Introduction
Seattle to Dallas
Dallas
Dallas to Seattle
Conclusion
Saturday 9th February 2013
O Dark Thirty, a man arises and stumbles around in the dark readying himself for the busy day ahead. This is probably a common scene for everyone but it was reality for me. Today marked the start of my first real mileage run in the USA. The next two days were not going to be easy, but they were going to be fun for the avgeek like me.
I was rewarding myself by taking my first rest day from training in several months so this meant i could get that little bit more sleep. I was already pushing it for a 6am flight as it was and my cut off was 4:15 to leave the house if I was going to make the flight. Truth be told, by the time I drove all the way down and parked the truck I may not have much time spare at all.
I managed to get out of the house by 4:08, 8 mins behind my schedule but 7 minutes ahead of the cut off. Not bad. In the process I did manage to forget my glasses though 🙁 Traffic was non existent as I sped down the Interstate towards SeaTac and Masterpark. With the truck safely parked and locked away, I grabbed my bag and headed for the airport.
Check in was going to be easy as I had my Velocity Gold card at the ready and I had already checked in the night before on my phone so I had my boarding passes anyway if I needed them (and a mobile boarding pass means no TSA writing on them!). But I did the smart thing and got a printed copy anyway (just in case). As I was taking carry on only (with my tight connections I would be dumb to do it any other way at all) it would be easy if I was running behind as I could just stroll up to security. Which I did anyway. No need for priority security as there was literarlly no line at all. I stripped off, put my stuff on the conveyor and as usual, got Nude O Scoped.
Shoes on, bags repacked, belt in hand, I hot footed it down to the Train as I had about 15 minutes till boarding and I still had to get over to the S Terminal and I wanted to make a stop at the Skyclub for some breakfast. The train was waiting when I got down to the basement and within minutes we were heading to the S gates (via the B Gates first). My gate was right below the Skyclub so that would make it easier.
When I showed up at the Skyclub the guy at the counter took one long look at my Gold Card and shook his head. I was getting ready for a fight or having to pull out the access rules but he started looking it up himself. He scanned through and said to me “wow you get access when not flying internationally”. Little did he know that was the one true reason I was doing this. You see one of the benefits of having elite status with a Foreign program is the side benefits. As Star Alliance Gold with Aegean I still access the United Clubs when a United flier of the same tier can’t do that. The same with my Velocity Gold. When I fly Delta I get access not only to priority security, check in and boarding just like a Delta Gold would, I get lounge access at any time, where as a Delta Gold would only get it when flying internationally. The one thing I give up are the free upgrades? To me considering the times I fly I probably wouldn’t clear the upgrade list anyway or fly enough to make that tier without a status match or bonuses, I’ll take it!
So here I am, let loose in the lounge with only 5 or 10 minutes to grab a coffee, something to eat and get my butt back out the door. I was expecting a nice bowl of Oatmeal and a Banana just like I had in Los Angeles at the Hyatt Garden Place. *bzzzzt* wrong. That is not going to happen. There was no fruit in site (not even an apple) and the oatmeal was like water, absolutely disgusting looking. So I grabbed a bagel, some grape jam, a couple of fig bars (like Arnotts Fruit Pillows) and headed back out the door. No time for even a coffee (not that there was any takeaway cups anyway, like United & Virgin had mind you), my flight was about to board. I rolled up to the gate just as they were pre boarding and within about 2 minutes First Class was called.
Delta Air Lines – DL1634
Seattle-Tacoma to Salt Lake City (SEA-SLC)
0600-0906
Boeing 737-800 (N3739P)
Economy Class – Seat 21A
Boarding: 0525 (Gate S8)
Push Back: 0557
Take Off Roll: 0608 (Runway 16L)
Top of Descent: 0819
Touch Down: 0838 (Runway 16L)
Shut Down: 0846 (Gate D11)
Once “Sky Priority” was called for boarding, I was maybe the third person through in this group. One thing I will give Delta, they sure do have a lot of groups for boarding. I saw someone with a Group 5 and that would of been after Pre Boarding Families, First class, Sky Priority, then starting groups 1,2,3,4 and finally 5. Thats like 8 stages! I would hate to be that person wanting to try and get some bin space.
First 737 flight for 2013 and it looked ever so basic inside. No seatback tv, very uncomfortable looking seats and antiqutated entertainment options (aka 1 audio channel worked, yep just 1). My view outside was pitch black, the seats were cramped. The only thing running through my head right that second was “if we de ice, im screwed”. By the time everyone was onboard and we were pushing back ready to go we were pretty much right on time. But that would be good as I am sure they pad the schedules pretty well in winter. Fortunately we didn’t de ice and we were #1 for take off (as per the flight crews annoucement) and with a pilot with a lead foot, we were speeding down towards the 16s and without even waiting they turned to 16L and hit the sky!
There wasn’t much to this flight really, I read my book to try and wake up a bit more, coffee, water, my horrible stale tasting bagel and more coffee. Seemed ok to me! I wasn’t going to connect to wifi at this point, I wanted to wake up. Hell not even really any chance to look out the window as it was all cloud below. Just meant I could enjoy my book, my music and chill out some. Which is what I did. We made good time and soon enough, the nose went down and we were on approach to Salt Lake City.
We were coming in early so I was happy, my flight connection was looking so good I was considering hitting the skyclub for some coffee and hopefully a piece of fruit (maybe an extra piece for later even) to finish off my breakfast. We landed with mountain ranges and snow capped peaks all around. Totally different to what I just left and something I have never really seen before. We passed what looked like 2 Skyteam painted aircraft and you could tell this was a Delta hub. There was Delta jets of every shape, size and form going everywhere!
On the ground reality hit big time. My next flight was Delayed. At present only 15 mins so that wasn’t going to be to bad, it might mean a bit of a job through MSP or if we don’t de ice maybe we can make up some time but initially I was ok. I strolled through Salt Lake City airport (which actually looked pretty cool) and headed for the SkyClub. I was grilled a little bit on entry but not much more than the other people around me and i was told “your flights only 15 minutes delayed but keep an eye on the monitors”. It seems they don’t do annoucements here. One thing I had noticed as I strolled past the gate I was meant to be going out of was a 767 was sitting there. Figuring that was not ours as I was meant to be on a 320 and not been told of an aircraft swap something was up. I checked the screens and the aircraft at the gate was going to Atlanta, at 0940. 25 mins before we were due to depart, 5 mins after we were due to board. This is NOT good.
My brain started to think things over, my connection in MSP looked extremely doubtful. I wasn’t in the Skyclub long, figuring that the monitors had to be wrong and they would gate change us again. So figured in case I needed to move quickly I should be out in the terminal. I went for a 2nd cup of coffee and the machine broke down, so after 1 cup of coffee and about a ¼ cup of not as watery oatmeal as seattle, I grabbed an apple, a couple of biscoff as emergency supplies (hey they are tasty, don’t judge) and some trail mix to finish off my breakfast (dried pineapple and paw paw… yum!).
The delay was definately going ahead now, they announced that the aircraft still had not arrived and that it would be ok we wouldnt be all that much later than expected. Apart from the fact that the aircraft didn’t pull up till almost the time we were meant to be departing and that boarding wasn’t going to be possible till everyone else was off. This was not going to be pretty. People were milling about acting like gate lice (me being one of them). I was really wondering what to do. Derek (from Crankyconcierge) called me and we discussed my options.
Option 1. Continue to MSP, reasses on the ground as more options for reroute as could hub hop to DFW if need be
Option 2. Bail now, possibly get put on a direct flight, lose points
Considering I figured I had more options out of MSP i went for it. I had access to GoGo on the flight so we could work on alternatives while in the air.
Delta Air Lines – DL996
Salt Lake City to Minneapolis St Paul (SLC-MSP)
0949-1328
Airbus A320 (N344NW)
Economy Class – Seat 15A
Boarding: 1005 (Gate D1)
Push Back: 1033
Take Off Roll: 1048 (Runway 16R)
Top of Descent: 1320
Touch Down: 1350 (Runway 12R)
Shut Down: 1354 (Gate F7)
Boarding was called and the scrum began. First class was on quick then the Sky Priority turn seemed like everyone and their dog was allowed to board. Funny thing was, there was a dog in the queue! By the time i got down to the aircraft door there was a long long back up. Everyone had been trying to put stuff away and the queue stretched all the way back. O well, I was comitted now, no turning back.
I stowed my bag in the compartment and shoved the back pack under the seat and although this aircraft was way more basic, the legroom was heaps better. An inch or two of pitch is always appreciated. I gpt myself ready for the flight and it was a pretty boring boarding process to be honest. What was interesting (yet scary) was it started snowing while we were on the ground. This is where my brain was thinking “if we deice i am royally screwed” as I could see the queues for De Ice out my window. As we pushed back we were passed by the Skyteam 738 so that kept me interested for a few minutes, snapping photos. Everything moving about was Delta. Delta everywhere! We didn’t de ice thank god and we were heading for the runway pretty quickly. No wait at the threshold as there was no one around but us, it was desolate. I don’t know if they sent us out there for punishment or not but we had taxiied a while.
Pretty slow take off roll but once we passed V1 and into Rotate it was a spirited climb and we passed 10,000ft pretty damn quick. The pilots were on to try and make up some time that is for sure. My job this morning though was to get my butt online and get some back up ready to go. Well that was the plan anyway. Gogo inflight was active (which is probably one of the best things ever) and I connected on and got to work straight away planning out what to do.
Pretty much my quickest way to Dallas if i missed the flight was just sit and wait, I would have about 20 minutes to cross the entire airort from one side to the other but I was up the run that was for sure. Things were definately going to be interesting on the ground. By the time I had worked on all of that I spent the last 20 minutes or so prior to descent in getting myself ready for the run, planning the route through the airport. I could of even changed over to my runners but didnt even think of it at the time.
As we desceded into MSP it was a quiet time onboard, I was focused on getting off that aircraft, we landed with about 25 minutes till my flight departs but by the time we got to the gate it was 20 minutes. Then we sat and waited. I did everything I could to get to the front of the aircraft as quickly as possible but I got held up behind a lady who was just determined to block me. Most people were letting me past.
Once I got past her and out into the boarding lane, it was on. RUN RUN RUN! I took off at pace, wearing the wrong shoes, with a backpack on my back and my crumpler bag over my shoulder. Initially I made a right turn out of the gate area and the gate numbers started going up, woops! Wrong way. Turned around and sped up. I was yelling (not that loudly though) “excuse me” as much as I could, or “On your left” “on your right” just like I did when I was running at home. All my running was paying off. Though I barely made it off the F Concourse before I started to struggle. From F I hung a right to flick around the F-D connector as that was the “long way” and then within 50 metres hung a left turn onto the Main connector and tried to pick up as much pace as I could. I turned right onto the C Concourse on pace, breathing ok and thank god it wasn’t that crowded. I did have to dodge people coming off the tram for a few seconds but that was ok.
As I went further down the C Concourse (I was at C1 heading for C19) by this stage I think I was a good half a kilometre down, probably half way along at this point. The moving walkways were working, So I used them as their was barely any people on them and used them kind of as a short cut, not for the speed advantage but more the fact for the clear shot down them. When I hit C10 thats when I started to really feel it. I had about 10 minutes to go and knew that any minute now they were going to close that off. I got to C15 and I heard it for the first time. I was being paged. “Last and Final Page for Mr Malcom Muir on Flight DL5017 to Dallas Fort Worth, this is the final page and this flight will depart without you if you are not here in 3 minutes.” I had 3 minutes and 4 gates… I HAD IT! in 3 minutes i can clear over half a kilometre at an average pace. I picked up my speed as the way was clear, I didn’t have time to say anything to a staff member to tell them I was coming, I just ran. I hit the gate area and heard “You made it”
Delta Air Lines – DL5017 (Operated by Expressjet)
Minneapolis St Paul to Dallas Fort Worth (MSP-DFW)
1415-1649
Canadair CRJ-700 – (N730EV)
Economy Class – Seat 9A
Boarding: 1335 (Gate C19)
Push Back: 1413
Take Off Roll: 1424 (Runway 17)
Top of Descent: 1601
Touch Down: 1633 (Runway 18R)
Shut Down: 1640 (Gate E13)
At this point I was totally out of it. The gate staff asked me if I had a boarding pass, all I could do was nod. She said “You can take a breath, your here, don’t worry”. Thankfully I had that printed copy of my boarding pass as it meant I didn’t have to fumble with my phone. I stumbled down the jetbridge, puffing and panting thinking that I would need to gate check my bag but was told not to worry about it.
As I stepped onboard I got a dirty look from one of the cabin crew, the other greeted me ok, but the dirty looks from the passengers,…. wow. Just bad. I was puffing so much and at that moment so damn sweaty I just dumped my jacket off and threw my bag in the overhead and begged for some water before I passed out. The grumpy looking guy said he would bring me some water as soon as I took my seat. I plonked my butt down and just felt like passing out. My hands were shaking so bad I could barely keep my hands steady to take my usual cabin shots (of course I did this for my readers… don’t you feel special).
Within seconds of me boarding, the doors were shut and we pushed back. I couldn’t believe I had made it with 5 mins to spare till an on time departure. Glad I could help Delta keep that on time percentage. As we pushed back we taxiied out towards the same runway I had just landed on 20 minutes ago and straight past the US Airways America West livery aircraft. I had mixed it up for a Delta Aircraft to start with and was a little bit suprised to see it. Right when I don’t have my SLR with me!
The CRJ has one benefit I do like (which so many people don’t). It is small, light and compact. Which means it has a “sprited” take off ability and the pilots today were showing off all right. We were the first in line infront of a Great Lakes Beechcraft 1900D and the pilots got their clearances way ahead of time because they didn’t stop, they didn’t even slow down to turn onto the active. Like any good driver knows you brake prior to the turn and as you turn you accelerate out of it. Well these guys took it one step further, they accelerated into the turn and as they turned out onto the active and straightened up, I am pretty sure they were well at speed by this stage.
We were in the air moments later, climbing out through the clouds leaving the snow behind. No De ice required 3/3 flights. Score! I was really impressed by Delta at this point. The service was rolled out a short time later and I took the time on this flight to disconnect myself and calm down. I was lucky enough to have a row to myself (albeit just two seats) and decided I would just take it. The flight was going to be comfortable enough (though the CRJ seats for me never are that comfortable) for 2 hours in a regional jet. Laptop out, trip report started.
Thankfully I had taken that apple from the Skyclub as that was my lunch really. An apple and a couple of biscoff (which have I mentioned are freaking AWESOME!). I had asked for more water and a Diet Coke, however all I got was the water and the biscoff were thrown at me by the grumpy dude. Seriously! I just gulped down what I could and a bit later asked for more water Figured it was all I was going to get.
The flight was pretty boring otherwise, the descent was pretty quick but it was clouds all the way down to the deck. Literally down to the deck. I could see the flaps going out, still in clouds, gear comes down, still in clouds, we dropped out of the clouds right above the piano keys to the runway and as they flared in for a landing I could finally see things around me. My greeting to DFW was great though, sitting there right next to the Qantas 747-400ER from Sydney was the new American Airlines 777-300ER. My first shot of the painted 77W and its from inside a CRJ in crappy weather with my point and shoot. Either way… I didn’t care, I had seen it and It actually looked pretty good in my opininon.
By the time we reached the gate in the E pier, I was just starting to feel tired. I was hungry and still needed more liquids, as I was coughing a bit (but that was probably also a side affect of sitting in a metal tube all day). I had touched down in Dallas 12 hours after I had left. We pulled up at the gate and I wasn’t in a rush to get off as my hotel was only 1 terminal over, although I was a bit excited to try and get a better shot of the AA 77W on the skylink over to my room. I passed the Skyclub on the way to the tram and sussed out my morning plans so that I could stumble around DFW without needing to think to much.
The Skylink tram runs around the airport connecting all the terminals and it is airside so this was awesome for me as I didn’t to leave the airport and find a shuttle in the rain or anything, I stayed dry the entire time getting over to the D terminal and the Grand Hyatt.
