warakorn

Well, I would like to publish my trip report, flying United International Business Class from Houston, Texas to Amsterdam, Netherlands.
You may call the Business Class either BusinessFirst or Polaris Business. Since it is only a marketing name, the "naming" should not matter much.

At departure in Houston were shown an on-time arrival into Amsterdam Schiphol. However, due to an unruly passenger, the captain made a last-minute decision to abandon the transatlantic crossing and divert back to Newark.
At the captain's decision point were almost reaching the border between the US and Canada.




The United App showed that everything was allright, we even shooting for an early arrival:





Only a couple of hours later that same flight was assigned a different destination (Old: Amsterdam -> New: Newark):





Here are some meta info about the flight:

Flight: United Airlines UA 20
Departure from: Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Terminal E, IAH, Texas
Take off from: Runway 15L, length 3,658 m / 12,002 ft
Arrival into: Newark Liberty International Airport, EWR, Terminal C, New Jersey
Landing on: Runway 4R, length 3,048 m / 10,000 ft
Original destination: Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, Netherlands
Distance: 1,400 miles / 2,253 km
Duration: 4 hours and 30 minutes
Travel Class: International Polaris Business (BusinessFirst)
Lounges at IAH: United Club Terminal E
Passenger load: approx. 80%
Seat: 4A
Pitch: 78 inches
Width: 23 inches
Plane: Boeing 777-200ER
Registration: N57016
Tail No: #3016
Delivered to Continental Airlines: May 2000
Engines: 2 x General Electric GE90-92B
Take-Off Thrust: 91,999 lbf each





After some good days down with lots of heat and thunderstorms in Texas, it's time to go back to Europe:





Although I hate driving in the EU, the US (and Canada) is the only country where I enjoy driving:
Our Dodge rental car:





At Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport, we've passed TSA at the International Terminal D:





Airside: Lufthansa German Airlines Airbus A380-800 to Frankfurt:





Another beauty making its way to Amsterdam Schiphol:





Walking over to United Terminal E:





Our United flight to Amsterdam at the departure board:





United Club at Terminal E (I've read it will be closed soon due to refurbishment):





Food spread is allright (it could be worse for an US-based lounge):







I've decided to take a shower before the flight:





Near the boarding gate for our flight to Amsterdam - Gate E20:







United Boeing 777-200ER (ex-Continental Airlines bird); N57016 will fly us across the pond tonight:





United Economy cabin:





United BusinessFirst cabin (now rebranded as Polaris Business) in the ex-Continental Boeing 777-200ER;
Pitch is 78 inches and width is 23 inches; Seat 4A will be mine for tonight:









Wingview from the ground:







Taxiing towards Houston Runway 15L:





This mighty General Electric GE90-92B engine, which each can produce a TOGA take off thrust up to 91,999 lbf:

Taking off from Runway 15L towards the south:







Making an immediate 220 degree turn:







Downtown Houston:





Trekking up towards the Northeast (the sun is hitting my windows):





Wingview back from Economy (while taking this shot, I was noticing that the three exit row seats were totally empty, which is strange; Moreover,
two of the seats were wet; only later into the flight I got an explanation for that):





United Dinner Service in International Business Class:





Appetizer:





Salad:





Main course (some pork'ish stuff):





Icecream (I've declined the cheese, because I felt stuffed and uncomfortable. Usually I don't drink alcohol, because I always feel sick. However, I forgot it and regretted it after only 2 beers:





The sun is setting in the west:





Engine and wing view at sunset:















Well, over Maine the destination changed from AMS to EWR:







Captain and purser explained to us that we'll be diverting to Newark, New Jersey:

We made a 180 degree turn near Bangor, Maine and starting trekking towards Newark:





But it's still some way to go to EWR:









Approaching Newark Runway 4R (it's windy and rainy):





Welcome back to the United States:





Attaching to a gate at Newark Terminal C:









We were standing here for almost 2.5 hours:




The flight crew was contemplating whether we could make it to Amsterdam, before the crew timing gets illegal.
A reserve captain was making lots of phone calls with company.
Delta over at JFK calculated a flight time of 6 hours and 58 minutes for tonight. Would that be ok to try to do the transatlantic crossing?



Later on the crew decided to try the crossing tonight, citing the fact that the Polar Jetstream is aligned perfectly west-to-east between the Northeast and Europe.


Talking about "legal". I was having some questions whether we would have clear US immigration, if the flight gets cancelled at the end.
Well, I've noticed that a lot of people from United (cabin crew, UA EWR management folks and some people without any uniform, probably UA standby travellers) were constantly entering and exiting the airplane.
So I don't think they had to pass US immigration.





The unruly passenger was removed by the Port Authority police approx. 30 minutes, after we arrived at the gate. Since the situation unfolded in Economy, I cannot tell whether any sort of violence or removal by force happened there. The cabin crew did not want to talk about it. However, it transpired that a lady passenger got abusive with the cabin crew during cabin service while in flight. That would explain the wet and empty exit rows seats in the back.

Three officers of the Port Authority Police were escorting the female passenger out. Of course, I did not take any photos. The passenger, however, appeared calm.

About 30 minutes after the removal, the police and the passenger appeared downstairs at the police cars. Maybe the passenger had to go through immigration, I am not sure. They drove off shortly after.











The details of my continueing journey to Amsterdam Schiphol will be published, soon.

Here is again the video my journey:








Enjoy!




All my trip reports on FT:

Airbus:

Iberia Airbus A340-600 London - Madrid in Y

Air Caraibes Airbus A350-900 Guadeloupe - Paris in Y

Empty Finnair Airbus A350-900 Helsinki - London Heathrow in Y+ and AY Lounge Sauna

Finnair Airbus A350-900 Helsinki - Shanghai in Y+

Finnair Airbus A350-900 Hong Kong - Helsinki in Y+

Singapore Airlines Airbus A380-800 Singapore - New Delhi in Upper Deck Y

British Airways Airbus A380-800 Singapore - London Heathrow in Y



Boeing:

Asiana Boeing 747-400 Combi Tokyo - Seoul in F

Air Canada Rouge Boeing 767-300ER Montreal - Cancun in Y+

Air Canada Rouge Boeing 767-300ER Cancun - Toronto in Y

United Boeing 777-200ER Houston - Newark - Amsterdam in C

United Boeing 777-200ER Amsterdam - Houston in Y+

United Boeing 777-200ER Singapore - Hongkong in C

British Airways Boeing 777-300ER London - Shanghai in Y

ANA Boeing 777-300ER Singapore - Tokyo in C

Swiss Boeing 777-300ER Zurich - Hong Kong in Y

Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-300ER Hong Kong - Singapore in Y

TUI Airlines Nederland Boeing 787-8 Sint Maarten - Curacao in P

TUI Airlines Nederland Boeing 787-8 Curacao - Amsterdam in P

Air Canada Boeing 787-8 Toronto - London in Y

ANA Boeing 787-8 Shanghai Pudong - Tokyo Narita in C

United Boeing 787-9 Los Angeles - Houston in C



Trains:

CFR Calatori Bucharest - Istanbul Halkali in Sleeper Car

EuroNight Jan Kiepura Cologne - Warsaw in Sleeper Cabin

China High Speed Rail Shanghai - Xiamen in F

Caledonian Sleeper Train Inverness - London Euston in Sleeper Cabin

French TGV High Speed Train: Barcelona - Paris in F

China High Speed Rail Guangzhou - Shanghai Hongqiao in Y

Swiss Railways Lötschberg Mountain Line Bern - Brig in F

Ukraine Railways Kiev - Budapest in Sleeper Cabin

Virgin Trains West Coast London - Glasgow in F



Lounges:

Five Star Alliance Lounges: LHR

Four OneWorld Lounges: HKG

TBIT Star Alliance Lounge: LAX



Enjoy!