Red + White + Junkanoo! 4th of July Island Hopping : American/American Eagle ✈
Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2016 9:45 pm
tripreportcover by JC Ventura, on FlickrIn May 2015 I finally made my dream a reality and earned my wings, I became a flight attendant for a division of American Eagle. Over the past year I have been able to travel all over the United States, Canada, Latin America, and the Caribbean. I am living my dream. Over the 4th of July 2016 weekend I picked up a 2 day trip out of our MIA base that would have me island hopping to the Bahamas and Key West, with a nice long layover in Freeport, Grand Bahama Island. I decided to document this trip to have you experience it with me through the eyes of a flight attendant. Buckle up, let's fly.
leg1 by JC Ventura, on FlickrBeing based in LGA, this trip required that I "deadhead" down to our MIA base to begin the working part of my trip. The day began nice and early with a 0500 show at LGA. Luckily at that time, I was able to score a relatively inexpensive UBER ride from the Upper East Side of Manhattan to LaGuardia - door to door in 15 minutes. I arrived in LGA at 0420; as in with any other trip, I walked over to the crew room to check on things, and then made my way to D gates in Terminal B for my flight to MIA. Being a holiday weekend did not help the long lines at the TSA/Security check point, even at 0445. I quickly made my way thru the sleepy New Yorkers towards the crew line, with my latte in hand of course; quietly dodging the "why does he get to skip security" stares. I cringe everytime, I do wish security was quicker for passengers.
After sitting down for a bit, enjoying my latte, and people watching in the gate area the energy around me began to build up. If you are from Miami (as I am originally), the Caribbean, Latin America, and/or a frequent AA traveler to these parts of the world - it is a social scene. People begin standing around chatting, drinking coffee, applying even more makeup, planning on what they are going to do when they get to their final destination. It never gets old, the excitement (the good, the bad, or the ugly) is contagious and I salute our mainline and Eagle agents that deal with all this commotion day in and day out at stations like LGA, JFK, and MIA. A few minutes before boarding the very warm and friendly gate agent called me up to upgrade me to first class and quickly whispers "go ahead and board honey". I quickly nodded, said my thank yous, and began to stew stomp towards the boarding door of this new A319EOW.
I was met at the door by young fresh faced, blonde American girl, and her two fellow stews. One, a seasoned and elegant latina flight attendant who's look rivaled that of Sofia Loren and her two younger counter parts who were fresh faced, high heel wearing, energetic stews that clearly represent the new American. It is amazing to see the dynamic and shift of what once was. I love seeing the mix of crews now on American - Bravo!
I was shocked to see that the new A319EOW have only 8 seats in first class (Our Eagle 170/175 fleet has 8, 9, or 12 first class seats) ! Leg room was not the most adequate but the seats and recline was quite generous and comfortable. The flight was pretty uneventful after our bumpy climb out and leveling off. Breakfast was OK, I almost prefer the granola/yogurt and fresh fruit platters as part of our Eagle first class offerings. The entertainment system though was phenomenal! Below are some pics from my LGA-MIA leg - Enjoy!
A319EOW winglet and the classic (soon to be gone!) American Airlines hangars at LGA:
IMG_3206 by JC Ventura, on FlickrClimb out over Rickers Island the sun starts shine out east over Long Island and the coast:
IMG_3207 by JC Ventura, on FlickrAfter banking left over the Bronx, we cross the beautiful Hudson River looking north towards the Hudson River Valley:
IMG_3212 by JC Ventura, on FlickrA319EOW PED:
IMG_3214 by JC Ventura, on FlickrCool and modern remote with toggle and keyboard in the back for the PED:
IMG_3219 by JC Ventura, on FlickrEgg/Protein Breakfast Option:
IMG_3221 by JC Ventura, on FlickrOn our final approach into MIA, our neighbors to the south start showing up on our flight map:
IMG_3230 by JC Ventura, on FlickrSun shines upon the Broward coast between Dania and Hallandale Beach:
IMG_3226 by JC Ventura, on FlickrFLL peeks thru the clouds as we zoom down to MIA:
IMG_3227 by JC Ventura, on FlickrWelcome to MiAAmi:
IMG_3235 by JC Ventura, on Flickr
leg1 (1) by JC Ventura, on FlickrAfter landing in Gate 17 in MIA, I checked in with my crew who was already waiting for me in the D60 corridor. I jumped on the sky train and began my trek to the D60 gates while getting some nice views of the AApron. Check them out!
Clearly we know who the leAAder in AAir trAAvel is in MiAAmi:
IMG_3237 by JC Ventura, on FlickrAA 738 getting geared up for departure:
IMG_3239 by JC Ventura, on FlickrAfter getting off at Sky Train station 4 I made my way towards the Eagle gates, unfortunately we would not be boarding thru the 2 dedicated Eagle jet bridges but thru the D60 Eagle finger gates. The infamous Eagle lower level gates, like those in DCA and PHL but the MIA gates have far better destinations like La Romana, Fort de France, Roatan, Holguin, Cozumel to name a few. As I made my way down the escalator that rush went thru my body like everytime I work a flight out of MIA. You hear the gate agents calling passengers for "Nassau, Key West, La Romana, Exuma, Atlanta, New Orleans, Pittsburgh, Cozumel" all at once, your adrenaline kicks in - it's go time. I made my way thru the sea of connecting passengers heading to sunnier destinations or heading home after vacation and waiting for their gate door to be called for boarding. The doors opened after clearing the crew check in line and the humidity hits you immediately, welcome to Miami.
After getting the aircraft ready, we boarded 25 minutes prior to departure. We would be 85% full today to Freeport and our flight was just a short 25 minutes! Our first class cabin was completely full (12F) and our Main Cabin section was almost pretty full (54Y out of 64Y). All the passengers were ready to begin their week long holidays in Grand Bahama or connecting to smaller islands nearby but like in many cases we also have a lot of local Bahamians that travel with American.
Let's fly!:
IMG_3241 by JC Ventura, on FlickrAfter landing in Freeport, we deplaned, met the other crew on the tarmac said our hello's and goodbye's and entered the islands of Bahamas ready to begin 20 hours of fun in the sun Lucaya on Grand Bahama Island. A one leg day, after deadheading from New York; I was not complaining.
Saying goodbye to our beautiful girl in the Bahamas:
IMG_3242 by JC Ventura, on FlickrAnd now, pictures from our amazing layover in Lucaya/Freeport/Grand Bahama Island:
IMG_3247 by JC Ventura, on Flickr
IMG_3252 by JC Ventura, on Flickr
IMG_3255 by JC Ventura, on Flickr
IMG_3260 by JC Ventura, on Flickr
IMG_3261 by JC Ventura, on Flickr
LEGS by JC Ventura, on FlickrAfter a sun drenched, rum punched kissed, 20 hours in Lucaya on Grand Bahama Island it was time to get back to the beautiful skies and bring our holiday travelers including ourselves home. This would be our longest day but a fun day consisting of 5 quick legs island hopping back forth between Nassau, Miami, and Key West! Followed by a deadhead flight back to LGA in which not so surprisingly I fell asleep for. This last day was filled great passengers, my fellow flight attendant had never been to Key West period (another great overnight btw!) so it was exciting to let her stand in the tarmac and take in the ocean breezes. For my fellow avgeeks, just how mainline American is starting to crossfleet legacy US Airways planes on legacy American routes we are starting to do the same. MIA now sees both legacy US Airways Express/American Eagle 175's in the 80 seat configuration and also the PMAA New American Eagle 175's, What is becoming a rare treat now is flying on a US Airways Express branded plane and we go to do on our last 2 legs to NAS which are legacy American Eagle routes for years. Here are some pictures from our last day!
Don't let looks deceive you, that is a former US Airways Express 80 seater E175 sporting the red, white, and blue, and ready to takes us back to MIA from FPO on the 4th of July:
IMG_3269 by JC Ventura, on FlickrThe title says it all, EYW!:
IMG_3285 by JC Ventura, on FlickrEYW apron as Silver's 340B is dwarfed by the thunder clouds:
IMG_3284 by JC Ventura, on FlickrA little tech shot of the jet ramp originally for the 145's that were modified to fit our larger jets being pulled up to our legacy US Airways Express/American Eagle 175 for our turn to NAS from MIA:
IMG_3288 by JC Ventura, on FlickrSoon to be gone, classic livery, and a rare sight in MIA:
IMG_3289 by JC Ventura, on FlickrFellow American Eagle E175 being readied for boarding at MIA:
IMG_3287 by JC Ventura, on FlickrAlmost time for boarding!:
IMG_3291 by JC Ventura, on FlickrBlue Monday, literally, the skies, the ocean, approaching Andros Island in the Bahamas enroute to NAS:
IMG_3296 by JC Ventura, on FlickrMiAAmi, always a pleasure...back to NYC we go!:
IMG_3302 by JC Ventura, on FlickrI hope you enjoyed my trip report, be well, fly safe, now please place your mobile phones to airplane mode
IMG_3306 by JC Ventura, on Flickr