I decided I would do an American nonstop from JFK-PHX. It would only be my second time flying on a 737 MAX. I was not sure what I wanted to do for the flight back, and would figure that out once I got to Phoenix. I started to get ready around 11:00am, and left for the airport at Noon. By 12:30pm I was walking into the AirTrain, and by 12:40pm I was walking into Terminal 8
American 2829
New York, NY (JFK) – Phoenix, AZ (PHX)
Boeing 737 MAX 8
N318SF
Seat 21A
Scheduled Departure Time – 1:20pm
Actual Departure Time- 1:43pm
Scheduled Arrival Time – 5:13pm
Actual Arrival Time- 4:51pm
5 hours 8 minutes
They had started boarding pretty early. I got to the gate around 12:50pm, 30 minutes before departure. They were about 3/4 of the way the way through boarding. The gate agent had assigned me 9C, an aisle towards the front. I checked the app and saw a window was open in 21A. She was able to move me, and luckily I ended up with the row to myself
21A with N793AN taxiing to the gate, after arriving from Barcelona
N920DU taxiing to the gate, after arriving from Phoenix
The door was closed at 1:19pm, one minute early, and we were pushing a few minutes after that. As we started to push the flight attendant made an announcement, that the Federal Mask Mandate was in effect, and that masks were required to be worn on all flights. After a few seconds he paused, and said actually never mind masks aren’t required anymore. The engines were started, and the pilots called ground that we were ready to taxi at November – Bravo. We were instructed to follow a company American 737 from our right to runway 31L, and were cleared to cross 4L at Juliet
Taxiing past Terminal 2, that was recently closed
Taxiing across 4L, where the American 777 had a Runway Incursion last week and forced the Delta 737 to abort its takeoff
We didn’t have to wait long at the end. An Endeavor CRJ-900 had to get out of line due to a maintenance issue that came up. Once they were out of the way, we were next in line
“American 2829 wind 310 @ 20 G 24 Runway 31L, Cleared for Takeoff”
“American 2829 turn left direct SKORR, contact NY Departure”
We checked in with Departure climbing out of 2.2 for 5,000ft. We were instructed to climb and maintain 11,000ft. We then got handed off to the next sector. They cleared us to Robbinsville (RBV) when we were leaving 11,000ft
It wasn’t long until we were on top of the clouds. It was a little bumpy in the climb, but it smoothed out once we leveled off at 30,000ft. It was a pretty solid overcast layer, that didn’t break up until 2 and a half hours into the flight
About 45 minutes after takeoff the flight attendants came through with the service. I used to fly these flights from the East Coast to Phoenix all the time. I was so used to 5 + hour flights. But now I don’t fly them nearly as often. But this flight was decent, and went by fairly quickly. I spent the flight watching some shows I had downloaded on my phone
About half way through the flight, the clouds finally started to dissipate. I could actually see the ground again
About 3 and a half hours into the flight I got up once. While I was waiting for the bathroom, I talked to one of the flight attendants. He said that they had a long day. They were doing this flight, followed by a two hour sit and then a flight to Kansas City. I told him I had just been there the day before
A little over an hour before landing, the flight attendants came through a second time. This time with just drinks, no snacks
Getting closer
Over Gallup, NM (GUP) joining the EAGUL6 arrival from the northeast to PHX. This arrival hadn’t changed since I first went to PHX almost 9 years ago
About 25 minutes before landing the captain, announced the initial descent. He said we had 135 miles left to the field. It was a nice day in Phoenix with scattered clouds and 57 degrees. There was a surprisingly thick cloud layer during the arrival, but by the time we got to Sky Harbor it was indeed scattered. The flaps were lowered pretty early, before we even hit 10,000ft
We checked in with Phoenix Approach descending out of 18,100ft via the EAGUL6 arrival with information Papa. The controller told us to expect a visual approach to Runway 26
In the row in front of me was a couple, and their baby. On the descent the guy went to the bathroom. When he came back he randomly sat in the aisle in my row for the rest of the flight
A very familiar sight came into view, as we started the final descent
We were slowed to 170 knots, and the controller pointed out the airport at our 1 o’clock position in 15 miles. We were then told to continue on the arrival and cleared for a visual approach
Final 26
Short final
It was a pretty smooth touchdown
The flight attendant made the arrival announcement. A few seconds after he finished another flight attendant came on, and said that it was that flight attendants very first flight out of training. She asked us to give him a round of applause for a great job he did, and to welcome him to American. She thanked everyone for being a great group of passengers for his very first flight. The last time I was on a flight where it was the flight attendants first flight, a pair of scissors were found during boarding and we had to deplane. Then after we took off there was an issue with an engine, and we had to divert. We arrived at our destination about 7 hours late. Luckily this flight wasn’t as eventful as the other one
We pulled into the gate, and N575UW pulled in right behind us and parked next to us after a flight from Charlotte
The next flight for N318SF was to Las Vegas
I had 6 hours or so before the redeye flights were leaving. The first thing I did was walk around Terminal 4. The terminal this day was packed with people. The last time I was at Sky Harbor was when I moved out of my apartment in May 2020. It was at the very beginning of Covid, when flights were completely empty. My flights to Phoenix had 11 and 18 people on the A321s. So, it was good to see the airport busy again with lots of flights and people
N7876A had arrived the night before from Denver, and departed the next morning to Chicago – Midway
N738EV at gate B16, before a flight to Oklahoma City
N247LR taxiing out of the ramp, before a flight to Houston. This is a sight that won’t be at PHX anymore once Mesa stops flying for American
C-GVWA taxiing to the gate, after arriving from Calgary
N460WN after arriving from Cancun. When I was in Phoenix, Southwest didn’t fly to Mexico. It was only an American 757 that flew to Cancun
N124US after arriving from Mexico City. Its next flight was to Bakersfield, CA
N504SY had been in Phoenix for 5 days. Later in the day it had a quick flight to Tucson
After this I headed out on the parking garages, where I spent years watching plane takeoff and land
N318SF
N408AS arriving from PAE. Alaska only used to fly to PDX, SEA and ANC. PAE was a new route since I had last been here
N302AS without winglets taking runway 25R, for a flight up to Seattle
N871HK a 2 month old, new “old colors” 737 pushing back for a flight to Oakland
N866NN holding short before a late afternoon flight to Chicago – O’Hare
N285WN at the gate after arriving from San Diego
N8754S arriving from Honolulu. It was new to me seeing Southwest fly Phoenix – Hawaii. Just like Cancun, it also used to only be American 757s
N368FR after arriving from Salt Lake City
N8757L departing for a quick flight across the desert to San Diego
N27519 pulling into the gate, after arriving from Chicago
N14219 at gate E3, getting ready for a flight to Denver
G-XWBK after arriving from London – Heathrow. The Speedbird flight used to be a 747-400
N491UA at gate E1 after a flight from Los Angeles
N920WN pushed back for a flight to Dallas Love Field
N827SY taxiing after landing from Duluth, MN
N966NK taxiing out of the ramp for a flight to a Minneapolis
N277NV pushing back for a flight to Provo, UT. When I lived in Phoenix, Allegiant only flew out of Mesa – Gateway not Sky Harbor
N373HA after a flight from Honolulu, and C-GFWX from Toronto. Air Canada used to be in Terminal 4
A couple United 737s parked for the night
N301FR pushed back for a flight to Vegas, N344FR getting ready to push for a redeye to Orlando and last but not least, N949JT was doing the jetBlue redeye to JFK
N922NK pulling into the gate after a flight from Fort Lauderdale. Another new flight since I had last been here. Spirit used to only fly DFW and seasonally MSP-PHX
JBU136 pushing back for JFK. This was a flight that I have taken several times
N982NN at gate B14, after arriving from Indianapolis
N917UY was heading up to Portland, OR. I have flown on this plane from Phoenix – Charlotte
N657AW was preparing for a late night flight to Sacramento, California
Later in the evening, it was time to figure how I was getting back to NY. I would have liked to have stayed a little longer and left the airport, but I just didn’t have the time. My options were a jetBlue A320 to Boston, a Delta 757-200 to JFK, a Delta 757-300 to Detroit, American A321 to Charlotte, or United 737-700 to Chicago. These were all redeye’s that I have taken from Phoenix before. They all had plenty of open seats. I was leaning towards one of the Delta 757s or the jetBlue A320. The Delta flights because I love the 757, and jetBlue because my first trip to Phoenix, I flew a jetBlue A320 from JFK-PHX, and the redeye PHX-JFK. I also used to fly jetBlue from Phoenix all the time. Ultimately, I decided on the jetBlue A320. I listed myself for the flight, and checked in on the app. I was one of two standby’s, with 68 open seats. After this I headed back to Terminal 3
N447AN was the American flight from Phoenix-Boston that night
N837DN was the other PHX-BOS redeye that night. This is a pretty new route for Delta. Only about a month old
The lights in the terminal were out, and it was pretty dark. It was getting everyone ready for their overnight flights
N17122 was flying to Newark
N513DZ to Minneapolis. This flight was empty with 270 open seats
N586NW to Detroit
N699DL was going to JFK
I then headed over to my flight to get my seat. The plane was pulling into the gate, just as I was walking up. I went up to the gate agent, and told her I had listed for the flight. She looked confused. She said she was brand new, and asked if I minded waiting for the other person working to come back up. The crew working the flight was there, so I talked with them for a few minutes while I waited for the gate agent to come back. The gate area got chaotic once passengers from the inbound plane started to deplane. Apparently there had been a medical emergency at the end of the flight. Paramedics met the plane at the gate, because a passenger needed oxygen. There was another passenger who had some type of an issue with the crew and they had told the gate agent they wanted police to get involved. The agent called them, and the passenger was yelling at her that what she was telling the police was incorrect, and in fact the crew had threatened her. It was also showing about 20 minutes delayed, and a woman was arguing with the gate agent about her connection to Pittsburgh and if she missed her connection if jetBlue would book her on another airline. By the time this was all done, the agent had given me my seat in row 6 and I was allowed to board.
jetBlue 1302
Phoenix, AZ (PHX) – Boston, MA (BOS)
Airbus A320
N519JB
Seat 6A
Scheduled Departure Time – 11:50pm
Actual Departure Time- 12:34am
Scheduled Arrival Time – 6:32am
Actual Arrival Time- 6:49am
4 hours 15 minutes
N519JB at gate F4, after arriving from Boston
Boarding
I was in for a surprise when I got to the end of the jetway, when I looked at the plane and saw gray seats. I did a doubletake. I had heard that there were still some jetBlue A320s with the original interior, but had forgotten about it since it had been so long since I had seen it. I just assumed this plane would have the new interior, like every other airbus I have flown on the last few years. I was excited to be flying on it again. The last A320 with the old interior I flew was N828JB from CHS-BOS in July 2020. Overall I like it better because it reminds of the old jetBlue, and flying their A320s when I was younger to JFK. There was only one issue. I was counting on having somewhere to charge my phone. When I boarded it was only at 70%. I had a portable charger that doesn’t work great that I ended up having to use. I kept it charging the entire flight and my phone didn’t even make it to 80%. But at least it didn’t lose any power. I feel like the seats our also little more comfortable. But it is a very dated interior, with the tiny TVs and no chargers/USB
Just what I like to see. An entire row to myself
6A, with the Delta 737 pushing back to Boston
The captain came out of the cockpit to make his announcement. He mentioned that due to the medical emergency on the first flight and the fact that oxygen was used, maintenance was finishing up the paperwork for them. As soon as they were done, we would be able to depart. After about 15 minutes the door was closed, and we quickly pushed
As we were taxiing to 25R, the pilots reported FOD on the ramp. The ground controller told two Frontier airbuses that were also taxiing. One entered the ramp, and said they also saw a lot of it all over the ramp. The other Frontier held off on entering the ramp until it was cleaned up
jetBlue 1302 wind 260 @ 4, Runway 25R cleared for takeoff
We checked in with Phoenix Departure climbing out of 3,000 for 8,000 on the MRBIL1
We were cleared to 21,000 and to MRBIL, before being handed off to Albuquerque Center
Once we passed 10,000ft, the climb shallowed out. For a while we were only doing 700fpm
We went up to 35,000ft, where we stayed for the entire flight. It was a little bumpy in the climb, but smoothed out not long after we leveled off. Shortly after reaching cruise, the flight attendants came through with drinks and snacks. A lot of people must have already been asleep, or didn’t want anything. I was in row 6, and the flight attendant only stopped for one other person before reaching my row. At first I wasn’t tired and messed around on my phone for the first hour. Not long after leaving, just like on the way in a solid cloudy layer formed under us. It stayed for most of the flight, so there wasn’t much to look at
Cruising
Eventually I was able to fall asleep. I felt like I kept waking up every 15 minutes, but there is no way I was up for the entire flight. I was able to sleep more then I realized because when I finally woke up, we were already over New York and it was starting to get light outside
Starting the descent
Into the clouds
It was a dark, overcast morning in Boston
The pilots checked in on the ILS 33L and that we were parking at gate C26. Tower cleared us to land, and that taxiway Quebec was the first available turn off
It was another smooth touchdown, with minimal braking. We rolled out to taxiway November
Taxiing to the gate
Pulling into the gate next to N506JB getting ready for a flight to Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic. N506JB was the plane I flew on my very first flight across the country, from JFK-PDX back in 2006.
The next flight for N519JB, was back across the country to San Diego
The only other place that I’ve seen that has the old jetBlue signage, is the counter at PDX
N57864 was about to depart to San Francisco
N197JB was getting ready for a flight Miami
It was a quick walk over to my next gate, for my last flight to JFK
American Eagle “Republic” 4302
Boston, MA (BOS) – New York, NY (JFK)
Embraer E-175
N409YX
Seat 3A
Scheduled Departure Time – 8:03am
Actual Departure Time- 8:12am
Scheduled Arrival Time – 9:30am
Actual Arrival Time- 9:01am
49 minutes
Boarding
3A
It wasn’t a full flight, probably only about half full. Most of first class was airline people. The door was closed early, and we were able to get deiced quickly at the gate. Once this was done, we taxied out to runway 33L and took off
It was a quick flight, and we only spent a few minutes at 20,000ft before we started descending
When we departed BOS, they were using 31L/R at JFK. But by the time we got there, they had switched it around to 4L/R
It was a smooth touchdown
It was a quick taxi to Terminal 8. We pulled into gate 36, next to N114HQ getting ready for a flight to Nashville
The next flight for N409YX was to Raleigh
I was glad I went even though it was a super quick visit. I spent years flying in and out of PHX. It is one of my favorite airports, and was glad I finally got to go again. It has been a while since I had been to Phoenix, or flown on the old interior A320. So, it was cool I got to do both in one trip. This trip consisted of 3 flights covering 10 hours 12 minutes, 4,842 miles, 3 airplanes and 3 airports.