jetBlue 1880
Fort Lauderdale, FL (FLL) – Washington DC, (DCA)
Airbus A320
N706JB
Seat 6A
Scheduled Departure Time – 6:25pm
Actual Departure Time- 6:40pm
Scheduled Arrival Time – 8:59pm
Actual Arrival Time- 8:42pm
2 hours 2 minutes
I got to the gate, just as N706JB was pulling in from Westchester, NY
This would be my second time flying on N706JB. The first time was in April 2008, from JFK-SYR. It was brand new at the time. It had been flying for less then a month. It was my first time flying on one of the updated jetBlue A320s, when the 700JB registered planes had been delivered with a newer interior from the original. Today it is 14 years old
Boarding started at 5:50pm, with a lot of wheel chairs. It took a while to get everyone on, and the door was closed at 6:22pm. We started pushing 1 minute late, at 6:26pm
6A
Once the engines were running, we taxied out to runway 10R. There were a few planes ahead of us, before it was our turn
“jetBlue 1880 wind [email protected] RNAV CLPSO, runway 10R cleared for takeoff”
Once we were in the air, tower advised us that the airplane departing the parallel was turning northbound and we were straight out, so they wouldn’t be a factor. We checked in with Miami departure, and were cleared to 16,000ft
Climbing out of FLL on the FEALX1 departure
We initially climbed to 33,000ft, for most of the flight. We then spent a little time at 31,000, and 29,000ft, before starting the descent
Cruising
Descending into DCA
The pilot checked in on the RNP approach to runway 19. A Delta A319 was cleared for takeoff, while we were on a 2 and a half mile final
Tower gave us runway 22 or taxiway Foxtrot for the turnoff. We took Foxtrot, and taxied to the gate
Pulling into the gate next to N339JB, that had arrived a little before us from Boston. I’ve flown N339JB from JFK-SYR before
N706JB spent the night at gate 26, and flew back down to Fort Lauderdale the next morning
The next day I rode in the jumpseat from DCA-LGA-DCA. It was a good experience. It was good to see everything I had learned in training on an actual flight. It was also super cool the first time I was in cockpit on a flight. After this I spent a few more days in DC. A few days later I was back at DCA, for my flight to Florida
N715JB was flying down to West Palm Beach. It was delayed 2 hours. I have flown this place twice before from Syracuse to JFK, and JFK to Cartagena, Colombia
N358JB taxiing for a flight to Boston
Delta Connection “Republic” 5657
Washington DC, (DCA) – New York, NY (JFK)
Embraer E-175
N213JQ
Seat 11A
Scheduled Departure Time – 11:23am
Actual Departure Time- 11:30am
Scheduled Arrival Time – 12:39pm
Actual Arrival Time- 12:10pm
40 minutes
N213JQ at the gate, after arriving from JFK
11A
The door was closed at 11:15, and we were pushing by 11:20am. On the way out to runway 1, the captain said that we had a wheels up time of 11:32am and it should only be a few minutes
It had been overcast all morning, but the clouds cleared up a little as we climbed out of DCA
We climbed up to 17,000ft, where we stayed for the quick flight to New York
It started to get overcast again, as we began descending
As we went into the clouds, the gear was lowered. After about a minute in the clouds, we broke out on the ILS 4L
Short final with N985JT holding short for a flight to San Francisco, and N907AN was heading to Charlotte
Rolling out, as N844MH taxies to 4L for a flight to Atlanta
N213JQ spent a few hours at gate C69, before its next flight to Columbus, Ohio
Since I had time until my next flight, I decided to go out and watch some planes
My next plane N375DN, on short final from Atlanta
N632JB taxiing for a flight to Nashville
N298JB taking off to Orlando
N999JQ lifting off of 4L, starting its flight down to Fort Myers
HP-1827CMP pulling into the gate, after a flight from Panama
N859DN taking off to Santiago, Dominican Republic
N994NN taking off to Phoenix
N962JT starting its cross country flight to Los Angeles
N845NN arriving from Fort Lauderdale
N827JB taxiing for a flight to West Palm Beach
Hl-8308 starting the 15 hour flight to Seoul
HL-8006 was also going to ICN
N645JB taking off to Nassau. I’ve flown this plane before twice when it still had the diamond tail from PHX-JFK, and JFK-PDX
EI-EAV arriving from Dublin
N854NW taxiing to the gate after arriving from Frankfurt
While I was outside I got a notification that the flight was delayed from 3:00pm, until 4:30pm. They had to replace our first officer. The new one was coming in on a flight from Miami
Delta 1164
New York, NY (JFK) – West Palm Beach, FL (PBI)
Airbus A321
N375DN
Seat 17A
Scheduled Departure Time – 3:00pm
Actual Departure Time- 5:01pm
Scheduled Arrival Time – 6:25pm
Actual Arrival Time- 7:48pm
2 hours 47 minutes
N375DN at gate C64. I had just flown on the same plane a week before
Boarding finally started around 4:00pm. There were over 100 open seats, so it didn’t long to get everyone onboard
17A, next to N831MH. It departed later in the evening to Madrid. I think this was the first time I’ve seen an international flight depart from Terminal 2, instead of Terminal 4
The captain made an announcement apologizing for the delay. He said it was due to a missing first officer, and that I beg for your forgiveness, and will make it up to you with a smooth flight. Once we pushed back, the engines were quickly started. There was a Delta A330 under tow, that was holding short of the taxiway that we were coming out of. Ground had him continue to move, but then a second later told him to stop so we could come out first
Getting in line behind EI-EJM, as it taxies for a flight to Rome
D-ABYN heading towards 22R, for its flight to Frankfurt
As we approached the other side of the airport, the ground controller had us taxi onto runway 31R and hold short of taxiway Delta. They had stopped departures, that were going over the WAVEY intersection. The ground controller told us we could expect new routing to be sent to us via CPDLC. After a few minutes of sitting the pilots told ATC they still hadn’t received it. The controller advised them they were still working on it, and would send it to us. We ended up sitting for about 15 minutes
N504JB pushing back to Milwaukee
N987JT pushing back for a long flight out to Seattle
N838MH had been taxiing behind us, they were heading to Las Vegas
N406DX was going to Amsterdam
N2027J taxiing to the gate, after arriving from Punta Cana
Eventually we got our new clearance. We would be on a more westerly routing, and would be departing over Robbinsville (RBV) VOR. This would require us to takeoff 31L from the Kilo-Echo intersection, since they were also using 22R. This meant we had to taxi back around to the other side of the airport, practically where we had started from
N958JB taking off to Fort Lauderdale
N607JB holding on 31L before starting its takeoff roll, for a flight across the country to Burbank
Line Up and Wait
After a 40 minute taxi and a 2 hour delay, we were in the air
Tower instructed us to turn left to the SKOOR intersection, and handed us off to NY Departure. We checked in with departure climbing 3,000ft, for 5,000ft. We were instructed to continue the climb to 11,000ft. We were quickly handed off to the next sector of NY Departure. The next controller gave us 17,000ft, and instructed us to proceed to RBV leaving 11,000ft. He also pointed out an area of moderate precipitation at our 11 o’clock position, a few miles in diameter
Despite all the clouds, it was a smooth climb to FL380
As we were passing 27,000ft, the captain made an announcement. He explained the reroute and delay on the ground at JFK. He once again apologized for the delay, and said they would do their best to hustle, and try to get some shortcuts. But there was some weather along the coast, that we would need to go on the backside of. It would add a little bit to our flight time
Cruising
Going around some weather
It started to get bumpy around North/South Carolina. The captain said that he was anticipating a smooth ride, but there was some clear air turbulence
Starting the descent
Final 10L
Short final
Touchdown
Pulling into the gate next to N715JB getting ready for a flight to Hartford. I had seen it earlier in the day up in DCA, and N828JB was getting ready for a flight to LaGuardia
N375DN flew right back up to JFK
It ended up being a long day with the delay just to fly from DC, to Florida. But I was glad I was able to ride in the jumpseat on the two flights. It was cool to be able to be up front for the first time. I should be having my first flights coming up soon