thezipper
Oct 8, 01, 1:43 am
My flight out on Saturday 10/6 was an eerie experience. I was lucky enuff to score one of the $50 tickets to Akron (DCA-CAK) a few months back and had set it up for this weekend, a lull in my flying time. Over the past several days when DCA opened, I tried to get it changed flying from DCA vs IAD, but the reservation agents kept going on and on about city pairs and stuff like that, until one nice agent changed it for me. Angel is getting a nice letter from me!
I had an 8:45am flight, so left the house at 6:50am. Dropped the car off at my office and Metro'd the two stops to DCA. Took the shuttle to the terminal and went inside. With no Midway anymore and TWA operating from the AA terminal, the NWA terminal was empty! Took me 2 mins to get my ticket, upgraded to 3D, and proceded to security. First was the positive ID check, then all belongings into a bin and through the X-ray machine. I had to empty my pockets, take off my watch and go through the metal detector. I was "clean" but every pax is also hand wanted to check again. They even checked to make sure my belt buckle was real, and patted my shoes and legs down. Then my bag was "sniffed". I went into the Worldclub for about 1/2 hr, then to the gate. The National Guard in every state is assisting with airport security. I found out my brother has been activated and is currently doing this in Michigan. I will try and find out more from him as to their role and any timeline for full deployment.
At the gate, only one being used, every pax again had to go through the positive ID check before boarding. Got onboard and yes, there was a Sky Marshall riding with us. I won't go into specifics here, but Kokonutz and Worldbanker and a few others at the Lunch gathering were talking about the "How to Spot the Sky Marshall" game, and alot of the examples we suggested were very true! I counted the number of pax as they boarded and it was 36, this on a A320 that typically holds 148.
Pax boarded, FC was served pre-departure drinks, and the captain made an announcement. She talked a bit about the climb out of DC, we were doing a northern take-off which suprised me, and that we would make a hard turn upon leaving the runway to avoid the buildings in DC and that this is normal. She also mentioned that during the first 30 mins of the flight all pax are to remain seated, as a security precaution. This is a bit better than the BA flight I read about on FT.
Climb out was uneventful, seat belt sign went off and we could get up. Sky marshal never moved. No hot breakfasts anymore, no linens on anything other than dinner flights (shades of UA), only plastic silverware out of DC. Also from what the FA said, many flights that used to have B,L,D are going to "snack" flights...so better pack some food!
Landing in MSP was fine, but funny when the Sky Marshall didn't get up to get off the plane. Didn't get to fly back into DC today because there was a maintenance problem, and there is a curfew on how late flights can fly into DCA. We would have missed the deadline, so they put everyone on the IAD flight, so I lost my upgrade :-( and had to deal with a middle seat. Oh well.... welcome backkkkkkkkkkkkkk!
I had an 8:45am flight, so left the house at 6:50am. Dropped the car off at my office and Metro'd the two stops to DCA. Took the shuttle to the terminal and went inside. With no Midway anymore and TWA operating from the AA terminal, the NWA terminal was empty! Took me 2 mins to get my ticket, upgraded to 3D, and proceded to security. First was the positive ID check, then all belongings into a bin and through the X-ray machine. I had to empty my pockets, take off my watch and go through the metal detector. I was "clean" but every pax is also hand wanted to check again. They even checked to make sure my belt buckle was real, and patted my shoes and legs down. Then my bag was "sniffed". I went into the Worldclub for about 1/2 hr, then to the gate. The National Guard in every state is assisting with airport security. I found out my brother has been activated and is currently doing this in Michigan. I will try and find out more from him as to their role and any timeline for full deployment.
At the gate, only one being used, every pax again had to go through the positive ID check before boarding. Got onboard and yes, there was a Sky Marshall riding with us. I won't go into specifics here, but Kokonutz and Worldbanker and a few others at the Lunch gathering were talking about the "How to Spot the Sky Marshall" game, and alot of the examples we suggested were very true! I counted the number of pax as they boarded and it was 36, this on a A320 that typically holds 148.
Pax boarded, FC was served pre-departure drinks, and the captain made an announcement. She talked a bit about the climb out of DC, we were doing a northern take-off which suprised me, and that we would make a hard turn upon leaving the runway to avoid the buildings in DC and that this is normal. She also mentioned that during the first 30 mins of the flight all pax are to remain seated, as a security precaution. This is a bit better than the BA flight I read about on FT.
Climb out was uneventful, seat belt sign went off and we could get up. Sky marshal never moved. No hot breakfasts anymore, no linens on anything other than dinner flights (shades of UA), only plastic silverware out of DC. Also from what the FA said, many flights that used to have B,L,D are going to "snack" flights...so better pack some food!
Landing in MSP was fine, but funny when the Sky Marshall didn't get up to get off the plane. Didn't get to fly back into DC today because there was a maintenance problem, and there is a curfew on how late flights can fly into DCA. We would have missed the deadline, so they put everyone on the IAD flight, so I lost my upgrade :-( and had to deal with a middle seat. Oh well.... welcome backkkkkkkkkkkkkk!