Atlanta, GA July 2008: Arriving in Houston, TX (IAH) from Atlanta, GA (ATL)

13JUL08 Houston Intercontinental, Houston TX (IAH)

We touched down about 4:30p and taxied to the gate in the C Concourse, or is it Terminal at this airport? We were almost 5 hours late.

The lead flight attendant announced that the gate agent would have connecting flight information so it was necessary to contact them once we deplane.

Deplaning was easy, no one seemed to be in a hurry, which was quite funny. We headed out and checked on the flight information displays. All the flights to and from Atlanta, GA were delayed. Oddly enough, the 1:10p departure had also arrived at about the same time as our flight did.

Our plane was due to do a flight to Miami, FL (MIA) which was showing about a 0:45 minute delay.

We then headed to the parking shuttle bus stop and headed out.

Atlanta, GA July 2008: Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International, Atlanta GA (ATL) to Houston Intercontinental, Houston TX (IAH)

CO1587 13JUL08 Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International, Atlanta GA (ATL) to Houston Intercontinental, Houston TX (IAH) 10:45a 11:53a 735 N??649

Flight Time:
Seat Map

I greeted the two flight attendants at the door and made my way past the two rows of 2-2 leather seats in First Class to the rows of 3-3- configuration in Economy class. As I was really tired, I snagged two pillows from the overhead as I made my way to my seat.

I found a place for my bag and then settled in, getting up twice to allow the window seat and middle seat passengers to pass. The guy in the middle was having issues finding a place for his bag and actually had to check it as there was no more room. There were also other bag space issues as the space came to a premium.

I looked through the window on the left and saw a massive storm building; I was hoping that we would get out of here before that engulfed the airport. The lady at the window and I commented on it.

It was a minute past departure time and the Captain came on the PA and announced that the airport had a ground stop due to the storm coming in and we had to wait until it cleared up. He thinks it would be 30-45 minutes. Bummer, I thought. As I was really tired, I fell asleep right away.

Later, I awoke and heard the Captain say that we were going to leave the gate and head out to the taxiways, but we would still have to wait. I think it was like 12:20p now.

[My traveling companion later told me that there was a lady who wanted to go to McDonald's to get something to eat, but no one was allowed off the plane. In situations like these, everyone has to stay put as no one knows when it will be time to go. You let one person off the plane and ATC rings back and say you have to go now and you can't then you may be delayed longer. Also, one person gets to go to McDonald's, then another wants to go to Starbucks, etc. I'm also told that some passengers had asked for drinks and were served in the back galley, which is fair as the wait was a bit long]

I fell asleep again and I kept waking up to announcements. One said that we were #10 for departure but the west departures were curtailed and another said we were #4 and the departures were curtailed again. Finally, we were #1 and the departures were curtailed again. Each time, passengers were allowed to use their cell phones and also the restroom. I know that at one time water and juice were offered. I was so out of it though…

It was interesting to hear some of the conversations when I was awake, almost all the phone calls blamed the airline. I guess the big storm sitting at the airport had nothing to do with our wait. I'm not sure why an airline would want to disrupt their tight schedule and keep passengers on a plane longer than they need to, especially with fuel so high these days. Do you?

Eventually, it was out time to take to the runway at 3:34p local time, nearly 5 hours since we boarded the plane.

The climb out was a little rough as there was turbulence from the storm. On our left you could see the gray clouds full of moisture. It was impressive to see, but was quite annoying as it was the culprit for our delay.

After takeoff, we were given a beverage service with one pack of peanuts each. I thought that the flight information had said Light Snack, but I guess I was mistaken as I think that was for the original flight we wanted to take at about 2:30p. Luckily I had some crackers and cheese in my bag, so I supplemented the meal.

With 50 minutes of flying to go, the Captain came on the PA and announced that the current weather in Houston was 95F, the winds were calm and visibility of 10 miles. We were also at 36,000’. He apologized for the delay and advised that he had asked for and received an alternate Northerly routing to avoid the storms. This accounted for an extra 15 minutes of flying though. He said we would arrive at about 4:50p or so.

I was surprised that there was only one drink service for the entire flight, but I guess they probably ran out of drinks as they were serving stuff in the galley during the lengthy delay.

The seatbelt sign came on at 4:06p local time, so that meant we were heading in.

Atlanta, GA July 2008: Airplanes in Hartsfield (ATL)

Atlanta, GA July 2008: Arriving at Hartsfield (ATL)

13JUL08 Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International, Atlanta GA (ATL)

It was about 8:45a when we arrived at the airport. It was not too crowded and we had no issues checking in at the airport kiosk and received our stand by boarding passes. Security was not an issue either and soon we were on the trains to Concourse D.

The trains in this airport are weird as they don’t tell you which airlines serve which terminal neither audibly or visually. I think you have to wait for the doors to open to see which airlines are at which terminal and then the doors are only open for a short time. But I digress.

We arrived at Concourse D in a few minutes and headed up the long escalator to the departure level. I did notice two guys all sweaty and panting on the left escalator. It seems like they ran from the main terminal building. I hope they caught their flight.

We headed for the Presidents Club where we showed our credentials and were granted access. Eventually, we found two comfy seats in the crowded lounge across from a couple. I searched for an electric outlet, but to no avail. It is weird that they actually have workstation at the windows and no electrical outlets. I did see one or two on the floor, but they were really in the walkway, so not really usable.

I eventually had a bagel with 50% fat free cream cheese and some mini muffins, while my travel companion had some juice and coffee. The coffee was not good, so we went to use a Starbucks free coffee coupon at the Starbucks across from Gate 8A, our departure gate. I thought that no outside food was allowed, but the agent advised that drinks were fine.

Once at the Starbucks, I showed her the card and she said they don’t accept it. I inquired why and she said she was joking. She then tried to upsell me to other beverages and eats, which I declined. She then poured me a steaming hot cup of coffee to the brim and directed me to the condiments section.

I returned to the Club and presented the coffee to my traveling companion. I did notice some Delta Connection CRJs (200s and 700s) outside the window with a flurry of activities. There was also a few airTran Boeing 737-700s with winglets as well as some Boeing 717s.

It was soon time to head to the gate. As we departed the Club, I checked pda.continental.com and saw that we were given seats; lucky aisles across.

At the gate, I inquired for our boarding passes and after waiting a bit, received the. Boarding had already commenced, so we just waited for our row to be called and then boarded the Boeing 737-500 with winglets.

Atlanta, GA July 2008: Arriving at Hartsfield (ATL) from Houston, TX (IAH)

11JUL08 Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International, Atlanta GA (ATL)

We touched down smoothly and taxied into the gate arriving ontime at 10:04p. after what seemed like forever, I made it out of the place and re-joined my traveling companion who had scored the last minute upgrade.

We walked to the middle of Concourse D, then down the escalators and got a train that was just about to leave, five stops later, we arrived at Baggage Claim and took another escalator upstairs to the street level.

We found some kiosks for the MARTA system and realized that there was an additional $0.50 fee plus the $1.75 cost for the one way ride. We went to the desk to find out if we could avoid the fee, but there is no way to do this. It was odd as it was 10:30p and the lights went out at her booth. She then told us that we could no longer use a credit card as they were turned off automatically at 10:30p. We could get tickets, but had to use cash, so we went to the kiosks.

There we paid the $2.25 to get our cards, swiped them and entered the turnstile. Upstairs there was a waiting train to take us to our destination in about an hour.

Atlanta, GA July 2008: Houston Intercontinental, Houston TX (IAH) to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International, Atlanta GA (ATL)

CO1720 11JUL08 Houston Intercontinental, Houston TX (IAH) to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International, Atlanta GA (ATL) to 7:00p 10:08p 735 N??620

Flight Time: 1:39
Seat Map

I said hello to the two flight attendants in the galley and made my way through the 8-seat First Class cabin. It is configured in a 2-2 configuration with leather seats. Economy class is in a 2-2 configuration.

I found my way to my aisle seat and settled in after saying hello to the two ladies who were obviously traveling together.

At 6:59p, the doors closed and then the manual safety demo started. Pushback commenced soon after. This aircraft has no entertainment system, but not to worry, I had the Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal from the Presidents Club, plus a book, "The Writer's Guide to Queries, Pitches & Proposals" so I had plenty of things to keep me occupied. Not to mention my computer.

It was a short taxi out and we were airborne in no time.

A beverage service started shortly after take off which included a packet of peanuts. The crackers from the Presidents Club sure came in handy.

I pretty much fell asleep after the meal and awoke when we were landing; so much for all that reading material. Being at an aisle seat, i could not tell what was going on outside, so it was just as well I slept. i had gone to bed really late the night before, so I really needed that nap.

Atlanta, GA July 2008: Departing Houston, TX (IAH)

11JUL08 Houston Intercontinental., Houston TX (IAH)

We arrived at Terminal E at about 5:45p. We cleared security without issues and made our way to the Presidents Club. I showed my credentials and received admittance along with my guest.


Once in the Club, we relaxed for a bit, checked e-mail, had some beverages as well as read the newspapers, except they were out of USA Today :(. We also had some snacks of bread sticks, crackers and cheese.

It was soon time to get to the gate so we did.

Once there, we were given boarding passes; one window and an aisle. My companion went to the ATM and when he got back, he scored the last seat in First Class, lucky. We then boarded.

Atlanta, GA July 2008: Leaving downtown Houston, TX

A friend of mine was having a house warming party and it was necessary that I attend. I have a cold and is feeling really crappy, but I pressed on.

It was about 5:00p, when my traveling companion picked me up from in front of our building downtown. The traffic was light on the way to the airport, so we got there in no time and without any delays.

We parked and took the shuttle bus to Terminal E, our departure terminal.

Mumbai, India (BOM) July 2008: Arriving in Abu Dhabi, UAE (AUH) from Mumbai, India (BOM)

05JUN08 Abu Dhabi International

We touched down safely with quite the noise from the engines as we slowed down and pulled off the runway. It seemed like forever until we pulled into the gate. Only less than 24 hours ago, we had departed Dubai.

I gathered my stuff together and bade my seat mate goodbye. It is amazing how people would not allow us to get off the plane. Eventually, I had to just say excuse me and step into the aisle.

Outside, I regrouped with my colleague and we made our way to the Transit counter for Etihad (EY). I spoke to an agent there who checked us in for EY11 to London-Heathrow and advised that the flight was still looking O.K. with a few seats left in two classes. He then said to come back at 1:45a; an hour before departure which is when the flight closes. I did notice that the flight to New York-JFK, EY101 was delayed to 2:45a from 2:05a. That’s good as it is one of our backup, although it may not be so good.

The British airways (BA) flight at 2:10a on 6 July 2008 is our backup, so this cut it close and petty much kills our backup flight chance. The numbers on this flight was similar as well the last time I checked which was a few hours ago. I could not find any BA agents to check for an updated status however.

We made a trip to the restroom while we waited. It is odd to have had to wait to use the toilet. The restroom also doubles as a place to wash your feet before prayers so there was a guy whose job it was to squeegee the floors after usage. I had to wait for him to do so as the one that came free was really wet.

Once done, I rejoined my colleague and we went in search of an electrical outlet and a lounge. We checked with one of the lounges and they will take an American Express card for admittance, but the billing address must be from the Middle East; well that rules us out. Otherwise the charge is 25 USD for admittance chargeable to the card. We departed on that news and continued our search for an outlet. We found one inside one of two cafés and sat down only to find out that it did not work at all. My colleague had a pastry, I looked at flight options, etc., then we left to find a place that was cooler as it felt like we were outside.

Time dragged by really slowly unfortunately, but eventually it was 1:30a and time to check on the EY flight to London-Heathrow. We waited for a few minutes and were told to come back in ten minutes. We did and were unable to talk with anyone for some time. Finally at 2:15a, we spoke to an agent who advised that the flight was full and we did not make it.

Crap, I thought…I asked about the flights to Manchester and JFK, but they were also full and in addition, the flight from Delhi had just landed with sixty passengers who had to be prepared for the flight. I then asked about the flight to Brussels which was leaving at 2:50a and was advised that there were seats available. On checking with the ticketing folks, I was advised that my ticket for Heathrow was not valid for Brussels.

I asked the agent what he can do to assist and he asked for our JFK ticket s. we handed those over and he said, to hang on until they checked in all those people and he will see what gives. I got on my computer again finding a new place to plug in and using the complimentary wireless. I made flight arrangements from JFK to Houston via a flight at 10:50a from New York-La Guardia (LGA) as the next Houston-bound flight from JFK would be at 1:29p and did not look so good. We would figure out how to make our way to LaGuardia depending on our arrival time, which I was estimating to be about 9:30a or so. Flight choices out of Newark, NJ (EWR) were not looking as good. It was ironic that we were possibly heading to the New York area as I’d avoided the flights into that area as I knew the flights loads were not pleasant.

The lines at the counter were dwindling fast as customers were checked in and then rushed off to the gate area for security checks, etc. It was 3:05a when we were called forward and given two Economy class seats after a few upgrades were made between two cabins to accommodate us.

We thanked and followed the agent to the gate where we made it through the security checks and were on the plane in no time; my colleague leaving some of his stuff behind and an agent bringing it to him.

Mumbai, India (BOM) July 2008: Leaving Chhatrapati Shivaji International, Mumbai India (BOM) for Abu Dhabi, UAE (AUH)

05JUL08 Chhatrapati Shivaji International, Mumbai India (BOM)

We arrived at the airport at 8:05p after the almost one hour drive that should have taken only twenty minutes. The traffic was disgusting and it was just not moving at times.

The signs into the airport indicated that we should use C & D for the Jet Airways (9W) flight, so the cab driver dropped s off at that location. There were huge crowds at each of the entrances to the airport terminal. We waded through them as they were for the most part families seeing their loved ones off. We then showed our tickets and were told to go to entrance B, aargh. We did so, then showed our tickets again were granted entry to the terminal.

We looked for the Jet Airways (9W) signs and after finding them made our to the check-in counter. It was a bit of a wait to get checked in, but we finally did and were given two middle seats at different parts of the airplane.

We then made our way to Immigration and security checkpoints. It was getting late, so we were being ushered to the gate each step of the way. It did not help any that our gate was the last one in the terminal.

We finally made it there as we passed the 11:35p Airbus A320 Eithad (EY) flight to Abu Dhabi (AUH) at the gate next to our flight. It was painted in a blue livery and looked rather cool.

Mumbai, India (BOM): In Dubai on our way to Mumbai

We just arrived in Dubai, UAE (DXB) after taking the 8p BA flight from IAH to London-Heathrow. Then taking the 12:40p BA flight to DXB arriving at 10:35p.

We are now on CX684 to Mumbai and will arrive at 4:55a...

Mumbai, India (BOM) July 2008: Arriving in Dubai International, Dubai UAE (DXB) from London-Heathrow International, London England (LHR)

04JUL08 Dubai International, Dubai UAE (DXB)

The touchdown was sweet in the darkness of the airport. We taxied into the terminal which took a while. We were hoping that we got a gate this time around as the last time, we got to Dubai, it took forever to get to the terminal.

So taking the later BA flight and connecting over London caused us to arrive at 10:30p as opposed to 6:45p on the nonstop flight from Houston...About a four hour time savings. Not to mention that those folks are on their way to Mumbai already.

We deplaned and followed the signs to the Connection Desk.


We made our way to the congested Connections area. We stopped at the first area we saw and there was no sign of Cathay Pacific Airways (CX). eventually, i caught the attention of an agent and he told us to go to the next Connections section.

There was a huge crowd around the CX desk, but we stood on the queue and waited as time ticked by. The good thing was that our flight did not depart until 12:30a. It was weird the culture in that part of the world has people standing really close to you. So this guy was almost on top of me and I was so uncomfortable that I told him to step back. Eventually, he did.

It was now our turn and after a few minutes, we got a window and an aisle seat. We then cleared the security area and made our way down to the departure level.

Our gate was at the end of the terminal so we got a good taste of the airport. There were people everywhere, sleeping all around the terminal. We were happy that that would not be us on this trip. We walked past a few Lounges and wondered if our credentials would work. But, we had no time to check it out as we were on a mission to our gate.

Eventually, we got there and although they were accepting customers in the gate area, they were going nowhere. So, we just relaxed and sat down as I tried to find an electric outlet. I sat for a while and realized there was free WiFi in the airport. Cool!

I took the chance to check some more hotels and also sent and checked e-mail. Soon, we entered the gate area and made our way down to the waiting bus. This process took some time as the flight was full.

Once on the bus it took us a while to make it out to the plane. It was cool as we approached; it was an Airbus A330 and a Boeing 777-300. I had forgotten which one we were on, but eventually, we pulled up to the middle door of the giant Boeing 777-300!

Mumbai, India (BOM) July 2008: London-Heathrow International, London England (LHR) to Dubai International, Dubai UAE (DXB)

BA107 04JUL08 London Heathrow International to Dubai International, Dubai United Arab Emirates (DXB) 12:40p 10:30p 777 G-ZZZA

Flight Time: 6:15
Seat Map - There is no seat map for this aircraft, but the World Traveller Plus cabin for this aircraft is much smaller than the seat map shown here. I think rows 23-25 are missing. The Economy Class cabin is the same size though, so I think that perhaps there is an extra row in Club World.

We went down the walkway and it was then that I realized that we were heading for a bus to take us to the plane. We made it on the bus and then we waited for a few passengers to arrive. By about 12:25p, we left and headed for the plane. Eventually, I could see a 777 in the distance with the registration G-ZZZA on it. Immediately, I felt sleepy :-).

There is something about approaching a 777 from the ground. It is a big plane. The bus stopped at the stairs and we all disembarked and then went up the unbelievably tall stairs and were greeted by a Cabin Crew member and the Cabin Service Director (CSD).

They told me to take the right aisle and my colleague to take the left aisle. My colleague got to his seat first as we walked through the Club World Class (2-4-2 with some seats facing backwards) and World Traveler Plus (2-4-2), then World Traveler with its 3-3-3 configuration.

There was a guy sitting in my colleague's seat and then he moved over to mine. Once I got to my seat, I asked to see his boarding pass and he was on the other aisle near the window across from my colleague so he moved.

We then got settled in. This aircraft is a little different as it has fewer World Traveller Plus seats and there are two extra lavs behind World Traveller Plus and none in the rear of the airplane. I also don't think that this airplane has any crew rest bunks in it either.

We pushed back soon after waiting for a while. I can only guess that someone was behind us. I did notice that the headsets in World Traveller are different than those in World Traveller Plus; they are thinner and also the amenity kit is in a different color plastics, but has the same toothbrush, toothpaste, socks and blindfolds and ear plugs.

After quite a wait, it was our turn to take off and we took to the skies. A short time after takeoff, we were served beverage of choice and pretzel nuggets; this is the same thing as the last flight.

The main meal followed with a choice of lamb with rice or Chicken Tarragon with potatoes and vegetables. I opted for the chicken that came with a bottle of water, bread, chocolate, summer fruit trifle raspberry and red currants salad with rough oat crackers.


With 5:22 to go, the Captain came on the PA and said that we were at 36,000’ and making good progress towards Dubai. As you would expect it is hazy, temp is low 30sC and with about 40 minutes to he will update us on the arrival time, etc. We are currently scheduled to be touching down at 10:30p. at this point we were over southern Germany.

The CSD announced that the movies should start momentarily says the Cabin Service Director.

For today, our entertainment was:

1. Son of Rambo
2. Street Kings
3. The Oxford Murders
4. Smart people
5. Drillbit Taylor
6. 21
7. Shine a Light
8. The Spiderwick Chronicles
9. Cartoon Network
10. Family Comedy
11. Sport
12. Explore: Brits Abroad

The second round of movies were:

1. The Game Plan
2. The Other Boleyn girl
3. Batman Begins
4. Toy Story 2
5. The Bucket List
6. Jumper
7. The Big sleep
8. The water Horse: Legend of the Deep
9. Sky flyers
10. US Comedy
11. Schemes and Scams
12. Drama: Out of This World

My headphone was scratchy in my seat, so I had to use the one for the middle seat, which was kind of weird as if I moved too much, it got disconnected.

I fell asleep with about 5 hours to go and awoke at 1:13 left.

For Audio

1. High Life
2. BBC Comedy
3. Mark Lamarr’s Musical Journey
4. BBC On Air
5. BBC Backstage
6. BBC Live in concert
7. BBC Classical Performance
8. Classical World
9. Opera
10. Side Projects
11. Leading Ladies
12. Heavy Metal
13. Pianio Man
14. Country
15. Jazz
16. Well Being

Then there are Games

1. Backgammon
2. Blackjack
3. Chinese Solitaire
4. Crossword
5. Daw Poker
6. Gold Digger
7. Hangman
8. Keno
9. Slots
10. Solitaire Snap2
11. Tic-tac-toe
12. Trivia
13. Zero G
14. Kid’s Game
15. Twins Café
16. Noisy Farm

The meal was a slice of pineapple, lemonade, dessert (chocolate Tiffin brownie) and two sandwiches (cheese and tomato plus chicken & rocket) with a history of John Montagu, the 4^th Earl of Sandwich who died in 1792.


So like clockwork, at 40 minutes before landing at 9:57p. The Captain came on the PA and said that it was 33C light winds from the Southwest the time in DXB is 3 hours ahead and just coming up to two minutes to 10. In about twenty minutes time the seat belt signs will go on, so now is the time to freshen up if you need to.

We got the cabin ready and made our way into Dubai.

Mumbai, India (BOM) July 2008: Arriving in London-Heathrow International, London England (LHR)

We touched down after making nice approach into Heathrow. As we landed on the runway close to Terminal 4 (runway 27L), it did not take too long to get to the terminal.

I saw the Singapore Airlines (SQ) Airbus A380 at the gate as well as a Saudi Arabia (SV) Boeing 777-200, a Virgin Atlantic (VS) Boeing 747-400, an Iberia (IB) Airbus A320 landing, a plethora of American Airlines (AA) planes and the Etihad (EY) Airbus A340-600 across the way heading out to Abu Dhabi (AUH); oh well.






I also saw an Enbraer ERJ-45 from bmi (BD) landing, a Virgin Atlantic Airways' Boeing 747-400 landing.






This BA Boeing 747-400 was parked at the gate in Terminal 4.

we disembarked and cleared Immigration with ease. I did not use the IRIS system as my colleague was with me and there was no line anyways.

The BA counter was just outside of the Arrivals are so we checked in there. The process was easy and we were given seats right away as the flight was open. No upgrades, but we had the middle seat empty in World Traveller.

We then went upstairs and cleared security and re-entered the terminal. We headed towards the Holideck and was granted entry after showing our credentials.

We headed straight for the tower and watched more airplanes land.











When it was time to go, we headed for gate 1C, showing our boarding passes, then taking the long walk down to the waiting bus.

Mumbai, India (BOM) July 2008: Houston Intercontinental, Houston TX (IAH) to London-Heathrow international, London, England (LHR)

BA196 03JUL08 Houston intercontinental, Houston TX (IAH) to London Heathrow Intercontinental, Houston TX (IAH) 8:00p 11:05a +1 Day 777 G-VIIL

Flight Time: 8:50
Seat Map

I walked down the jetway where a lady was reuniting Duty Free items with their owners, then onto the plane. We were greeted by the Cabin Service Director and a Cabin crew. He ushered me down the first aisle to my window seat in World Traveller Plus.

It was cool to walk through the Club World class with it s 2-4-2 configured cabin with its lay flat seats, some of which faces backwards. I had flown in Club World twice before and once I got that backward facing seat. It is an odd ride indeed.

There was a little congestion in the walkway, so we waited. Once it all cleared, we continued on to the World Traveller Plus cabin which starts counting at row 21-25 and has a 2-4-2 configuration. Each seat has a TV screen and comes with a power plus which requires an adapter to use it. There is also a foot rest and a leg support.

As we were getting settled in, the Captain came on the PA and announced that the main cabin door was closed and we will be on our way shortly. He proclaimed that the weather was good in London and that our taxi would be a long one today. I figured that was the case as I had noticed earlier that we were using runway 8R for departures. This is the runway all the way on the other side of the airport.

I was taking out some stuff from my bag and I noticed that we were already pushing back. Other passengers were also still standing in the cabin. It was about 7:52p; great, we are off to an early start so we should arrive early. The Captain had said that he anticipated an ontime arrival.

As we pushed back, the manual safety demo started; I assumed that the tape was broken for some reason as the demo is usually on the monitors. As the taxi continued, I noticed that we were heading for runway 33R-15L. traffic was light today and it was 8:03p when we took to the runway and headed off to London.

In the seat back was a headset along with an amenity kit that has a pair of socks, ear plugs, toothbrush and toothpaste plus blindfolds.


As we took off down, I did notice two FedEx DC-10s at the cargo facility and an MD-11 from World Airways at the hard stand near to the cargo facility.

After takeoff, an announcement was made introducing the crew and the Cabin Service Director. She talked about the service to expect for tonight’s flight. The entertainment system started with news from the BBC, cartoons and a preview of the movies on three separate channels. For entertainment tonight, we had:

1. Be Kind Rewind with Jack Black
2. Over Her Dead Body with Eva Longoria Parker
3. Married Life with Pierce Brosnan
4. Happy Go Lucky with Sally Hawkins
5. Flawless with Demi Moore
6. The Other Boleyn Girl with Natalie Portman
7. Cleaner with Samuel Jackson
8. Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears A Who!
9. Cartoon Network
10. Family Comedy
11. Sport
12. Explore Photography

The second round of films were:

1. The Game Plan
2. The Other Boleyn girl
3. Batman Begins
4. Toy Story 2
5. The Bucket List
6. Jumper
7. The Big Sleep
8. The Water Horse: Legend of the deep
9. Family
10. US Comedy
11. Schemes and Scams
12. Drama: out of This World

For Audio

1. High Life
2. BBC Comedy
3. Mark Lamarr’s Musical Journey
4. BBC On Air
5. BBC Backstage
6. BBC Live in concert
7. BBC Classical Performance
8. Classical World
9. Opera
10. Side Projects
11. Leading Ladies
12. Heavy Metal
13. Pianio Man
14. Country
15. Jazz
16. Well Being

Then there are Games

1. Backgammon
2. Blackjack
3. Chinese Solitaire
4. Crossword
5. Daw Poker
6. Gold Digger
7. Hangman
8. Keno
9. Slots
10. Solitaire Snap2
11. Tic-tac-toe
12. Trivia
13. Zero G
14. Kid’s Game
15. Twins Café
16. Noisy Farm

There was an initial service of drink of choice as well as a packet of pretzel nuggets.
Dinner came at 9:06p; it was a choice of chicken with mash potato or the salmon with pasta; beverage of choice was also served at the same time by the same flight attendant. Came with roll, a bottle of water, a salad, with Italian dressing and dessert, plus a Nestle crunch.

After dinner, I went to the rear galley and found a plethora of snacks in their “tuck shop.” There was chocolates, oat bites, baked mini cheddar, choc chip and orange cookies and Walkers true shortbread to name a few.

I fell asleep with about 5:25 to go as we were over Northern Canada. When I awoke, we were just west of Ireland with 1:20 to go; it was time for breakfast. The meal came in a box and consisted of a croissant with turkey and cheese, a blueberry muffin and a tub of orange juice. Offers of tea or coffee accompanied the meal.

The U.K. Landing cards arrived at 9:40a with a smile.


At 9:53a, the first office said we were 90 miles west of Cardiff with 250 miles to go to Heathrow; we were well ahead of schedule and were estimated to touch down at 10:30a. It was now eight minutes to 10a. There is a chance that we may hold 5 for to 10 minutes before we land, but he is not expecting this to be the case. The temperature is 17C with good visibility and light variables, referring to the winds. He concluded that in about thirty-five minutes we will be landing and the seatbelts will go on in about 15 minutes.

There was then a PA saying that the seatbelts will be turned on in 20 minutes. Use the washroom now as after the seatbelts signs are on you cannot use the washrooms. They also made an announcement about their Change for Good program which collects spare change for UNICEF. She thanked us for our continued support in the program.

At 9:58a, an announcement was made that the HiLife entertainment system will be switched off and the headsets will be collected. The last video to be show will be a video about arriving at Heathrow’s Terminal 4.

The video started at 10:06a and was a cartoon which was pretty cool. The 20 minutes to landing announcement was done at 10:08a.

Mumbai, India (BOM) July 2008: Departing Houston Intercontinental, Houston TX (IAH)

03JUL08 Houston intercontinental, Houston TX (IAH)

We arrived at the airport at 4:30p, so we decided that it was necessary to park at the terminal with its $15/day charge :-(. We made our way down to the departure level of Terminal E via the ever so slow elevators. I sometimes have to wonder if the designers and implementors of the airport ever use the facility; the elevators are too small and excruciatingly slow.

Eventually, we arrived on the departure level and then we realized that my colleague had forgotten his identification in the car so we returned to get it.

Once through security, our first mission was to get tickets for the journey. We spent about 30 minutes doing that and then headed for the Emirates ticket counter at about 5:30p. We had met a few colleagues while getting tickets and they had said that KLM had a cancellation so the flights across the Atlantic Ocean were now full.

We got to the Emirates check-in area and stood on line. The agent advised us that due to the KLM cancellation, their flight was now full and our chances of making it were now very slim to none. They told us to wait anyways and see what happens.

As we did so, more passengers arrived who were late for their flight or were sent over by KLM. It was getting ugly as the agent tried to prioritize everyone. Needless to say at 6:10p, another agent advised us that we did not make it along with about ten or so other passengers.

So my quest to get on a Boeing 777-200LR has failed once more. This is the fourth time now; the first was actually on this same flight back when Emirates started service, then on Air Canada’s (AC) from Sydney, Australia (SYD), then Delta’s (DL) from Los Angeles, CA (LAX) on the inaugural. Will I ever get on a LR?

Dejected, but not beaten, we headed back through security towards the Presidents Club in terminal E. There, I tried to devise n alternative plan, which I had in mind, but had hope I would not have to execute.

Based on the time, we did not have too many choices to arrive in Mumbai at the same time as having taken the nonstop flight to Dubai. Also, since it was now so late, the Continental flight to London at 6:25p was no longer an option.

I used www.passrider.com as well as some other tools to device a routing for which we had tickets. I had already bought some backup tickets just in case my planned routing did not work.

After a few minutes, it was evident that we needed to get on the British Airways (BA) 8:00p flight to London-Heathrow, England (LHR). It would arrive at the same time that Etihad's flight was leaving for Abu Dhabi, but it would connect to yet another BA flight to Dubai, UAE (DXB), then we can take Cathay Pacific's flight to Mumbai arriving just about three hours behind schedule.

We left the Club and made our way to Terminal D once more; outside security to the BA counter. After talking with the agents, we were able to get a seat in World Traveler Plus. We re-entered security once more and headed for the gate.

We tried to get into the Air France Lounge but we did not have adequate credentials. We then went looking for an ATM and the one we found would not accept any cards.

I did see the KLM Boeing 747-400 Combi at the gate that had broken down. And then the Emirates (EK) Boeing 777-200LR passed by as well.






It was soon time to board the flight, so we did.