Hi everyone! For this trip report I will try to go in a bit of a different direction, mainly focusing on analysis of the onboard and ground product instead of pictures. I am on SkyWest dba American Eagle Flight 2577 from Los Angeles, CA to Eugene OR. I’m flying up to visit some family and travel to a family reunion. I brought my violin along, and at first I was a bit concerned about the gate agent not letting me carry it on due to some of the stricter carry on regulations enacted recently. My fears turned out to be unwarranted as the gate agent let me through and I had no trouble fitting the instrument in the CRJ's not so spacious overhead bin. I was compelled to write this trip report as I haven’t found any reports on the internet describing AA’s relatively new service from LAX to EUG, as well as to share some insight about the new American Eagle terminal at LAX. Enjoy!
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SkyWest dba American Eagle (OO/AA) Flight 2577
Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to Mahlon Sweet Field (EUG)
Tuesday July 29th, 2014
Bombardier CRJ-200ER Reg. N863AS
Seat 5C
Scheduled Dep: 12:25PM, Actual Dep: 12:28PM PDT (pushback)
Scheduled Arr: 2:25PM, Actuall Arr: 2:25PM PDT (at gate)
Flight time: 1:44
Cruising Altitude: 33,000 feet
Load Factor: 100% in Y
Routing: CASTA3 EHF CZQ OED HOCUM EUG



I arrived at the airport two hours in advance, which is unusual for me because the security lines at LAX aren’t usually very long. The only terminal I’ve ever encountered a horrible security line in has been the T4, home of AA, and where I would be flying out of today. Another reason for me showing up early was that I wanted to make sure I had sufficient time to take the shuttle to the American Eagle satellite terminal, as I had never done it before. I had been randomly selected for TSA PreCheck, which allowed me to skip the VERY long line for security in addition to not needing to take items out of my bag or take my shoes off.



After security I was greeted by N950NN, one of AA’s new 737-800s equipped with the new interior and personal AVOD. I had flown on a similar aircraft on my way back from Belize earlier in the year and the new interior is a HUGE improvement. I find it aesthetically and functionally similar to Virgin America’s A320s.



I then proceeded to get a sandwich at homeboy bakery before walking over to gate 44, the dreaded bus gate. By this point it was 10:35 and I had about an hour and a half before boarding started. I boarded the shuttle bus anyway, as I wanted to see the American Eagle terminal, which would later prove worthwhile.















The shuttle bus ride was very brief (8 minutes) and in addition to dropping me off right in front of the new satellite terminal also offered some killer spotting opportunities on the south side of LAX.



I walked in and was shocked. I couldn't believe that this terminal was nicer than the main terminal! It was very clean and spacious with a wavy roofline and clean comfortable leather seats. The carpeting looked brand new and there was a small sandwich shop in the corner. In addition, it seems AA has added an admirals club! I waited around for a while on my laptop until boarding was called. At checkin I was offered to upgrade to boarding group 1, and looking back I’m glad that I didn’t. Boarding group 1 was comprised of 3 people. I boarded as soon as group two was called and walked down the covered pathway that acted as an improvised jetway.



I stepped into the 14 year old SkyWest CRJ-200ER Reg. N863AS and made my way to my seat. I hadn’t been on a CRJ for years, and I was struck by how low the ceiling is. I am 5’7 and my head was almost touching the roof panels.





The seats on this particular CRJ, formerly operated as Delta Connection, were leather and had generous seat pitch but were quite narrow. The headrests are extremely short which adds a layer of spaciousness to the cabin, but would be a problem for anyone over 5’10. We pushed back from the gate right on time and bolted down the runway (these CRJs might be small but they sure can go) at just after 12:30PM PDT. The further forward you sit in this plane the better due to the noisiness of the engines. I was in 5C and during takeoff and cruise the cabin was noticeably quieter than a 737. Beverage service started about 30 minutes into the flight and I ordered my signature plane beverage, ginger ale.





The flight attendant of whom I've forgotten the name of was extremely pleasant and smiled the entire journey. I found her to be better than many mainline AA flight attendants. The rest of the flight was particularly uneventful, consisting of lots of Spotify listening and a visit to the smallest lavatory I'd ever seen. We started our descent at roughly 1:50PM PDT and were treated to a magnificent view of Crater Lake and the Cascade Mountains.





The sheer beauty of rural Oregon never ceases to amaze me, and the amount of trees is shocking being born and raised in Los Angeles. We made a turbulent landing on runway 34L at 2:13PM PDT and quickly taxied to our gate.



Baggage claim took a while, which I find a bit strange considering the size of the Eugene airport. I was greeted by my family and after waiting for my bag for roughly 30 minutes we sped away.

Next up I will attempt to draft a TR of my return trip from Seattle to Los Angeles on an Alaska 737-900ER, upon which I saw amazing views of Mt. Rainier, Puget Sound, Seattle, Mt. St. Helens, and many more. Thanks for reading!

Good Trip Report, thanks for posting.

As Loose Cannon says nice trip report, including identifying crater lake which I've seen a number of times when coming down the coast on a British Airways 747, at a somewhat greater altitude, going into San Francisco and not known what it was called, thanks for posting

DMF

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AS scorpion in Sweden?

That is my home airport. I have flown out of there a few times. You probably flew right over my house when flying to Eug (its about 40 miles south of Eugene).
Thanks for the report.

I had been in AA's satellite terminal once about 10 years ago. Looks nicer than I remember it. Thanks for posting all the pix.