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.

That brings back memories of an equipment swap to 777 that really cheesed me off. Back in the good ol' days of comfortable Y seating with decent pitch, width, and seat cushion padding, the best seat on a domestic narrowbody was 21A on the MD-80. I was really saddened when my scheduled M80 DFW-ORD swapped to a 777 and I retained 21A - an ordinary Y seat on the 777 at the time (N789AN was the tail in question in case you're wondering).

Am I the only FTer who thinks an M80 to 777 swap is a bad thing?

AA doesn't operate MD-80s anymore. Even if they did, that would depend... yes in coach the MD-80s were far more comfortable compared to the awful 3x4x3 configuration AA has now but in F there is absolutely no comparison between the standard F seats of the MD-80s and flat beds on 777s.

I sure wish they did.
Well obviously. AA couldn't swap 777 to M80 on DFW-LHR even if they wanted to! I was talking about a 2 hour flight in Y. M80 Y beats the heck out of 777 Y.

Indeed, AA doesn't really have any great narrowbody aircraft these days and I doubt they would consider buying the new A220s

I bet many agree with this. The old F seat on the 737 and MD80 was great. Also don't think that MRCT actually failed on its own merits.

I think the A319 mostly fills that role for them — they are the largest operator of the type.

Lol, not sure I would consider the 800 underpowered, and PHX's two main runways are between 10-11K feet in length, which is more than ample for a fully loaded 800, even on a hot day.