Took a little weekend trip to Juneau, here's the brief report. In fact not a whole lot to say as both flights were excellent and, perhaps best of all, on time!

July 29, 2005
AS 74
Route: ANC-JNU
Aircraft: Boeing 737-700
Departure gate: B6
Arrival gate: 3
Scheduled Departure: 7:53 PM
Scheduled Arrival: 9:29 PM

Left the office at 5:30 and caught the tail end of rush hour on Minnesota Drive heading to the airport. Parked in the garage (only $2 more than long term, why the hell not?) and made my way to the terminal. The AS check-in area was its usual summer maelstrom, but fortunately the MVP check-in was almost empty. I was fortunate to get a free MVP upgrade to first class, seat 1F.

The flight was only about half full, even in first class. Normally AS packs first class full of upgrades but not tonight. The seat next to me was empty. The 73G had winglets on it, making it the first 737 with winglets I had ever been on. And those things were f'n massive. They don't look too big from afar but up close they are impressive.

Took off to the north on runway 32 and watched Anchorage disappear in the haze. Ordered my usual straight Jack Daniels on the rocks and enjoyed a light snack of crackers with some sort of dip. Actually rather good. Flight time was announced as 1 hour, 21 minutes. Cloudy the whole way, and soon enough we started our descent over Glacier Bay with the Chilkat Range poking through the clouds. If you've never flown into JNU, I highly recommend doing so if only for the incredibly fun approach. Came down over Lynn Canal, made a sharp right turn over the ferry terminal and came in low, and I do mean LOW, over Auke Bay and landed on runway 8 at JNU.

Here's a few pictures:

Our 73G parked next to a NW 753 at B11 bound for MSP.


A DL 763 to ATL and an AA 752 to DFW lining up on runway 32 at ANC.


Out over the Gulf of Alaska.


The Chilkat Range on approach into JNU.


On finals to JNU.


July 31, 2005
AS 77
Route: JNU-ANC
Aircraft: Boeing 737-400
Departure gate: 4
Arrival gate: C6
Scheduled Departure: 7:15 PM
Scheduled Arrival: 8:56 PM

No first class upgrade on this flight back to ANC, although I was in 6F which is almost as good, especially on the 734's which feature a cutout for your feet on the bulkhead. Our inbound plane arrived on time from GST (Glacier Bay) and boarding commenced soon after. Load factor was around 80%, and again the seat next to me was empty.

We took off to the north on runway 8, and had excellent views of Mendenhall Glacier and Berners Bay on departure. Again, the flight was cloudy the whole way across the Gulf. Flight time was announced at 1 hour, 29 minutes. Flight attendants did a beverage service and passed out bags of Kettle chips to us minions in coach. Actually the service was very pleasant and friendly. For some reason the intra-Alaska routes on AS seem much more relaxed than the lower 48 routes, I think because Alaskans are just used to traveling.

Started our descent 110 miles east of ANC out over the Valdez area and came in over the Chugach Range and Cook Inlet, doing the 180 degree turn over Fire Island and landing on 6R (although I guess it's now 7R due to the magnetic pole moving). A brief taxi over to C6 and I made my way to the baggage claim for the usual 40 minute wait for luggage. The ANC operation for AS seems ridiculously understaffed, especially for such a major hub for AS. Baggage always takes a long time to arrive, and it didn't help matters that they switched claims and didn't bother to announce it. But other than that, yet another good trip on AS. They seem to be righting the ship after the disasters of early summer. Here's a few more pictures.

AS 71 bound for GST sitting at gate 4 at JNU.


Gate 4 at JNU.


The Juneau Icefield on departure.