FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - American Airlines Flagship Suites First Class Transcontinental, MIA-LAX-MIA
Old Sep 25, 2014 | 6:43 pm
  #5  
LPDAL
 
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Programs: IAMAW Local 368/HAL 2 Star Mariner
Posts: 740
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LOS ANGELES INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA ( IATA: LAX , ICAO: KLAX )
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At Los Angeles International Airport, the remote terminals (also known as the "West Gates" in layman's terms) is a group of aircraft parking areas located on the far west region of the airfield. These areas have not only hardstands (just a basic outdoor aircraft parking spot that requires an airstair for passengers to deplane), but also actual mini-terminal buildings with their own jetways, used mostly by international carriers as an aircraft overflow area, as well as MQ (American Eagle / Envoy Air, American Airlines' regional arm). On the day of this flight, a new terminal was under construction near Terminal 4, leaving no suitable gates for our gigantic 777-223ER. Therefore, we had to park in one of the remote terminals and take a bus to T4.

The interior of the remote terminal I deplaned into was quite basic. A single jetway led to a large room containing a zig-zag ramp (no stairs, ramps to allow handicapped passengers to board, cutting down on the costs of elevators) leading into an outside bus waiting area. The Business Class F/A's closed both curtains leading into the J-class cabin and physically stood in front of the closed entryways while the sixteen Flagship First Class Suites passengers, including me, deplaned.

Inside the gangway was a single female AA ramper clad in a yellow high-visibility vest stamped with "American REMOTE" markings, who led us to a lineup of blue Servisair (ground handling company / contractor /supplier) buses. I was one of the first passengers aboard the first (there were only two buses in the lineup) bus, taking a seat on the raised upper level in the back of the vehicle. I had a small seating debacle as I walked back, not sure if I should have taken a seat on the left or right side of the bus, for the best views of the aircraft parked at the various terminals. I ended up sitting on the side opposite the terminals, but I still managed to capture some fun images of aircraft taxiing by and taking off from the nearby runway.



Deplaning up into the jetway--notice the female American Airlines ramp agent's vest.


The very spartan "terminal" that gate 214 is attached to. As you can probably see, I was one of the first people off the plane.


Bye N780AN! Took this picture just as I stepped outside of the RT before stepping back into a bus.


The Air Tahiti Nui A343 and a jetway designed to fit an A380's upper deck.


Boarding the Servisair bus.


Really packed to the gills with passengers from our flight!

As we drove away from the "214 Gate Building" only then did I notice the remaining GINORMOUS line of passengers. Only two buses from the Servisair Corportation were present at the waiting area when the waiting area when the F-class passengers reached it. The AA / MQ ground agents attempted to jam as many people as possible into the NABI Forty-footer bus I was riding out, with all the seats onboard occupied, and nearly all of the metal handrails clutched by both F-and-J-Class passengers. Our passenger load factor on this flight was 100%, with all 245 passenger seats full.

Bus number one left with about 50-60 passengers onboard including me, meaning that the two buses that took the first 120 passengers to the terminal would have to return to remote Terminal 214 to pick up the second half of pax. This could possibly lead to missed connections, considering the length of the bus ride to the terminal, then the amount of time required to get back to Gate 214, then FINALLY the time to return to T4 where connections to AA and other airlines could be made. I barely avoided this, even though I was on the first bus, by the skin of my teeth almost a half hour later, read on....


UA A320 N449UA taxiing alongside us.


And a DL A320 taking off.


"Attention all passengers in the gate area, due to regional pilots demanding higher wages and then subsequently striking, we have decided to replace them with city bus drivers, who are much cheaper sources of labor. Please add 10 hours onto your expected arrival time if you are traveling with us today."


A321T, perhaps?



Entering Terminal Four at Los Angeles International Airport.


Entering the Admiral's Club, which houses the American Airlines Flagship First Class lounge.

After I departed from the bus and headed up through a stairway attached to a gate, I fast-walked walked through LAX's Terminal 4 to the American Airlines Flagship First Class Suites Lounge, which is located within a normal Admiral's Club in LAX T4. As I walked into the lounge, the normal Admiral's Club agent recognized me by name, and handed me a hotel-style key card. At the top of the stairs was an opaque glass sliding WALL (Classy!) unlocked by a scanner near the entryway. After entering, a second agent beckoned me over and reclaimed my First Class lounge key, checking my PNR and confirming my Flagship First Class lounge access.


Entering the first floor of the club.


The key card that allows one access into the Flagship First Class Suites lounge.


Sliding glass wall entrance into the Flagship Suites First Class lounge in Terminal 4 at Los Angeles International Airport.


Scanning my key card to get into the First Class lounge--probably the coolest thing I've seen in an airport (and I've been all over the world) in a LONG time.


Main thoroughfare seating area of the lounge.


Large drink cooler at the end of the buffet, with even MORE drinks under the buffet itself.




REAL FOOD IN AN AIRLINE CLUB!!! Sandwiches, salad, fruit salad, soups, crackers, granola bars, a full bar at the end, and drink coolers full of every beverage you can imagine! I won't be able to have any of it, though...


More of the seating area.

I asked out of pure curiosity when my LAX-MIA flight was boarding. The lounge drAAgon clacked a few strokes out on her keyboard, when suddenly she looked up at me with a very worried and depressed look, quipping, "Mr. McCormack, your flight to Miami started boarding nearly thirty minutes ago and will be closing in less than three minutes!" WHAT? I barely managed to get out a hoarse-voiced, "Do I have enough time to take a few pictures and run?" She replies, "Yes, but only a few! Please hurry sir!"

With that, I run FULL SPEED into the First Class seating area / buffet and snapped exactly SIX pictures (the ones above these paragraphs), and flew back down the stairs almost tripping and faceplanting, but saving myself just in time to sprint down the length of T4. Halfway through my impromptu Terminal 4 rush I hear the infamous "American Airlines is paging passenger Colby McCormack, Mr. McCormack, please proceed to Gate 48B for IMMEDIATE BOARDING, I repeat, American Airlines is paging passenger Colby McCormack for IMMEDIATE BOARDING, Mr. McCormack, please board IMMEDIATELY at Gate 48B or your seat will be canceled!"


YOUR FLIGHT IS ABOUT TO LEAVE IN ONE MINUTE THIRTY SECONDS! RUN!

Just as the female gate agent concludes her spiel, I land from my "flight" across the terminal (no puns intended, again) right at forty eight bravo, and dashed up to the desk. Maybe due to the agents viewing my potentially-missed-flight-induced sprint to the desk, or my disheveled appearance, they instantly recognized me. "Ah, Mister McCormack, you arrived with ten seconds to spare. We were going over to close the jetway door, but we saw a man running across the terminal, so we'd figure we'd keep it open for thirty seconds longer." Thanking the Lord God for this miracle, they attempt to scan my boarding pass, but are having a bit of trouble getting the system to accept my ticket. They managed to scan it sucessfully after swiping it for the third time across the crimson laser.

I walked down the jetway with only a FEW SECONDS to spare, and even ran down the interior of the jetway, not stopping until I was aboard N751AN, the second 777-223ER for today and thankfully a second new 777 reg for my logbook.


Barely making it to Gate 48-Bravo for American Airlines Flight 252 back to MIA, doing LAX-MIA.
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