738 rant; an equipment swap WIN and a few bad analogies/references.
I have a very quick trip to the east coast this weekend and to me PHX-LAX-JFK is way more appealing than 4.5 hours on another 737-823 that takes 6000ft of white knuckle terror in the Arizona desert to get off the ground to fly coast to coast. Ranting now but most people dislike the 737 for its “re-imagined” interior. I think it’s a garbage airplane because it has the takeoff performance of a 2005 BMW 525xi (possibly the worst paperweight BMW sold in the USA in all the years I represented the brand 2005-2017.)
But I digress this is a happy story and happy stories have happy endings.
Unfortunately, the schedule gods at AA haven’t looked favorably upon this mediocre at best author and scheduled a flight early enough in the AM for a connection to the daytime flagship transcons operating currently. I’d call my Congressional rep but he’s got an ethics scandal going on right now and he’s about as useful as a deicing truck at PHX in July. Therefore my choice if I wanted a flatbed seat was a connection to AA4 LAX-JFK departing at 9:15PM and arriving at 5:19AM (before God or the landscapers get out of bed) on a 772.
I happily obliged because flatbeds are fun.
The upgrade cleared at T-72 and I immediately selected 1A (shout out to Nelly.)
I keep a log of every AA aircraft I fly on and upon checking flightradar yesterday saw that N780AN / 7AL would be my chariot - living that B/E life.
Today I had to get a rapid COVID test to embark upon this journey. If you haven’t had one yet - I don’t recommend it. A nice man took the worlds longest q-tip and stuck it so far up my nose that I’m fairly confident he tickled any remaining brain matter left after 5.5 years of attending state school for a 4 year degree; followed by 12 years in the automotive industry and if that wasn’t enough to erode my brain into looking like the capital of Montserrat - now I’m employed in CRE finance which is a great industry especially if golf and alcohol are two of your favorite vices.
As I’m sitting at the Urgent Care an hour past my appointment time waiting to get called in for a tickle - I checked flightradar to confirm my tail number... N735AT had been swapped in - a 77W! I figured as a lowly pro I’d probably been banished to the J cabin with the plebs. But it was not to be! Today was my day and though I won’t get the APL bag - I’ve got a nice desk to pull out my laptop and write replies to this terrible thread all night from 1A in the first class cabin.
Hope you’ve enjoyed my musings and I’ll catch you on the flip.