Trip Report 01

Since USAirways took away Air Wisconsin's travel benefits last January, I have been unable, for the most part, to travel much. Thankfully, the lovely folks at JetBlue in PWM worked out a Counter-to-Counter arrangement, and I am able to non-rev on them. I had been itching to travel, and figured I'd take a week off of work, fly out to California, and hang out with my friend, who lives in San Jose. We're both huge hockey fans, and I not so coincidentally timed my visit with my Boston Bruins playing his San Jose Sharks.

"Booking" was easy. Write down the flights I want (not tough since B6 only serves SJC once a day), have my manager sign off, and drop it off at the JetBlue counter for their manager to build the reservation. I figured leaving on a Tuesday in the middle of January would be no problem seat-wise, and the agents assured me I would be fine. After checking every couple weeks on flight loads, I headed to the airport on 1/12 ready to go.


Route: PWM-JFK
Date: 1/12/10
Flight: B6 609
Aircraft: Embraer E190
Registration: N279JB "Indigo Blue"
Seat #: 1A
Scheduled Departure: 14:30
Actual Departure: 14:51
Scheduled Arrival: 15:49
Actual Arrival: 15:55

Photo of Aircraft:

View Large View Medium

Photo © Olaf Juergensmeier

I arrived at PWM around 13:00, which is more than enough time for Portland. Checked in nice and quick, and the agent gave me my seat assignment for the first flight right there, 1A, a bulkhead, with nobody next to me. Nice! I was going to head out to the ramp to see if I could snag a picture of my aircraft, but alas, it was still en-route from JFK. Headed upstairs through security, totally forgetting my soda in my backpack, which earned me some well deserved playful comments from TSA. I should, and do know better. I work there after all!

As it was early afternoon, there were very few spotting opportunities at a small airport like PWM. About the only interesting thing was a CRJ-200 in the old Bowling Shoe NWA livery. I took a seat at Gate 10 and people watched until boarding began.

Northwest (Mesaba?) CRJ-200 in the old NWA Livery:



FIDS in Portland:



Around 14:00, the Gate Agent let us know the inbound aircraft from JFK was running late by about 15 minutes. No big deal, as I had a full two hours in JFK. The only thing that bummed me out is I was going to try and get over to the International Terminal to see if I could spot the AF A380, and this would prevent that. Ah well. The inbound aircraft got in around 14:20, and the crew did a fairly quick turn, and we boarded up and pushed back from the gate at 14:51, 21 minutes late. After a quick safety demo, 6 minute taxi to Runway 29 (which bummed me out, I've NEVER taken off on 11, over the Harbor), we were airborne, with the Captain assuring us we'd only be 5-10 minutes late in JFK.

1A - Good Legroom.



I settled into my seat for the short, 45 minute flight. I was a bit worried about the Bulkhead, as I know they have a bit less legroom, but I was pleasantly surprised. Nobody next to me helped, but I would've been fine regardless. Passenger Load was 85%. While JetBlue has great IFE with DirecTV, I stared out the window for the whole flight, as I love the ride down the coast. Since the flight was so short, they did an express snack and beverage service. I just had a bottle of water and some animal crackers, no Blue Chips were offered, which I love.

View right after takeoff of the Maine Coastline.



Unfortunately there was decent cloud cover, so I couldn't get too many photos...



Descending towards New York.



We touched down on Runway 31R at 15:45, and taxied to the brand new Terminal 5 fairly quickly. The sun was pretty harsh against the windows here, so I only have one somewhat decent shot of the ramp, especially since I was just using my iPhone. We pulled into Gate 2 at 15:55, just 6 minutes late.

Singapore Airlines 747 in Star Alliance Livery, along with an Emirates 777.



After getting off the aircraft, I realized I had a solid 90 minutes to spare, so I'd walk around and experience the brand new Terminal 5 at JFK. I was instantly impressed. The place is immaculate, with tons of places to eat and a nice open, clean feel. Views of the Ramp and Active were limited though, so I didn't get to see much.

Terminal 5



FIDS in JFK




Route: JFK-SJC
Date: 1/12/10
Flight: B6 173
Aircraft: Airbus A320
Registration: N629JB "Bright Lights, Blue City"
Seat #: 10A
Scheduled Departure: 17:57
Actual Departure: 17:57
Scheduled Arrival: 21:45
Actual Arrival: 20:51

Photo of Aircraft:


View Large View Medium

Photo © Matthew I. Smith


After grabbing a quick bite from the food court, I headed over to Gate 12 to check and see if I could grab a seat assignment for my JFK-SJC leg. Agent quickly handed me a boarding pass for 3C, which bummed me out because it wasn't a Window. Boarding began nice and early, but as I was in the front, I waited until the end to get on. One thing that immediately struck me was the automated boarding announcements. I wasn't sure what to make of those. I see the pros and cons for them. While waiting in line on the jet bridge, the gate agent came down and told me a new seat assignment, so he could get a family together. 10A! Exit Row Window! Imagine my surprise upon boarding when there was nobody next to me! A whole Exit Row to myself! Which was pretty amazing considering the Passenger Load was about 90%. We pushed back on time, and had another short, 13 minute taxi, taking off at 18:10 from Runway 31L.

Crazy Legroom!



Angle View, showing the nice and empty Exit Row 10.



After takeoff, I moved over to 10B, to have a reclining seat. I stretched out, flipped on the LiveMap on the PTV next to me, and watched some CNN Coverage of the Quake in Haiti until Snack and Beverage service started. I grabbed a little of everything, and a Ginger Ale to drink. This would be the only Meal/Drink service on the flight however, which was slightly disappointing. Captain had the seat-belt sign turned off for almost the whole flight, except for a bit of a bumpy stretch over the Rockies. I became engrossed in the book I had picked up for the trip, and before I knew it we were descending into San Jose, touching down at 20:45 on Runway 12R, a full hour early. Pulled into the gate at 20:51, which was a problem, as my friend wasn't supposed to pick me up until 22:00ish.

San Jose's airport is showing it's age, but they are apparently renovating it to improve on it. I walked quickly down to Baggage Claim, which was a ZOO, and waited curbside for my friend, enjoying the nice 60 degree temperatures. Luckily he had been tracking my flight like I suggested and he picked me up after only 10 minutes of waiting.


Quick highlights of the week include going into San Jose to see the Bruins/Sharks game at the Shark Tank, and spending a day around Santa Cruz. For the most part we just hung out, it had been more than a year since I had seen him...

The HP Pavilion in San Jose



View from the seats inside "The Shark Tank."



Cliffs near Santa Cruz









Santa Cruz







Route: SJC-JFK
Date: 1/16/10
Flight: B6 174
Aircraft: Airbus A320
Registration: N729JB "If You Can Read This, You're Blue Close"
Seat #: 25F
Scheduled Departure: 22:40
Actual Departure: 22:33
Scheduled Arrival: 06:56
Actual Arrival: 06:46

Photo of Aircraft:


View Large View Medium

Photo © Suresh A. Atapattu


After a great 4 days in lovely California, it was time to head back to Maine. Got to the airport around 9:15. Check in was a breeze, though the agent was a bit puzzled with my "Air Wisconsin" badge and PWM SIDA badge, haha. I nabbed another window seat, albeit in the back of the 'bus. JetBlue has one of the last departures of the night from SJC, so the terminal was empty, save for a few Mexicana flights.

FIDS in San Jose, not a lot going on.



We boarded on time and pushed back from the gate 7 minutes early. Passenger Load was ~80%, and once again, I had nobody in the seat next to me. Aircraft was very new, and it showed.

25F - Not bad for the last row.



With a quick taxi to Runway 12L, we were airborne at 22:40 and on the way east. As this was a red-eye, service was one quick beverage run and a small snack run. Crew was a bit snobby, no apologies for running out of snacks halfway through, but I wasn't complaining, I got a seat. That's all that matters as a non-rev. I quickly fell asleep and woke up on descent into JFK, with a touchdown on Runway 4R at 06:41, pulling into the gate at 06:46, 10 minutes early. The aircraft parked next to us was one of the ones repainted in JetBlue's "new" Livery. I must say, I didn't think the difference would be very noticeable, but seeing the old and the new parked next to each other, I was impressed. It stands out much more.


Route: JFK-PWM
Date: 1/17/10
Flight: B6 600
Aircraft: Embraer E190
Registration: N187JB "Dream Come Blue"
Seat #: 22A
Scheduled Departure: 09:25
Actual Departure: 09:25
Scheduled Arrival: 10:44
Actual Arrival: 10:28

Photo of Aircraft:


View Large View Medium

Photo © Josh Akbar


Grabbed a very tasty Sausage and Cheese Omelet with Home Fries for Breakfast, and got ready to take the last leg home to PWM. Got my seat assignment (another window!) well before boarding, and was first on board the aircraft. Passenger Load was 25% at most.

Another E190 next to us.



First on board.



22A - 4/4 flights on the window with nobody next to me.



Video of Takeoff and Climbout

We taxied to 4L and took off at 09:37, and the flight was a smooth and uneventful one. A quick drink service was all there was time for, but that wasn't a big deal. Started talking with the Flight Attendant, she was looking forward to a short 3 leg day, ending up home at MCO. Captain told us wind was coming out of the north in Portland, which got my hopes up. In all my times leaving PWM, I've never had the pleasure to land on 29, and do the Harbor Visual Approach. If you've never seen it, check out this video, you won't be disappointed.

Video of Approach and Landing

I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up, however, as we did not land on 29 after all, but landed from the west on 11, touching down at 10:25, and pulling into the Gate, ending my trip, at 10:28. I took a walk out to the ramp to grab a picture of the bird that brought me home...

Dream Come Blue




All in all I was very happy with the trip. JetBlue's crewmembers are fantastic, from the great folks in PWM that allowed me to non-rev on them in the first place, to the agents in JFK and SJC, giving me my choice of seats and seat assignments early. The flight attendants were good for the most part, and I enjoyed talking with them and the flight crew about my love for aviation. Great employees make the trip, for sure.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy! Please give me your comments and criticisms, this is my first real trip report with photos, so let me know how to make the next one better! I promise I'll have something better than my iPhone to take pictures with soon!

[Edited 2010-02-01 08:35:24]