November 3, 2018
Alaska Airlines First Class ~ 737-900 ~ Fairbanks, AK to Seattle, WA ~ 620p – 1055p ~ Dinner
It’s never easy leaving Alaska. This place is so stunningly beautiful and culturally comfortable for me that I’m almost looking forward to that time when I – like 95% of my fellow Alaskans – actually stick around through most of the year. Someday I’ll make just four or five trips Outside per year, and that’ll be a good thing.
That time has not yet arrived however and so it was that I threw my bag in the back of my neighbor’s waiting Subaru Forester and made my way out to Fairbanks International Airport for the 13th time this year. FAI is not a large airport and I typically arrive about 45 minutes prior to the departure of my flight. While this would be cutting it a bit too close at most larger airports, at FAI I usually arrive to a wide open security check point.
Today was downright dreamlike. Nobody was in line or being scanned at the security checkpoint. A cadre of six blue-shirted TSA agents was standing around, with seemingly nothing better to do than wait for me. I was reminded of the old Maytag washing machine ads featuring a bored Maytag repairman just waiting for a Maytag appliance to break down.
Speaking of Maytag, how many of you can name the two airlines Bud Maytag once owned? One was regional, the other a trunk carrier.
Sitting at the gate this evening was Alaska’s 737-900ER registered N277AK. Most people never note the registration number of the aircraft they fly on, but as one who logs his flights and has long included data such as the aircraft registration, some interesting numbers begin to emerge. For example, this is my 1,599th flight on Alaska Airlines. Of those 1599 flights, 281 have come aboard 737-900s. Some of you may recall that Alaska was the launch customer for the -900 way back in the summer of 2001. Since then, its fleet of -900s has grown to 86 aircraft, of which I have flown upon 63. Collect them all, I say!
Flight time was announced at 3 hours and 10 minutes. There was still a lingering glow from the remnants of this evening’s pretty sunset as we climbed away from Fairbanks. We had taken off to the north on Runway 1L and our climb out took us right over Airport Way and the city lights on either side of it. I briefly wished I had taken a window seat, but only briefly. All too soon we left the lights of the city behind and sped out over the dark vastness of the eastern Alaska frontier.
Service started 25 minutes out with drink and dinner orders. Martin – our Flight Attendant – was as good as they come at Alaska Airlines, and that’s saying something. He truly was superb and did a marvelous job of looking after us throughout the flight. I requested a Bloody Mary to start and five minutes later was savoring its delicious tang (aided with a packet of my own Tabasco Sauce) along with a ramekin of warm mixed nuts.
Following its acquisition of Virgin America, Alaska instituted some substantial improvements to its First Class catering. Where Alaska’s flights from Fairbanks and Anchorage to Seattle once offered only one meal option, they now offer two. I’ve seen a few of these catering enhancements come and go over the years. They often last for three or four months before the bean counters alert management to the cost and the enhancements slowly get trimmed or go away altogether. Menu cards made a brief appearance back in April but they didn’t last long. Thankfully the enhanced catering is still being offered though. Tonight’s offerings were as follows:
Persian Spiced Chicken Breast
Accented with a flavorful yogurt sauce and accompanied by roasted yams and saffron rice with raisins and onions
Or
Butternut Squash Risotto Cakes
Topped with smoked tomato cream sauce and roasted root vegetables
I’ve been served both of these meals over the past month and I found them both quite tasty. However, I must admit to a bit of disappointment over seeing them again this month. While it’s true that the Fairbanks – Seattle run was catered differently last month, many of us continue on beyond Seattle and these two options were commonly offered all over the system. It’d be nice if Alaska rolled out completely different meals on back to back months so we’d be able to enjoy a bit more variety. When I worked at Frontier Airlines back in the 1970s we had four different meal cycles, changed each week. That was then, though. These days most airlines rotate their menus monthly. I just think it’d be nice if instead of taking the same four sets of entrees from month to month, we might get a completely different set of four the next month. Then we could go back to the first set, etc.
But enough whining! These are First Class problems and I doubt I’ll garner much sympathy from any of you over these sorts of trivialities. I requested a plate of the
Persian Spiced Chicken and found it to be absolutely delicious – even if it was the third time I’ve had it over the past three weeks.
Persian Spiced Chicken Breast
Chocolate Brownie Dessert
After the plates were cleared off, I set to work on this trip report. Ideally, I’d like to get these published in a more timely fashion than my last one which was submitted almost six months after the fact. With seatmate effectively engrossed in a movie on his tablet, I had no extraneous distractions to hold me back and so managed to get a significant portion of the opening preamble fleshed out. I’ll go back over it three or four times in the next few weeks and then do a final edit before finally submitting this report for your approval.
Time flies when you’re having fun – that’s right, I actually enjoy working on these trip reports most of the time – and suddenly the flight attendants were in the aisles, clearing off the last of the service items and admonishing us to unplug our devices and return our seatbacks to the full upright position.
Some flights are too short, and this was one of them. Martin and his crew did a great job throughout the flight, providing ample evidence as to why Alaska Airlines has won JD Powers’ award for Highest in Customer Satisfaction amongst traditional carriers for the past eleven years in a row.
As for me – it’s all good. This trip and this trip report are off to a great start!
November 4, 2018
Alaska Airlines First Class ~ A321-200N ~ Seattle, WA to Los Angeles, CA ~ 850a–1145a ~ Breakfast
I was originally booked on the 6:00am departure down to LA, but was able to reconfirm on the 8:50am flight. When you factor in that daylight savings time had us roll our clocks back an hour last night, this was like a 9:50am departure. Woohoo! However, when you factor in the delay caused by what turned out to be unfounded concerns from the ramp agents of possible damage to the nose wheel exacerbated by the extra time it took to finally get the required paperwork signed off, it was 10:15am PST by the time we finally took to the air.
The aircraft operating today’s flight was N926VA, a six month old Airbus A321Neo equipped with the new LEAP engines. This was my first flight on a NEO variant of Airbus’ single aisle family and it was immediately apparent how much quieter the engines were both on take-off and inflight. It was noticeably nicer than your average everyday A321. Then again, I was sitting up in row 2, considerably forward of the engines but hey – this ain’t my first time flying First Class on an Airbus. Really, ambient noise from the engines was significantly diminished.
Also worthy of note was the distinctive special livery applied to this aircraft. This was the “More To Love” livery, an attractive merging of colors representing the merging of Virgin America and Alaska. The front third of the airplane is a deep ruby red which becomes magenta then purple and finally dark blue representing Alaska Airlines. Here’s a picture I took from the Alaska Lounge as the aircraft awaited boarding at gate D1…
Alaska’s “More To Love” A321NEO
Flight time down to LA was two hours and breakfast would be served enroute. This morning’s options were
Swiss Cheese, Leek and Potato Frittata
Served with bacon
Or
Breakfast Protein Plate
I’ve only ever been served the mid-afternoon Protein Plate so I don’t know what exactly is included in the breakfast version. I do know that I didn’t much care for the afternoon version and honestly, the name alone just doesn’t sound very appealing to me. I want real food with names that make sense to me – not some abstract collection of foodstuffs defined by a name that only a gym rat could appreciate.
As you might imagine, I ordered the Frittata. It was okay but it didn’t really present well on the plate. It would’ve benefitted nicely from some bread and potatoes - or if we want to score points with those health minded Southern Californians – perhaps some sautéed mushrooms or a broiled tomato. Here – judge for yourself…
Swiss Cheese, Leek and Potato Frittata with Bacon
We were blessed with a fairly clear and totally sunny day in California. There was a bit of marine haze (or was that smog?) and the remnants of a fogbank lurking just off the coastline. Otherwise, the peaks of the San Gabriel Mountains and the tall buildings in downtown LA were clearly visible. I thought about taking a picture or two but at this distance and with my little camera, I decided it probably wouldn’t be worth the effort.
We landed rather hard on Runway 24L, the one that requires about fifteen minute taxi around the airport just to get to the gates at Terminal 6. It’s uncanny how often I’ve landed on this runway. I should imagine Southwest Airlines passengers have it made as that airline operates out of Terminal 1, just a short jaunt off the runway.
Following a quick visit to the Alaska Lounge to address a couple of issues requiring internet access, I made my way out to the Red Zone and commenced a 25 minute wait for my bus to the Crowne Plaza. Normally the price of a room at the Crowne Plaza is a bit more than I like to pay but thanks to award funds available via Hotel.com, I was able to book a single room for just $65.00.
My Room at the LAX Crowne Plaza
Later that evening I met up with an old friend who just happened to be in town to visit his daughter who attends Loyola Marymount University. We had dinner at the Proud Bird Restaurant – an aviation themed eatery located just off the airport grounds. I was back at the Crowne Plaza by 10:00pm and in bed by 11. Tomorrow I had a great day of flying to look forward and a good rest tonight would assure that I’d be able to stay awake through most if not all of tomorrow’s 5,440 mile crossing of the Pacific Ocean.