Your last plane journey

[KeikyuFan]

Last 2 legs:

ITINERARY: MKE-MSP-SAN (DL)
AIRCRAFT: DC9-50 (MKE-MSP), A320 (MSP-SAN)
DATE: 22 Feb 2010

Delta splashed some paint on some of their ex-Northwest DC-9s - these planes have to be some of the oldest in any US common carrier fleet, as they are 40+ years old. Real fuel-hogs, but as the Delta crew pointed out "they are paid for", and given the current economic outlook, they aren't going to be replaced real fast with newer aircraft. My understanding is that they get routinely get put in storage (parked in a desert somewhere) when fuel hits about $4/gallon, as the planes are not economical to operate and the demand falls off accordingly.

[orudge]

Woo for MSP! Didn't realise DL still had those DC-9s kicking around, although these days I mainly fly Star Alliance (so mainly United in the US).

[EXTspotter]

Yeah, the pre-merger NW ones. The -30s and -40s are getting turned into coke cans in the near future, but the -50s should be around for a while to come.

[PikkaBird]

Woo for MSP! Didn't realise DL still had those DC-9s kicking around, although these days I mainly fly Star Alliance (so mainly United in the US).

United's 757s are undoubtedly the crappiest aircraft I've ever flown on. That and the complete lack of professionalism which is apparently a requirement for working in a major American airport made flying in the US something to remember.

As for DC9s, we still have a few flying passengers around in Australia, but they're rather different from Delta's rattlers - in fact, they're MD-95/B717s, less than 10 years old. Very nice little planes, I flew on a couple when they were with Jetstar.

[orudge]

I flew on one UA 757 in January, as I think I reported in an earlier post... it wasn't spectacular, for sure, but it wasn't too bad an experience. I tend mainly to be flying A319s/A320s in the domestic US, or occasionally E170s, primarily on the MSP - ORD shuttle. My main long-haul bird at the moment would be United's 767s, which have been refitted with new cabins and the like, but no proper AVOD in economy. Their business and first products look quite nice though, might have to spend some of these miles sometime.

[as97ir]

Route : Mauritius-Malaysia
Airline: AirMauritius
FlightNo: MK646
Date :9 March 2010
Aircraft: Airbus A330-200
Seat: 33A
Delayed: none

[JamieLei]

Route : Mauritius-Malaysia
Airline: AirMauritius
FlightNo: MK646
Date :9 March 2010
Aircraft: Airbus A330-200
Seat: 33A
Delayed: none

Yay Malaysia! ^_^
It's only been about 5 months since I was there, yet it feels like absolutely ages...

[Ameecher]

London Heathrow - Christchurch International
Flight: EK004 (Emirates)
Aircraft 777-300ER from Heathrow T3 to Dubai
Then a second 777-300ER from Dubai to Christchurch via Bangkok and Sydney, despite it being the same aircraft and seat from Dubai to Christchurch I had to deplane go through security and get back on the same plane. Most annoying, I did however get to see the Hurt Locker which is quite a good film.

[JamieLei]

Emirates are bloody fantastic. I have nothing but praise for them

[beeb375]

Emirates are indeed awesome, Gulf Air aren't bad either actually. And Gavin, you'll probably have to watch it again for the 'full' experience, as I think Emirates censor all on-board films.

[orudge]

Hmm, a spammer dug up this topic, but I feel I should add in some of my recent flights. I've been on 18 flights since I last posted in this topic, so I won't include them all, but the highlights include:

Trip: LHR - ORD (London Heathrow - Chicago)
Airline: United Airlines
Flight No: UA597
Date: 6th April 2010
Aircraft: Boeing 767-300
Seat: 6C (first row of Business)
Comments: My first flight in business class! Got a cheap upgrade at the gate. Most nice. 100% lie-flat seats (although, it was a day flight, so I wasn't sleeping), rather large screen for the entertainment system, excellent service, lots of beer (and other beverages), a surprisingly tasty fillet steak for dinner, and general awesomeness.

Trip: ORD - MSP (Chicago - Minneapolis/St Paul)
Airline: United Airlines
Flight No: UA597
Date: 17th April 2010
Aircraft: Airbus A319
Seat: 1D (First Class)
Comments: My first flight in US domestic first class, which is really just equivalent to business class elsewhere but ah well. Only a short hop, so nothing overly exciting (and no food either, as a result), but the seat was comfy, and I was sat next to an off-duty pilot, who was a thoroughly interesting chap.

Trip: YYZ - YVR (Toronto - Vancouver)
Airline: Air Canada
Flight No: AC115
Date: 28th May 2010
Aircraft: Airbus A330-300
Seat: 24G
Comments: A transcontinental trip on Air Canada, and my first time on an Air Canada widebody. A lovely new plane, decent entertainment system, good legroom, nice service. Was sat next to an interesting lady and we spent most of the flight conversing.

My actual last flights are much the same as those I detailed in January though, except change those dates for dates in July. MSP - ORD - LHR - MAN, same old same old. Nothing overly exciting. My next flights however shall be on Swiss from MAN - ZRH - ORD - MSP, and then Air Canada from MSP - YYZ - LHR - MAN, both in business class, woo. Plus a trip to Paris for WineConf, and a wee trip back up to Edinburgh in the meantime, but those'll just be in economy. Tis a hard life, eh?

[EXTspotter]

You just reminded me!

Trip: London Heathrow LHR - Paris CDG
Airline: Air France
Flight No: AF1981
Date: 17th July 2010
Aircraft: Airbus A380-861
Reg: F-HPJC
Seat: 35K (Middle)

Trip: Paris CDG - London Heathrow LHR
Airline: Air France
Flight No: AF1980
Date: 18th July 2010
Aircraft: Airbus A380-861
Reg: F-HPJA
Seat: 21D (Aisle)

I flew the A380. The plane itself was cool, however the ground crews in particular need more training as the on time statstics on those flights are diabolical. The outbound was delayed by 45 minutes and the return we were sat on the parking stand in Paris for 2 hours before the ground handlers finished loading and preparing the aircraft and waiting for new slot. Waiting for baggage at both ends took over an hour. I am definately a fan of small planes now. Go 787!

[JamieLei]

I'm so accustomed to widebody planes that I struggle to remember the last time I flew a narrow-body that wasn't Ryanair or AirAsia...! Therefore the 30-min long wait for the baggage is standard procedure!

[orudge]

I'm so accustomed to widebody planes that I struggle to remember the last time I flew a narrow-body that wasn't Ryanair or AirAsia...! Therefore the 30-min long wait for the baggage is standard procedure!

Heh, my bags do have a habit of almost always coming last, it's rather annoying. I'm hoping that may change - I do now have priority baggage (one of the perks of being Gold!), but the thing with that it's entirely dependent on the baggage handlers (who aren't employed by the airline, but by the airport) to actually offload those bags first. Probably handiest when you're coming off a large widebody plane, where the bags are stored in separate containers depending on their importance, but makes little difference if you're on a small regional jet! (Seemed to make little difference at Manchester, the one place I've used it so far.)

It would appear though that in some parts of the world, having 'priority' tags on your bags can result in anything from them being placed out last (by baggage handlers who are bored and figure it'll be fun to keep the 'important' people waiting), or even making your bags more likely to be stolen (because I guess they figure people with priority bags are going to be rich). Perhaps not so much of a blessing in those cases!

[EXTspotter]

Owen - I advise you to insure there situations do not occur via 2 ways. 1. Avoid all *A carriers and 2. Only fly narrowbodies. It would make transatlantic travel interesting, seeing as the only option would be Icelandair MAN - MSP via Keflavik and New York followed by maybe Delta for the last leg. Its a shame Air Canada are in *A otherwise you would have been able to use the A319 on LHR - YYT (St Johns, Newfoundland). It will lead to fast retrieval of your bags which have a normal probablility of being thieverated, plus no status! Yay! Flying like normal people! I mean status, how SB is that!!!

[JamieLei]

Pardon my ignorance, but what's a *A carrier?..

[SD89MAC]

Pardon my ignorance, but what's a *A carrier?..

I'm guessing it means Star Alliance.

[orudge]

Owen - I advise you to insure there situations do not occur via 2 ways. 1. Avoid all *A carriers and 2. Only fly narrowbodies. It would make transatlantic travel interesting, seeing as the only option would be Icelandair MAN - MSP via Keflavik and New York followed by maybe Delta for the last leg.

Icelandair actually operate (or did operate) a direct KEF - MSP flight. Before I knew I'd be returning last year, I was looking at booking MAN - GLA - KEF - MSP, since that was by far the cheapest one-way flight.

I think I will stick to my widebody *A flights, though. Might try the CO 757 service sometime, but ideally in a business class redemption; I hear economy can be a bit claustrophobic for such a long journey in a narrowbody!

[JamieLei]

Later today: KL9083 which is a codeshare for DL2. Delta Airlines, LHR - JFK, Apparently a 767 fitted out with AVOD... *fingers crossed*.

[Ameecher]

JetStar A320 from Auckland to Christchurch. Cramped and all in all not great. We're already for boarding and then a crew member is taken ill, then when we finally board an hour later the tyre on the right landing gear needs changing so we get de-planed for another hour. Admittedly beyond Jetstar's control but they could have provided better customer service.