Alaska inaugural SEA to Lihue with pix link
Oct 30, 2007, 9:41 pm
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Alaska inaugural SEA to Lihue with pix link
Alaska Inaugural Seattle to Lihue
Photo link:
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/w...8QbNHDNy5bqJWg
Hi all,
As promised, here is my full trip report on Alaska Airlines’ inaugural flight from Seattle to Lihue, Kauai, and in short, Alaska is great in throwing an inaugural parties and very generous with the gifts, but the in-flight service aspects continue to bother me a bit – not that the flight attendants are mean or whatsoever, but service seems to stop after the main meal service, and even economy class is offered a final beverage service with cookie, and first class gets nothing, and I don’t think F passengers have to aggressively hunt down a F/A for a beverage, if you understand what I mean. The new printed menus definitely add a refined touch, especially the enhanced meal options, but the pre-landing mixed nuts seem to become history on non-breakfast/morning flights. Here is the full report:
October 28, 2007
AS 853 SEA-LIH Lv1620 Arr1945 Boeing 737-800 with winglet N559AS “Lei”
I arrived at Seattle Airport three and a half hours prior to arrival and got a sense of the new “Airport of the Future” project, which is a cool idea and I photographed the whole sequence in my photo album, so you can get a look. Unfortunately, the kiosk continues to reject me these days and I had to use the classic MVP Gold/First Class line. With about five minutes wait, everything was all set, and I headed to the Board Room a bit.
Gate C9 was our gate this afternoon, and from the Board Room, I saw the inbound aircraft from Tucson arriving around 2:32pm, and our plane had plenty of times to prepare for the inaugural journey to Lihue, Kauai. With the inaugural nature, I headed to the gate early and the gate was decorated like a Hawaiian village with two huts – one at the buffet area and another at the gate itself. There is a central stage with two totem poles and a ribbon across it, and some music instruments were set up on the right side of the stage, and the gate was packed with many Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air employees as well as a full flight load of passengers. The buffet was set up with a tropical theme featuring tropical fruits like mango, papaya, and pineapple, and slices of sweet breads, as well as Pineapple juice and bottled Athena waters. All the gate agents wore Lei around the neck, and a Hawaiian gate agent did all the announcements in a mix of both the native Hawaiian language and English.
The celebrate began with a Hawaiian dance troupe and a Hawaiian chief saying a prayer or perhaps blessing, and then headed towards the plane after saying some words… and I assume it is a blessing ceremony to guarantee a safe journey. There are more Hawaiian dance performances as well as music performances. Boarding began at 3:47pm, and each of the passenger got a seashell necklace, and an inaugural beach bag was available at each seat, which contained two sun tan lotion samples, a Hilo Hattie flower mug, an Alaska Airlines’ BEACH baggage tag, and a beach mat with both Alaska airlines and Boeing signs. The flight went out full and the seat next to me was occupied by a third pilot, which basically stayed at that seat during the meal. Red Tape reported that 1C remained empty for the extra pilot. I could verify that it was indeed the fact, but not every Hawaiian flight will have a third pilot. It will only happen in a couple of flights, especially at early stage for training purposes as well as making sure everything was okay. It is an ETOPS operation after all. I am sure that will only happen in the beginning stage, as well as a limited number of flights, but for now, people traveling together should avoid 1A and 1C just to avoid last minute seat changes due to this extra pilot. The F/A actually made a brief announcement to all the first class passengers once the door was closed that this seat was for the third pilot and no seat changes.
Door was closed at 4:17pm and we pushed back at 4:25pm. We took off from R/W16L at 4:38pm and the takeoff roll was one of the longest that I could remember, and our flying time was five hours and forty-two minutes with a cruising attitude of 34,000feet first and then 36,000feet as we got lighter. In-flight service was fairly typical with Dig E players, which were sold out in coach cabin (20 more people wanted it), and then a complimentary Mai Tai or POG (Passion orange guava) juice for coach passenger first, and then first class passengers got the usual beverage with Macadamia nuts, and then we got a full three-course meal. Coach class got free BOB today with a choice of the two snack packs or the Kalbi beef bowls. Here is the full menu transcript:
Appetizer Salad
Crab Cakes with Ginger Aioli & Wedges of Butter Lettuce
Warm Hawaiian Sweet Roll
Choice of Entrées
Macadamia Nut Panko Crusted Mahi Mahi with Lemon Beurre Blanc
Jasmine Rice
Fresh Roasted Vegetables
Or
Island Style Mango Chicken
Portuguese Fried Rice
Fresh Roasted Vegetables
We feature Northwest and California Wines
Dessert
Ice Cream Sundae
Pineapple Topping, Chopped Macadamia Nuts, Toasted coconut, Whipped cream and a Cherry
Coffee & Liqueurs
FD100W C1
DH-41G (10/07)
The meal was pretty nice, and there was no Hawaiian sweet roll except the usual sourdough rustic sliced breads. The crab cake was nice and the vegetables were very fresh with the salad. Mahi Mahi ran out before it reached my row, as the F/A decided to take the entrée order from back to forward (I wish AS can be more consistent with the meal order taking order… do a FEOB thing like AA), and 1A got chicken (well Mahi Mahi ran out after reaching row 3), which was actually what I wanted anyway. The chicken breast was moist and tender and the mango sauce came with real mango and the sauce was not too overwhelming. The highlight was the ice cream sundae, which was superb and a good “enhancement”. The meal was completed three hours after we took off. Unfortunately the service seemed to stop at that point, and the F/As made little efforts to ask if you want more beverages. You have to ask and the strange thing was that even the F/A announced that they were starting a cookie and beverage service in economy, yet she made no effort to ask first class passengers if they want something else. The flight continued with random announcements, as the F/As were still not familiar with the agricultural form (and it was interested as I deplaned, the agricultural officer immediately pointed out to the F/As that passengers did not fill out their names in the cover page and various missing parts). Then the inaugural flight certificate as well as Hilo Hatties certificate was handed out. The Hilo Hatties certificate was for a free Alaska Airlines’ Hawaiian service t-shirt, but only free after you spend a minimum of $50. I will rather pay $15 for the t-shirt. Also the flight attendant suddenly passed out hot towels at 6:11pm, which were sixty-nine minutes prior to arrival. I thought she should actually do a final beverage at that point and then a hot towel service after the descent began.
The whole flight was over water and we began descent at 6:56pm Hawaiian local time. I finally saw some lights at 7:04pm when the pilots turned on the seat belt sign. We landed on R/W35 at 7:20pm and parked at gate 9 eight minutes later. There was more celebration at that end, as Hawaiian music was performed with Hula dancing performances, as well as lei was passed out and a free Kauai tourist gift mug, which had a Kauai baggage tag, postcard, Macadamia nut cookie, coffee beans, as well as some brochures. The gate was packed with travelers and I am sure Alaska is doing well in terms of passenger load, and I wish them luck.
In conclusion, I am sure the flight would get better once the F/As were familiar with the service procedures and location of various items. Y class got all the things promised by Alaska Airlines, and F class was okay except the last part of the flight.
Postscript:
I flew back to Seattle the next day from Honolulu on AS 852, which was once again flown by N558AS.
Followup on the meals on AS 852… there are pictures of the second entrée: Mahi Mahi… and no plate for dessert…
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/w...8QbNHDNy5bqJaQ
The DL agents were okay, but definitely lacked the special Alaska touch. I just hope that they won’t get too sloppy down the road or after the initial trial. Anyway, the flight went out 100% full and they were seeking one volunteer. The flight definitely did well and I hope the yield said the same. The return flight already saw some minor problems with the lack of printed menus and the catering forgot to load the dessert plates. Those are minor problems and will definitely be ironed out soon. But the first class F/A, Duane, was superb and I believe it was my second flight with him there, and I gave him high marks. He told me that he might be heading to Singapore next week to try out the A380 and I wish him luck. About the scheduling, Alaska can definitely use a second flight that might be conveniently timed to the first bank of East Coast arrival, and the return flight could be a redeye connecting to the early east coast bank. I am sure a Portland to Honolulu flight can work well too. Also the head winds were pretty unpredictable and strong on the Hawaiian flights, and perhaps AS can pad the schedules better.
Good luck to Alaska on the new Hawaiian service!
Carfield
Photo link:
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/w...8QbNHDNy5bqJWg
Hi all,
As promised, here is my full trip report on Alaska Airlines’ inaugural flight from Seattle to Lihue, Kauai, and in short, Alaska is great in throwing an inaugural parties and very generous with the gifts, but the in-flight service aspects continue to bother me a bit – not that the flight attendants are mean or whatsoever, but service seems to stop after the main meal service, and even economy class is offered a final beverage service with cookie, and first class gets nothing, and I don’t think F passengers have to aggressively hunt down a F/A for a beverage, if you understand what I mean. The new printed menus definitely add a refined touch, especially the enhanced meal options, but the pre-landing mixed nuts seem to become history on non-breakfast/morning flights. Here is the full report:
October 28, 2007
AS 853 SEA-LIH Lv1620 Arr1945 Boeing 737-800 with winglet N559AS “Lei”
I arrived at Seattle Airport three and a half hours prior to arrival and got a sense of the new “Airport of the Future” project, which is a cool idea and I photographed the whole sequence in my photo album, so you can get a look. Unfortunately, the kiosk continues to reject me these days and I had to use the classic MVP Gold/First Class line. With about five minutes wait, everything was all set, and I headed to the Board Room a bit.
Gate C9 was our gate this afternoon, and from the Board Room, I saw the inbound aircraft from Tucson arriving around 2:32pm, and our plane had plenty of times to prepare for the inaugural journey to Lihue, Kauai. With the inaugural nature, I headed to the gate early and the gate was decorated like a Hawaiian village with two huts – one at the buffet area and another at the gate itself. There is a central stage with two totem poles and a ribbon across it, and some music instruments were set up on the right side of the stage, and the gate was packed with many Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air employees as well as a full flight load of passengers. The buffet was set up with a tropical theme featuring tropical fruits like mango, papaya, and pineapple, and slices of sweet breads, as well as Pineapple juice and bottled Athena waters. All the gate agents wore Lei around the neck, and a Hawaiian gate agent did all the announcements in a mix of both the native Hawaiian language and English.
The celebrate began with a Hawaiian dance troupe and a Hawaiian chief saying a prayer or perhaps blessing, and then headed towards the plane after saying some words… and I assume it is a blessing ceremony to guarantee a safe journey. There are more Hawaiian dance performances as well as music performances. Boarding began at 3:47pm, and each of the passenger got a seashell necklace, and an inaugural beach bag was available at each seat, which contained two sun tan lotion samples, a Hilo Hattie flower mug, an Alaska Airlines’ BEACH baggage tag, and a beach mat with both Alaska airlines and Boeing signs. The flight went out full and the seat next to me was occupied by a third pilot, which basically stayed at that seat during the meal. Red Tape reported that 1C remained empty for the extra pilot. I could verify that it was indeed the fact, but not every Hawaiian flight will have a third pilot. It will only happen in a couple of flights, especially at early stage for training purposes as well as making sure everything was okay. It is an ETOPS operation after all. I am sure that will only happen in the beginning stage, as well as a limited number of flights, but for now, people traveling together should avoid 1A and 1C just to avoid last minute seat changes due to this extra pilot. The F/A actually made a brief announcement to all the first class passengers once the door was closed that this seat was for the third pilot and no seat changes.
Door was closed at 4:17pm and we pushed back at 4:25pm. We took off from R/W16L at 4:38pm and the takeoff roll was one of the longest that I could remember, and our flying time was five hours and forty-two minutes with a cruising attitude of 34,000feet first and then 36,000feet as we got lighter. In-flight service was fairly typical with Dig E players, which were sold out in coach cabin (20 more people wanted it), and then a complimentary Mai Tai or POG (Passion orange guava) juice for coach passenger first, and then first class passengers got the usual beverage with Macadamia nuts, and then we got a full three-course meal. Coach class got free BOB today with a choice of the two snack packs or the Kalbi beef bowls. Here is the full menu transcript:
Appetizer Salad
Crab Cakes with Ginger Aioli & Wedges of Butter Lettuce
Warm Hawaiian Sweet Roll
Choice of Entrées
Macadamia Nut Panko Crusted Mahi Mahi with Lemon Beurre Blanc
Jasmine Rice
Fresh Roasted Vegetables
Or
Island Style Mango Chicken
Portuguese Fried Rice
Fresh Roasted Vegetables
We feature Northwest and California Wines
Dessert
Ice Cream Sundae
Pineapple Topping, Chopped Macadamia Nuts, Toasted coconut, Whipped cream and a Cherry
Coffee & Liqueurs
FD100W C1
DH-41G (10/07)
The meal was pretty nice, and there was no Hawaiian sweet roll except the usual sourdough rustic sliced breads. The crab cake was nice and the vegetables were very fresh with the salad. Mahi Mahi ran out before it reached my row, as the F/A decided to take the entrée order from back to forward (I wish AS can be more consistent with the meal order taking order… do a FEOB thing like AA), and 1A got chicken (well Mahi Mahi ran out after reaching row 3), which was actually what I wanted anyway. The chicken breast was moist and tender and the mango sauce came with real mango and the sauce was not too overwhelming. The highlight was the ice cream sundae, which was superb and a good “enhancement”. The meal was completed three hours after we took off. Unfortunately the service seemed to stop at that point, and the F/As made little efforts to ask if you want more beverages. You have to ask and the strange thing was that even the F/A announced that they were starting a cookie and beverage service in economy, yet she made no effort to ask first class passengers if they want something else. The flight continued with random announcements, as the F/As were still not familiar with the agricultural form (and it was interested as I deplaned, the agricultural officer immediately pointed out to the F/As that passengers did not fill out their names in the cover page and various missing parts). Then the inaugural flight certificate as well as Hilo Hatties certificate was handed out. The Hilo Hatties certificate was for a free Alaska Airlines’ Hawaiian service t-shirt, but only free after you spend a minimum of $50. I will rather pay $15 for the t-shirt. Also the flight attendant suddenly passed out hot towels at 6:11pm, which were sixty-nine minutes prior to arrival. I thought she should actually do a final beverage at that point and then a hot towel service after the descent began.
The whole flight was over water and we began descent at 6:56pm Hawaiian local time. I finally saw some lights at 7:04pm when the pilots turned on the seat belt sign. We landed on R/W35 at 7:20pm and parked at gate 9 eight minutes later. There was more celebration at that end, as Hawaiian music was performed with Hula dancing performances, as well as lei was passed out and a free Kauai tourist gift mug, which had a Kauai baggage tag, postcard, Macadamia nut cookie, coffee beans, as well as some brochures. The gate was packed with travelers and I am sure Alaska is doing well in terms of passenger load, and I wish them luck.
In conclusion, I am sure the flight would get better once the F/As were familiar with the service procedures and location of various items. Y class got all the things promised by Alaska Airlines, and F class was okay except the last part of the flight.
Postscript:
I flew back to Seattle the next day from Honolulu on AS 852, which was once again flown by N558AS.
Followup on the meals on AS 852… there are pictures of the second entrée: Mahi Mahi… and no plate for dessert…
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/w...8QbNHDNy5bqJaQ
The DL agents were okay, but definitely lacked the special Alaska touch. I just hope that they won’t get too sloppy down the road or after the initial trial. Anyway, the flight went out 100% full and they were seeking one volunteer. The flight definitely did well and I hope the yield said the same. The return flight already saw some minor problems with the lack of printed menus and the catering forgot to load the dessert plates. Those are minor problems and will definitely be ironed out soon. But the first class F/A, Duane, was superb and I believe it was my second flight with him there, and I gave him high marks. He told me that he might be heading to Singapore next week to try out the A380 and I wish him luck. About the scheduling, Alaska can definitely use a second flight that might be conveniently timed to the first bank of East Coast arrival, and the return flight could be a redeye connecting to the early east coast bank. I am sure a Portland to Honolulu flight can work well too. Also the head winds were pretty unpredictable and strong on the Hawaiian flights, and perhaps AS can pad the schedules better.
Good luck to Alaska on the new Hawaiian service!
Carfield
