Things in the Sky

I’ll talk about my experiences at the American Association of Airport Executives Conference later this week, but first I just wanted to provide a review of my flights. 

I was originally booked on a roundtrip ticket on Southwest, but I ended up having to cancel the first leg. In order to meet Gary Kelly, I needed to be at his hotel lobby by 9, and since the first Southwest flight arrived at 8:25, that wasn’t going to work. So, I booked the 6am US Airways Express flight. It was a bit pricey because I had to book it last week, but hey, it’s not every day that one gets the chance to meet a Fortune 500 CEO. 

So, I got up around 3:15, and a bit before 4 my dad and I set off to the airport. Funnily enough, he had a one-day trip was well, though he was headed to Chicago. 

Getting to the airport was really easy, the only issue was that the ticket machine for one of the parking garages was broken (of course, the garage that we had a coupon for). But, everything else went very quickly, first because I had no bags to check, and second, security had only a very short line. I was past security by quarter to five. Nice. 

Even though I had only flown out of PVD a couple of weeks ago, I still like walking the terminal. It was just great seeing the ramp as the sun was rising. One thing I found interesting is that Southwest was parking two of its RONs where American used to be. 

Anyway, you know you’re flying out of PVD when Dunkin’ Donuts has about 30 people waiting for it to open at 5, and I was one of them since I didn’t eat at home. I really can’t wait for the second Dunkin’ to open. 

I didn’t have much more time to explore as boarding time for my flight was 5:30. 

US Airways Express Flight #3655 (Operated by Air Wisconsin)
June 15, 2009
Depart Providence (PVD):  6:03 AM
Arrive Philadelphia (PHL):  7:00 AM
Duration:  0:57
Aircraft: Bombardier CRJ-200 (N401AW)
Seat: 11F 

Ah…PVD-PHL. How I remember flying this route on a 757. Times have changed. Now I’m just excited that the first flight is getting upgraded from a CRJ to an E-190. 

But wow – I had to think the last time I was on a regional jet, and it was back in 1998 on a Fokker 28 between YYZ and BOS. Memories.

Boarding began promptly around 5:30. As one might expect, it went pretty quickly considering it was a CRJ. I have to say, I didn’t find the aircraft as cramped as I expected. If I was an inch taller I’d have to crouch walking down the aisle, though. Luckily, the seat next to me was empty, so I was able to put my bag in front of that seat, allowing me to stretch out. The legroom wasn’t too shabby at all, I think.

View from my seat.

The legroom was good! I even felt comfortable in the CRJ. Yes. I said it. Maybe it’s much worse on longer flights, but it was fine for this.

I will say, though, that this particular aircraft looked really tired inside, and needed some work done. The flight attendant was only able to do a limited beverage service because the coffee maker was broken.

(Taken during the flight.)

We pushed back a few minutes before our scheduled departure time of six. Since runway 5 was the active that enabled us to be first in line for takeoff. I have to say that this takeoff was just beautiful. It was overcast, but the clouds were very low so soon after takeoff we broke through them and the sun is shining. Personally, this is one of my most favorite moments in flying.

Other than that, the flight was pretty normal. The flight attendant did the aforementioned drink service, and I finalized my questions for Gary. 

Soon we began our descent…

…and landed on runway 9R. I was hoping to land on the 27 end because it has a nice view of the terminal…but oh well. Then we taxied over to Terminal F, which is solely meant for regional flights. We parked at the gate around 7:05, which was a wee bit early.

After deplaning, I headed to the Terminal E SEPTA station, as Terminal F doesn’t have one. The train just makes a lot of sense. There are trains leaving every 30 minutes, and the ride downtown only takes about a half hour. My roundtrip ticket cost only $14. The train was also very convenient for me as Market East Station is connected to the convention center.

The train arrived a bit after eight, and I wasn’t meeting Gary until 9 so I headed into the convention center to pick up my badge, and then walked to the Marriott lobby where I was going to interview Gary. (I’ll have the interview soon.) 

Then, I walked the show floor a bit, and eventually headed up to the ballroom to see Gary’s speech (once again, more on that later). I was able to meet up with the director of my airport (PVD) before the speech, and it was great to see him again. He’s really done a fantastic job since he’s come here. For example, he’s made great progress on the runway expansion.

Anyway, after the speech I met up with fellow aviation blogger Jonathan Heckman (who works in the city) and we went to lunch in Reading Terminal Market, and I got this delicious pastrami sandwich.

Yum!

With Jon. 

Later, I walked the show floor a bit more, and then it was time for a session on airline-airport relationships, which was very interesting to say the least. I was shocked by a couple of things said by the representative from United, but I’ll leave that for another day.

By then it was time to snag a train, which was very easy.

I got to PHL pretty quick and I was really impressed when I walked in. PHL’s recently opened the D/E connector, which is great. Before, E was kind of exiled (one would have to go through security again), which is annoying for Southwest considering it operates out of both terminals. The new security checkpoint is excellent, and there’s some nice new retail as well. Terminal E is currently being expanded as well, but I don’t know who’s going to be using that extra space. (Might Southwest just move everything to E? I’ll have to ask.)

You can see the new connector in the background.

Terminal E expansion.

Anyway, I saw that college students are supposed to get free Wi-Fi. Awesome! Too bad AT&T didn’t send enough coupons. So, I decided to walk the airport. I went from E all the way to A-West, though I only explored terminals D & A-West. The latter is very nicely put together. 

Unfortunately, during said walk, the weather deteriorated. When I saw that all the displays above the US Airways gates on the ramp said “ramp closed,” and saw lightning, I figured things were taking a bad turn. Hooray, ground stop!

I had burned enough time so I walked back towards my gate, but bumped into someone from Southwest who I met earlier during the conference, and we had a really great chat. Unfortunately, I had to head to my gate so we couldn’t talk too long. 

Southwest Airlines Flight #629
June 15, 2009
Depart Philadelphia (PHL): 9:16 PM
Arrive Providence (PVD):  9:54 PM
Duration: 0:38
Aircraft: Boeing 737-700 (N785SW)
Seat: 17F

The gate agent kept us informed about the arrival of our flight, and had us line up early. When that 737 came in, Southwest moved fast. Based on my photo timestamps, the plane pulled into the gate around 7:55 (our original departure time), and we were pushed back and taxiing around 8:15. Impressive.

Unfortunately, there was a line for takeoff, and we waited about 40 minutes. At least I had someone nice to talk to. We started chatting while waiting to board, and scored a row with an empty middle in “secret first class.” At one point he actually lived about 5 minutes from where I live today. Small world!

Eventually, we were off.

The flight itself was pretty uneventful. My seatmate ordered some wine and the flight attendant didn’t charge, so I’m assuming they were comping drinks due to the delay, which is a nice gesture. 

Soon enough we were on approach to runway 5, and we landed around 9:54. Considering our scheduled arrival was 9:25, that isn’t too bad.

After that, I waited for my dad’s flight from Midway to arrive, and we headed home. Luckily, the parking garage accepted the coupon for a free day that was for the garage with the broken machine. Woo! 

Overall, a great day. I’ll have more posts about the conference itself soon.