LGW).
On Monday morning, I got up about 5:45 a.m. and got ready. By 6:35 a.m. I was out of the flat and headed for the Tube station. At 7:15 a.m. I arrived at Victoria Station in time for the 7:30 a.m. Gatwick Express. At 8:02 a.m. I arrived at the train station in Gatwick.
London/ Gatwick International, London England (LGW)
I headed downstairs to the Continental check-in counter, checked in, headed back upstairs, then went through security and to the Presidents Club. The view from the Club is great as you can see all the landings and takeoffs. As usual one is never disappointed when plane spotting in Gatwick even though the Spectator Gallery is temporarily closed. easyJet, flybe., Maersk, British Airways, Air France, MyTravel.com, Britannia, Monarch, Aurigny, First Choice and Croatia Airlines are a few of the airlines that I saw during my 40 minute stay there.
In between watching takeoffs and landings, I had time to have some tea and relax a little. So, it was time for boarding. I got my stuff together and headed down to the gate. Once there, got my boarding pass and as predicted, I was in Economy class. I also saw one of my co-worker and her fiancé at the gate. They had spent the weekend in London as well.
CO35/5JUL04
Boeing 777-200ER (N78004)
London/ Gatwick International, London England (LGW) to Houston/ George Bush Intercontinental, Houston Texas (IAH)
We all boarded and took our seats. I switched with my co-worker’s fiancé so that they could at least be aisles across. There were a few more seat switches by others who wanted to be close to their families.
This airplane is configured with a 2-2-2 configuration in the BusinessFirst Cabin and a 3-3-3 configuration in Economy class. There are individual seat monitors with music, movies and games (http://www.continental.com/travel/inflight/entertainment/default.asp). I lucked out and had the middle seat empty. There were quite a few empty seats around the cabin as well.
Soon, our departure time arrived and we pushed back on schedule and then headed to the runway. It was going to be a 9:40 flying time today; quite a long one, but in the scheme of things; short J.
After takeoff, I started watching “Walking Tall” with The Rock; quite a good movie. As that continued, we were served drinks with a packet of peanuts; there is a charge for alcohol of 3 GBP or 5 USD, but beverages are complimentary. For lunch, I had a roll, crackers, chicken with potatoes, carrots, spinach, brownie and a salad.
I soon fell asleep after lunch. With about 3:30 to go, just above Bangor, Maine, we were served vanilla ice cream and beverages. I ate and then went back to sleep.
As we passed over Fredericksburg, Virginia, I glanced at the moving map display and we were at 41,000’. I’ve not flown at this altitude much, so this was a neat experience.
I scanned the channels and watched episodes of Absolutely Fabulous, Friends. With 1:30 to go, we were served an arrival snack. That consisted of a hot chicken and cheese sandwich, a scone with Cornish clotted cream and jam. There was also mayonnaise. That really hit the spot as I was so hungry by now.
We soon started our descent for Houston George Bush. We had a very smooth landing and taxied towards Terminal D. We paused momentarily for the ground staff to prepare for our arrival, then pulled into the gate a few minutes early.
Houston/ George Bush Intercontinental, Houston Texas (IAH)
We disembarked and headed for the immigration area. As we were the first flight to arrive there was no crowd at all; it gets uglier as the day progresses. Within minutes, it was my turn. I presented my documents and then I was asked what I did for a living. I told the agent and then he questioned me about why I had been to Singapore and England in such short succession. I told him and he had a puzzled look on his face. He then told me to go.
I cleared customs and headed to the bus stand, pausing to wait for my co-worker and her fiancé to catch up. The Service Park bus arrived and we all boarded the bus and waited, and waited and waited. You see, one of the airport employees showed up and said he was waiting for another. So we waited and waited. Eventually I got annoyed and told the driver to go and then he got annoyed. I refused to argue with him, but I had to let him know my displeasure at having to wait without been told why we were waiting.
Eventually we left, not sure if he got who he was waiting for though. We headed to the lot, I picked up my car, paid and headed towards I-45. It had been quite a journey. So now I have to do the shortest commercial flight from West Ray to Papa Ray in the Orkney Islands. It is operated by Logan Air for British Airways.
THIS WEEK’S QUESTION
None this week, but please feel free to send me a question if you have one.
COUNTRIES/ STATES/ CITIES VISITED/ TRAVERSED
Huntsville, Alabama
Newark, New Jersey
Singapore
London, England
AIRLINES FLOWN
ExpressJet Airlines, Inc. dba Continental Express (CO) http://www.continental.com
Continental Airlines (CO) http://www.continental.com
Singapore Airlines (SQ) http://www.singaporeair.com
Qantas (QF) http://www.qantas.com.au
HOTELS STAYED
Peninsula Excelsior Hotel
5 Coleman Street
Singapore 179 805
Reservation Tel: (65) 6339 0708 or (65) 6337 8080
Reservation Fax: (65) 6339 3580
E-Mail:pehreservation@ytchotels.com.sg
http://www.ytchotels.com.sg/peninsulaexcelsior/
RATE: 100 SGD
CARS RENTED
N/A
AIRPORTS VISITED
Huntsville International, Huntsville Alabama (HSV)
Newark Liberty International, Newark New Jersey (EWR)
Singapore Changi International, Singapore (SIN)
London/ Heathrow, London England (LHR)
London/ Gatwick, London England (LGW)
TRIP ROUTING
Flight # Date Routing Aircraft Type Distance (miles) Aircraft Registration
CO2084 30JUN IAH – HSV ERJ-145 594 N15948
CO2084 30JUN HSV – EWR ERJ-145 804 N15948
SQ21 30JUN EWR – SIN A340-500 9,524 9V-SGB
QF9 2JUL SIN – LHR B747-400 6,757 VH-OJS
CO35 5JUL LGW – IAH B777-200 4,841 N78004
Total Air Miles: 22,520
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
