This was also the first daytrip I had done in a while, where the flight was not leaving early in the morning. I got to the airport around an hour before departure.
American Eagle “Republic” 4559
Syracuse, NY (SYR) – Washington, DC Reagan (DCA)
Embraer E-175
N417YX
Seat 14A
Scheduled Departure Time – 11:45am
Actual Departure Time- 12:01pm
Scheduled Arrival Time – 1:10pm
Actual Arrival Time- 12:58pm
57 minutes
N417YX taxiing to the gate, after landing from DCA
Boarding
14A, next to N598NN that was going down to Charlotte
We pushed back right on time, at 11:45am. The engines were started, and a few minutes later we started to taxi. The main runway had been closed for the last 5 months, for construction. This would be my first time taking off from the main runway, since April. Runway 28 was the active this morning. Without stopping at all, we taxied on to the runway and took off
The pilots checked in with departure and were given one of the standard instructions. We were cleared to the Elmira (ULW) VOR, and instructed to maintain 10,000ft. A few minutes later, we were handed off to NY Center
On this flight we went up to 22,000ft for a few minutes. It got a little bumpy, so went down to 19,000ft for a little bit
On this flight, the flight attendants came through with drinks and pretzels. By the time the service was done, the pilots were announcing the initial descent
Descending on the SKILS4 arrival
The winds were light out of the south. This meant runway 19 was in use, and the river visual. This was only the second time, I have landed runway 19 at DCA
It was a pretty smooth touchdown
My second flight of the day, was also going to be on N417YX. I deplaned, and a few minutes later I was back on board. It was also the same crew, as the first flight
N417YX in between flights
American Eagle “Republic” 4653
Washington, DC Reagan (DCA) – Raleigh, NC (RDU)
Embraer E-175
N417YX
Seat 19A
Scheduled Departure Time – 1:55pm
Actual Departure Time- 2:27pm
Scheduled Arrival Time – 3:12pm
Actual Arrival Time- 3:09pm
42 minutes
Back on N417YX
There were open seats, so the flight attendant was moving people around so everyone could get their own seats. We pushed back a few minutes early, and slowly made our way out to runway 19. We also had to hold short for several arrivals. We ended up taking off at 2:27pm, 35 minutes after we had pushed back
N833NN on short final from DFW
Holding behind N453YX, departing ahead of us to Nashville
Climbing out of DCA
On this flight we went up to 20,000ft. It was pretty bumpy throughout the entire flight. The flight attendants announced drinks would only be available on request
Cruising
Descending into RDU
Final 23R
It was a pretty hard touchdown, with heavy breaking. We quickly exited the runway, and taxied to gate C21
I had a few hours before my next flight. I went out to the top of the parking garage, to watch some planes. As soon as I went outside, I saw a go around.
N214WN from Fort Lauderdale going around
And, giving it a second try
N198JB was going to Boston
N329JB arriving 3 hours late, from Newark
N87319 to Houston
N866NN to Dallas
N83329 taking off, for the short flight up to Dulles
N288NN had flown up from Miami
N116HQ slowing down, after arriving from LaGuardia
N594NN from Charlotte
N222NS from Chicago
N238WN arriving from St Louis. It had been scheduled to fly up to Baltimore, but that flight ended up being cancelled. Instead, it spent the night and flew to Chicago the next morning
The plane I had flown in, N417YX departing back up to DCA
N230JQ to Boston
N920XJ departing to LGA. I had flown this plane from LGA-SYR, back in 2013
After less than an hour on the ground, N329JB was back in the air to Newark
N919DU arriving from Salt Lake City
N14219 landing from Chicago
N551AS arriving after a long flight from Seattle
N452UA departing for Denver
N6709 taxiing out to Atlanta. This was the flight before mine
N964AT arriving from DTW. I had flown this plane before, from MSP-JFK
N581UW from Charlotte
My next plane N670DN, arriving from Atlanta
N670DN on final
After my plane landed, I headed back inside
Delta 2624
Raleigh, NC (RDU) – Atlanta, GA (ATL)
Boeing 757-200
N670DN
Seat 29A
Scheduled Departure Time – 6:25pm
Actual Departure Time- 6:46pm
Scheduled Arrival Time – 7:55pm
Actual Arrival Time- 7:40pm
54 minutes
Boarding started around 5:40pm. They made announcements that they were going to try to have an early departure
Boarding
29A. It always cool at this point when you get to fly on a 757 without winglets
N140UP arrived from Louisville, and spent a little while on the ground before flying up to Buffalo
N964AT taxiing back out to Detroit
N629JB arriving from Orlando, and departed later to Los Angeles. I have flown on N629JB twice before, from JFK-SYR way back in 2006, and PDX-JFK in 2012
N358JB being towed to the gate. It had arrived earlier in the afternoon from Montego Bay, and departed the next morning to Cancun. I didn’t know that jetBlue flew so many places from RDU. I assume they started some of these flights in the last year
N238JQ pulled into the gate next to us, after landing from Boston
The captain welcomed us aboard. He said “there really isn’t much to say, it’s a nice night for flying”. A few minutes later we pushed back, and taxied to runway 23R
As we were taxiing, we pulled off to the side. The captain announced that we had a 6:45pm wheels up time. It would be about 10 minutes, before we would be able to depart. This was the first flight I had been on since last March, that we had to wait on a wheels up time
A few minutes before 6:45, the second engine was started
Line Up and Wait
We climbed up to 28,000ft, for the short flight to Atlanta. The flight attendants came through with drinks and snacks. It was a nice sunset, as we flew towards Atlanta
View from the last row
Cruising
About 25 minutes before landing, we started a gradual descent towards ATL
Descending on the OZZZI1 arrival
Final 26R
Touchdown
My last flight was supposed to be on N332NW. After landing I checked my next flight, and at the last minute they switched it to N338NW. I checked to see where it was. It was actually taxiing directly behind us. It had landed right behind us from Milwaukee
There was a plane at our gate, so we had to wait a while for our gate to open. We ended up getting to the gate about 25 minutes after landing. By the time I got to the next gate, boarding started shortly after
N900PC from New Orleans. This was the other flight I had been debating about taking
Pulling into the gate, next to N930DZ getting ready to depart to Newark
N670DN at gate B6. It had one last flight up to Pittsburgh, before it was done for the night
Delta 1618
Atlanta, GA (ATL) – Syracuse, NY (SYR)
Airbus A320
N338NW
Seat 13A
Scheduled Departure Time – 8:45pm
Actual Departure Time- 8:52pm
Scheduled Arrival Time – 10:50pm
Actual Arrival Time- 10:47pm
1 hour 55 minutes
13A, N827DN was going to Columbus, OH
We ended up pushing 6 minutes early. The engines were quickly started. It was a quick taxi out to runway 26L. There were only a few planes ahead of us. So after waiting for a few minutes, it was our turn. We followed a Southwest 737 going to LGA off the parallel runway
Taxiing to 26L
“Delta 1618, RNAV MPASS runway 26L cleared for takeoff”
Climbing out of ATL on the PADGT2 departure
We climbed up to flight level 310. At one point we went up to 350 for a little bit, before going back down to 310. It was a pretty smooth flight up to Syracuse
Cruising
Descending
We checked in with Syracuse Approach, as we were leveling off at 11,000ft. It was a clear night, with light winds. We were given an easterly heading, and vectored for a visual approach to runway 28
Final runway 28
Pulling into the gate, next to N166PQ that had arrived a few minutes before us from JFK. I flew N166PQ 9 years ago from CLE-ATL, back in 2012
N338NW flew back down to Atlanta early in the morning
This was a pretty last minute trip. It was good to be able to fly a Delta Airbus into SYR, and I got to go to an airport I had not been to yet.