das
Jun 23, 01, 7:08 pm
This trip on Saturday June 16 was for my relocation from Ithaca to Seattle, and therefore will be my last mainline flight out of ITH, as the service is being replaced by Express RJs after Labor Day.
Again, ITH was very convenient…I got in a taxi at 6:25am, and arrived at 6:35am with plenty of time to spare for my 7am flight. The agent gladly checked in my 3 bags, with no additional charge, even though I was carrying on my laptop. She also forgot to collect my change fee. Perhaps the staff in ITH are not particularly interested in collecting fees for US, because their jobs are going to be relocated, or they will have to transfer to Express with lower pay, when the mainline service is suspended.
There were 40 passengers aboard the Fokker 100 on this Saturday morning and pre departure drinks were offered in First Class. We pushed back about 5 minutes early and took off shortly thereafter. It was a beautiful takeoff, with a very nice view of ITH, but I was too stressed out about my move to really reflect… Two drink services and a cereal bar were offered in F. I noticed that hot drinks were served in styrofoam, not in china as I had seen before.
Anyway, we landed very early in PIT around 7:45am and parked at B-46, right at the end of the B concourse. I had plenty of time for my 9:44am connection to SEA.
Around 8:30am, a delay was posted for the SEA flight til 10:30am. I noticed the feeding aircraft was arriving from Orlando at 10:16am, so the 10:30am departure time seemed really ambitious. To make a long story of a creeping delay short, the flight from Orlando finally pulled into the gate at 10:40am. I think it arrived 20 minutes later than expected because of rainstorms that had moved into the PIT area. Regardless, the MCO flight was not supposed to be the feeding aircraft for this flight. Obviously there were some aircraft swaps going on and the SEA flight was the victim. (I later figured out why – the plane was going to fly SEA-BWI upon arrival in SEA, and that flight arrives in BWI too late for connections, so no harm in delaying it.) Many of the passengers were anxious, as they had onward connections to YVR to catch a cruise. But probably not a big deal because there are so many flights SEA-YVR.
The A321 does not turn very quickly. For one thing, boarding is through the front door, which means that deplaning and boarding takes forever. Furthermore, as we know, US Airways F/As do not tidy planes, and the cleaning crew isn’t too fast. So it was a one hour turn and we did not push off the gate til 11:40am, almost 2 hours late. The SEA flight was 100% full and with all the carry on luggage, boarding was very slow. The F seats have inseat laptop power, but did not have phones yet.
To top off the delay, the flight was staffed at the minimum number of F/As, just 4. I think 6 is the norm. The F/As were annoyed at the delay too, and were arguing amongst themselves about who would help out in F. I think the conclusion of the argument was that 2 F/As would work in F for Breakfast, and then 3 in Y and 1 in F for the pre arrival service.
This A321 was less than a month old and seemed fairly comfortable. As has been stated before, the First Class seats are not aligned across the aisle. Since there are 26 seats in F, it is a very large cabin, and therefore I think F/As hate working on this plane.
Following take off, drink and meal orders were taken. The choices were corn flakes, banana coconut pancakes, and a cheese omlette. I had tried the omlette before and found it to just be an enlarged coach omlette, so I decided on the pancakes. Being in row 6, I was very worried about ending up with the cereal, but luckily the pancakes were still left, although the omlette had run out. I think the people in row 7 were stuck with cereal and weren’t too happy about it. Hot towels were then distributed. They were real towels, but I have to say the Economy class towels on Singapore Airlines were better.
The movie preview was shown, but then it was announced it was the wrong preview. After much fussing with the entertainment system, the F/As concluded the only way to show the correct preview was to replay the safety video and the welcome aboard video. Also, when it was time to play the movie, it was a very big challenge to get the sound off the PA system and into the headsets, but it worked out after lots of fussing.
It’s interesting to note that I took this same flight back in February, also in F, when it was flown on a 757. So I was able to see how this service differed, although probably due to the crew and understaffing rather than the plane.
The breakfast was served all at once, not in courses as it had been in February. Also, there were no table linens, like in February. The pancakes were very tasty and were made with banana slices. The fruit bowl had canteloupe, strawberries, and blueberries. The croissants and muffins stated on the menu were not passed out. Instead, muffins were served on the tray with the omlette and cereal, but those ordering the pancakes missed out. The croissants were nowhere to be seen.
One drink refill was offered when the trays were cleared and then the crew went to help out in coach. Well after my tray was cleared, I peeked back into coach and they were only half way through the service. Given this flight was delayed two hours, the coach cabin was probably starving!!!
Two hours before landing (a bit too early), a snack was served. It was a greasy chicken breast with vermecelli, with a side of chocolate and a wrapped tasteless bread roll. I was not impressed with the snack. I ordered two drinks because I knew a refill would not be forthcoming. The FC F/A then cleared the trays and hid in the galley or back in coach til about 20 minutes before landing, when she cleared our cups. No refill was ever offered. Hot towels were distributed before landing.
Landing was very scenic. We flew past Mt. Rainer at the same altitude of its peak and landed in Seattle 2 hours late at 1:50pm. Unfortunately, due to headwinds, we were not able to make up any of the lost time due to the delay.
Anyway, after flying 35,000 miles and visiting 3 continents in the past month, I am now settling down and probably won’t be setting foot on a plane for a few months. A strange feeling!
Again, ITH was very convenient…I got in a taxi at 6:25am, and arrived at 6:35am with plenty of time to spare for my 7am flight. The agent gladly checked in my 3 bags, with no additional charge, even though I was carrying on my laptop. She also forgot to collect my change fee. Perhaps the staff in ITH are not particularly interested in collecting fees for US, because their jobs are going to be relocated, or they will have to transfer to Express with lower pay, when the mainline service is suspended.
There were 40 passengers aboard the Fokker 100 on this Saturday morning and pre departure drinks were offered in First Class. We pushed back about 5 minutes early and took off shortly thereafter. It was a beautiful takeoff, with a very nice view of ITH, but I was too stressed out about my move to really reflect… Two drink services and a cereal bar were offered in F. I noticed that hot drinks were served in styrofoam, not in china as I had seen before.
Anyway, we landed very early in PIT around 7:45am and parked at B-46, right at the end of the B concourse. I had plenty of time for my 9:44am connection to SEA.
Around 8:30am, a delay was posted for the SEA flight til 10:30am. I noticed the feeding aircraft was arriving from Orlando at 10:16am, so the 10:30am departure time seemed really ambitious. To make a long story of a creeping delay short, the flight from Orlando finally pulled into the gate at 10:40am. I think it arrived 20 minutes later than expected because of rainstorms that had moved into the PIT area. Regardless, the MCO flight was not supposed to be the feeding aircraft for this flight. Obviously there were some aircraft swaps going on and the SEA flight was the victim. (I later figured out why – the plane was going to fly SEA-BWI upon arrival in SEA, and that flight arrives in BWI too late for connections, so no harm in delaying it.) Many of the passengers were anxious, as they had onward connections to YVR to catch a cruise. But probably not a big deal because there are so many flights SEA-YVR.
The A321 does not turn very quickly. For one thing, boarding is through the front door, which means that deplaning and boarding takes forever. Furthermore, as we know, US Airways F/As do not tidy planes, and the cleaning crew isn’t too fast. So it was a one hour turn and we did not push off the gate til 11:40am, almost 2 hours late. The SEA flight was 100% full and with all the carry on luggage, boarding was very slow. The F seats have inseat laptop power, but did not have phones yet.
To top off the delay, the flight was staffed at the minimum number of F/As, just 4. I think 6 is the norm. The F/As were annoyed at the delay too, and were arguing amongst themselves about who would help out in F. I think the conclusion of the argument was that 2 F/As would work in F for Breakfast, and then 3 in Y and 1 in F for the pre arrival service.
This A321 was less than a month old and seemed fairly comfortable. As has been stated before, the First Class seats are not aligned across the aisle. Since there are 26 seats in F, it is a very large cabin, and therefore I think F/As hate working on this plane.
Following take off, drink and meal orders were taken. The choices were corn flakes, banana coconut pancakes, and a cheese omlette. I had tried the omlette before and found it to just be an enlarged coach omlette, so I decided on the pancakes. Being in row 6, I was very worried about ending up with the cereal, but luckily the pancakes were still left, although the omlette had run out. I think the people in row 7 were stuck with cereal and weren’t too happy about it. Hot towels were then distributed. They were real towels, but I have to say the Economy class towels on Singapore Airlines were better.
The movie preview was shown, but then it was announced it was the wrong preview. After much fussing with the entertainment system, the F/As concluded the only way to show the correct preview was to replay the safety video and the welcome aboard video. Also, when it was time to play the movie, it was a very big challenge to get the sound off the PA system and into the headsets, but it worked out after lots of fussing.
It’s interesting to note that I took this same flight back in February, also in F, when it was flown on a 757. So I was able to see how this service differed, although probably due to the crew and understaffing rather than the plane.
The breakfast was served all at once, not in courses as it had been in February. Also, there were no table linens, like in February. The pancakes were very tasty and were made with banana slices. The fruit bowl had canteloupe, strawberries, and blueberries. The croissants and muffins stated on the menu were not passed out. Instead, muffins were served on the tray with the omlette and cereal, but those ordering the pancakes missed out. The croissants were nowhere to be seen.
One drink refill was offered when the trays were cleared and then the crew went to help out in coach. Well after my tray was cleared, I peeked back into coach and they were only half way through the service. Given this flight was delayed two hours, the coach cabin was probably starving!!!
Two hours before landing (a bit too early), a snack was served. It was a greasy chicken breast with vermecelli, with a side of chocolate and a wrapped tasteless bread roll. I was not impressed with the snack. I ordered two drinks because I knew a refill would not be forthcoming. The FC F/A then cleared the trays and hid in the galley or back in coach til about 20 minutes before landing, when she cleared our cups. No refill was ever offered. Hot towels were distributed before landing.
Landing was very scenic. We flew past Mt. Rainer at the same altitude of its peak and landed in Seattle 2 hours late at 1:50pm. Unfortunately, due to headwinds, we were not able to make up any of the lost time due to the delay.
Anyway, after flying 35,000 miles and visiting 3 continents in the past month, I am now settling down and probably won’t be setting foot on a plane for a few months. A strange feeling!