Dallas, TX July 2008: Arriving in Dallas-Love Field, Dallas TX (DAL)

26JUL08 Dallas-Love Field, Dallas TX (DAL)

It was 12:52p when we touched down on runway 31R. The airport seemed vacant, but that's cause we were on the American and Continental side.

We pulled off the runway and headed for the gate. I could see a boeing 767 on the left, but not sure who owned it. it seemed like a private ownership.




You can see the tower here as we pulled into the gate.

The Control Tower by the gate.

I deplaned and headed for the Baggage Claim area. There was a tiny sign pointing that way and the lady who was walking with me was not sure where to turn. I helped her along as I'd been to that airport before.

I called my friends, but they were a ways away so I decided to hang out in the Southwest terminal for a bit. I saw the following planes:





I did not think they still use Boeing 737-200s.

Eventually I went to wait outside security and in about an hour my friends showed.

Dallas, TX July 2008: Houston Intercontinental, Houston, TX (IAH) to Dallas-Love Field, Dallas, TX (DAL)

CO2826 26JUL08 Houston Intercontinental, Houston TX (IAH) to Dallas-Love Field, Dallas TX (DAL) 12:00 noon 1:00p ERJ N??933

Flight Time: 0:40
Seat Map

As I walked down the jetway, I could see that the cabin bags that are too big for the cabin were still in the jetway. There was also a little backup at the doorway as well. I looked over at the lone female flight attendant and smiled an hello; she reciprocated. Then she got on the PA and made a welcome aboard announcement.

The Embraer Regional Jet 145 (ERJ-145) is just about 6’2” in interior height so I had to bend a little as I negotiated my way down the 1-2 configuration of 50 leather seats. I had a window seat on the two side.

The lady at the aisle let me in and noting how tall I am volunteered for me to sit at the aisle instead. I told her thanks but took the window as it was a beautiful day for flying and I wanted to see out. I got settled in, stuffing my backpack under the seat in front of me.

The Captain came on the PA at 11:50a and announced that the flying time was a quick 0:40 today, the temperature was 29C/85F and the visibility was 10 miles.

At 11:55a, the flight attendant made another announcement that this was the flight to Dallas so please ensure that this is where you wanted to go. Two minutes later the door closed and came with a notification to turn off the electronic devices especially those blackberries, strawberries and raspberries; this brought a chuckle as did the prior announcement.

It was 12:02p when the safety announcement started playing and the flight attendant did the demo. Pushback started about the same time as did an engine start. Our taxi out to the runway started at 12:06p.

It was a quick taxi and by 12:10p, we were airborne having used runway 33R-15L.

It was a nice take off and we made a hard right hand turn so I could see the entire airport in its glory. I could even see the airplane that was behind us on the runway, a Continental Boeing 757-300.

The flight attendant came on the PA and announced that due to the very, very short flight, there would be no beverages served onboard, but she was available if anyone needed her. I always think it strange that U.S. carriers don’t serve a meal on short flights when in Europe, you sometimes get a hot meal on a 0:45 flight between London and Amsterdam or Paris.

As I was really tired, I went to sleep and awoke when the Captain said we had 0:25 to go and had started our descent. He also added that it was 90F at the moment on the ground.

It was great to see the city below as we descended.

Dallas, TX July 2008: Arriving in Houston Intercontinental, Houston, TX

26JUL08 Houston Intercontinental. Houston TX (IAH)

I made my way to through security, then headed for Terminal B via the overhead train. There was no waiting as a train arrived just as I made it to the platform. It was 11:23a when I arrived in Terminal B. I checked the Flight Information display (FID) to ensure that my flight was still at gate B71. It had actually changed to gate B73, so it was flashing on the FIDs. As I had some time, I made it to the Presidents Club but I had missed breakfast, so I just had some cheese, crackers, some water and a banana. I also picked up the weekend edition of the Financial Times.

I made my way down to the gate shortly and inquired if I had received a seat as yet. As it turns out, this was not the case. I was not really worried as this flight still had a few open seats. The boarding process started at 11:45a and soon after everyone had boarded, I received a window seat assignment at the rear of the plane.

I collected my boarding pass and boarding right away.

Dallas, TX July 2008: Leaving downtown Houston, TX

Downtown Houston, TX

I did not check the times for the bus and had decided to just wing it as I went along. I figured at most I’d have to wait 40 minutes for a bus to the airport. As such, I was in luck and caught the 10:08a departure which was scheduled to arrive at the airport at 11:21a, it arrived at 11:11a. The bus after that one would have arrived at 11:51a and would have made it a very anxious morning.

As I approached Terminal D, I noticed that a Lufthansa Boeing 747-400 was sitting at the hard stand. Odd, I guess yesterday’s flight had a mechanical issue.