Hi all,

I am finally returning to the sky and May and June will be my busy travel months. This month, I will begin with my long awaited Hawaii trip. Attending a wedding is the main purpose and I am heading to Maui. This trip is divided into two sections – CO from EWR to OAK, and then AQ from OAK to OGG.

May 9, 2003
CO 51 EWR-IAH Lv1655 Arr1943
Boeing 777-200ER N78004
Well, New York Penn station was extremely busy due to the Mother Day weekend, and I caught the 3:08pm train to Newark Penn Station. Check in was fine and I used the machine as usual and checked in one bag. F class line was relatively quiet. Then I proceeded to gate 136. I did not stop by the PC, as I was a bit late and gate 136 was a bit further away. Boarding began at 4:17pm and everyone rushed to the gate, despite the stern warning from the gate agent and the actual denial of boarding. Well, I think CO should consider having two lines for widebody boarding – one F/J line and one Y line. It is just so much easier. The flight attendants were all international ones, as reflected by their tags and their excellent service. Pre-takeoff beverage was immediately offered – it was nice to get a full beverage selection these days and the F/As actually came by with refills. Great job, Continental! Then bad news arrived as the clock approached 4:55pm, as the pilot announced that we were going to push back shortly and proceeded to a remote gate area. Due to weather system in the East Coast and a computer glitch at the newly moved ATC center at Newark (they just moved in last week), all departures were halted. That was problem of course. Some passengers were able to deplane, if they wished to. I guess everyone stayed except five passengers heading to Sao Paulo. So much with improved security, only international bags were removed. If domestic passengers choose to fly tomorrow, their bags will remain on board, as looking for bags may take an hour and thirty minutes. Well, the F/A showed us a clip of Seinfeld and continued the beverage service and passed out a bag of mixed nuts each. For some good reasons, we were able to jump ahead of lines (maybe due to many connecting passengers onboard, as you may or may not know, CO’s last back of flights all depart around 9pm, including my Oakland flight. We took off at 6:02pm, which was really good. The pilot told us that this kind of delay can extend up to an additional hour of wait. R/W22R for those who care… I saw an old SAS livery Boeing 767 waiting to push back, and the brand new A330 heading for the early departure to Copenhagen.

Flying time was three hours and eleven minutes and our cruising attitude was 31,000ft. Dinner was served immediately after takeoff. Of course, PTV was started immediately. Headsets were passed out free in coach today. The crews were very apologetic and kept us up to date on our progress – I am impressed. Dinner was served in three courses, which began with a green salad (basically chopped Romaine lettuce, corns, wonton strips, chopped sun-dried tomatoes, and accompanied by Caesar dressing). Then there was a choice of main – Tricolor penne pasta with marinara sauce, grilled chicken strips, and hot roll, or a nice Philadelphia Cheese steak sandwich with a potato salad on the side. Finally, there was the dessert – Turtle cheesecake (walnut, caramel and chocolate cover). It was a nice dinner. Soon we were on our descent to Houston. We landed on Runway 29 at 8:13pm Houston time (IAH is an hour behind from EWR). We immediately parked at gate 16. I did not need to run, although my connection gate was at 44, instead of 21 as originally assigned.

CO 1807 IAH-OAK Lv2050 Arr2252
Boeing 737-900 N72405
3E was my seat assignment this evening. I went to the gate, and as expected, boarding had already begun. There was still a line of people, so I sat a bit. Once again, a full pre-takeoff beverage service was offered and my garment bag was immediately hung at the closet. No need to ask! We pushed back five minutes later than ETD, and took off from Runway 15R at 9:10pm. Flying time was expected to be three hours and forty-six minutes and we climbed to 31,000ft. Sky Map was available but movies and Continental Vision occupies the screen most of the times.

Beverage service only for Y, and F class got the infamous snack plate. Compared to the midnight redeye snack plate, it had a little bit more content – three slices of grilled chicken, 2 slices of cucumber, 2 slices of so-called smoked salmon (more like smoked cooked salmon), the mandatory cranberry jello, and a large serving of potato salad. A nice warmed French roll and a pecan delight were also placed in the tray. “Catch Me if You Can” was shown this evening, instead of “About Schmidt” – no big deal! Followed by Chapin short films and the obligatory Continental Vision… The flight attendants were quite nice this evening and my glasses were never left empty. There are some CO F/As, who are more interested in collecting glasses rather than refilling beverage. Descent soon began at 12:28am CST, and it was a nice evening at the bay area. At 10:58pm PST, we landed on Runway 29 and headed to the terminal immediately. Gate 10 is our gate this evening and we had a little trouble, as we were parked at the wrong line at first. Then we required the tug to pull us in closer. (I personally think that the ground crew does not realize that it is a Boeing 737-700/800, rather than –900.) Anyhow, we deplaned soon and the bags came out after 15 minutes. When I got my bag, I realized that my CO priority bag tag was ripped. Well, I guess I will request another one. Then I headed to Hilton Oakland airport – my comment is “it is okay, but can be better.” I have yet to find a nice airport hotel near Oakland airport.

May 10, 2003
AQ 441 OAK-HNL Lv0910 Arr1126
Boeing 737-700 N748AL “Hilo”
Finally this day had arrived. After staying up for a week, I finally got to relax a bit and boarded an airline that I dreamt of flying. The check in was extremely crowded, due to the simultaneous departures of three flights and four flights next month, but first class line was empty. All the agents were very friendly and said the Hawaiian greetings to each passenger. The agent immediately printed out my boarding passes and entered my Aloha Pass number. She was professional and yet friendly – I have not seen that kind of attitude unless I am flying CX. The flight was pretty full this morning – good sign for the economy! We left with 11F and 100Y. I went to the gate immediately and the security line was okay. The gate area was a mad house as expected, due to a number of AQ and WN flights. Our aircraft was parked at gate 11 this morning, with her sister plane, N740AL “Kona,” parked next to our plane. Boarding began at 8:47am and I was among the first couple passengers on board. The F class cabin had leather seats and I immediately settled at 2C. The bulkhead seats seem to be the best in house with tremendous legroom. The F/A immediately passed out a tray of orange juice, water, or Mai Tai. It is too early for Mai Tai and I took an OJ. A pillow and a blanket were already placed at each F class seat. There were two F/As serving first class, which was highly unusual these days. Due to some weight and balance issues and problems with passenger counts, we did not push back till 9:21am. The F/A kept us posted a number of times. After a short while, we headed towards R/W29 and roared off the runway at 9:29pm. It was a beautiful day at the Bay area again and we flew past by downtown San Francisco in a really close proximity. I can see the Trans American building closely. It was a beautiful start for the trip. Flying time this morning was five hours and twenty-two minutes, and climbed up to 36,000ft.

The cabin service began immediately, although it was done in a leisurely manner and was a daytime flight. An Aloha and Hawaiian promotion video was first shown to put you on the mood for this Hawaiian bound flight. Seat belt sign was turned off at 9:55am, and beverage and entrée was taken then. Of course, a printed menu was passed out after safety demo, along with headsets. The first round of hot towels first passed out at 10am, followed by a bowl of macadamia nuts and a glass of guava juice for myself. Beverage order was refilled before fresh linen was placed on my table, just like good old premium service. A tray with a large plate of salad, a bread plate and a wine glass was then passed out. The choices of rolls include plain, sourdough or wheat soft rolls. Here is the menu transcript.

TROPICAL TENDINGS
Tomato and Sweet Onion Salad
Balsamic Vinegar
A beautiful salad with large chunks of red and yellow tomatoes, accompanied by onions and large bread croutons on top of fresh Romaine lettuces. It is pretty good, but I like to have some meat or fish to accompany the dish.

PARADISE FOUND
Choice of One:
Meatloaf on Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes
With Button Mushroom Sauce and Portuguese Sausage Relish
Or
Salmon BLT
Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato with Basil Pesto Vinaigrette
An excellent entrée choice – 2 thin slices of pan-fried salmon fillet with bacon strips, slices of tomato, and spinach… The vinaigrette was a bit sour, but the meal was great.

ISLAND SUNSET
A Special Delightful Dessert
What is better than a hot fudge sundae with toasted macadamia nut chunks, whipped cream, hot fudge sauce and cherry.

For economy class, the entrée choices are Hoisin (Oyster sauce in Chinese) Ribs with mashed potatoes and Oyster chicken with fried rice – very Hawaiian selection.

After the meal was served, tea and coffee and a try of liqueurs were offered. Then bottles of Danon water were passed out during mid-flight. After dinner, the movie, “the Hours,” was shown – excellent movie with three of the best actresses in the Hollywood, but I chose not to see it – it is a bit depressing to watch. After the movie was shown, lights were turned on and fresh cookies were passed out with glasses of milk. Then an agricultural video was shown, followed by agricultural forms passing out to passengers. Then an excellent video describing and introducing Boeing 737-700s was shown. Shortly before descent began, another round of hot towel was passed out. Wow! I was surprised especially most US airlines have cut the second hot towel service. After passing the Diamond, Waikiki Beach and various landmarks, we turned around and landed on R/W8L at 11:51am Hawaiian Standard Time. We taxied towards gate 52 and this aircraft was continuing to Burbank and Las Vegas this afternoon. It was a wonderful flight and the service was one of the best in this airline business. Well, my only minor complain was the lack of fresh pillows and blankets. Other than that, it was a perfect way to start a vacation. Then I headed to Suite 737 waiting for my connection flight.

The lounge was basic but there was a non-alcoholic beverage bars with a juice machine, soft drink machine, and a coffee station. Snacks will be nice.

AQ 210 HNL-OGG Lv1300 Arr1335
Boeing 737-200 Advanced N807AL
Nothing much to tell you about intra-Hawaiian flight! It was open seating at the economy cabin and there was actually a separate F class section with four abreast seating. It was better than I think. Boarding began seventeen minutes prior and door was closed four minutes early. The F/As were friendly and familiar with the routine. Beverage order was taken before takeoff, and one of my neighbors asked if food was served. (I guess they were new to Hawaii). We took off from R/W8L at 1:11pm and the flight was short twenty minutes one.

Aloha’s oshintori “towelette” service began this short flight – similar to what Y passengers got on the transpacific service. Then plastic cup of beverages were passed out – choice of fruit punch (Guava-Passionfruit-Orange), soft drinks and limited alcoholic beverages. It was served within five minutes. Then the F/As went to Y class cabin and served beverages, like bottles of juices, cups of soft drinks, and then collected trash. The F/As introduced the scenes after takeoff. Descent began at 1:22pm, and then we landed on R/W02 at 1:32pm. We were at gate 15 a few minutes later. Bags came out soon, but all my tags were ripped off (including AQ’s priority tags). I was just thankful that my bag made it to OGG.

Carfield

Part II will come tomorrow!