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On July 9th I had the opportunity to fly on United from PDX to DEN in the morning and then back to PDX from DEN Friday evening. This was my first time of flying on United in a few years, and I have to say all of my experiences with United and the employees on this day were all quite positive. I was left with the impression that the employees are really trying hard to improve United's service and improve the image of United. This was quite a positive change from when I last flew on United a few years ago and I am happy to see this. Following is my trip report from these flights.
My day started at the early morning hour of 4AM. I caught the Airport Light Rail at the Beaverton Transit Center at 5:00AM and arrived at PDX shortly before 6:00AM. I was expecting PDX to be very quiet that early in the morning and was surprised to see so many people and so much activity at PDX at 6AM. After about 15 minutes of waiting in line at the United ticket counter, I went through check-in and then quickly got through security for concourses D & E. Since my flight did not start boarding until 7:30AM, I had lots of time to walk through the concourses and take pictures of planes.
About 7AM, I decided it was time to get some coffee and head to the gate for my flight to Denver. When I got into concourse E, I noticed another United flight to Denver in the boarding process with a scheduled departure of 7:30AM. I was very surprised to see this since my flight was scheduled to depart only 30 minutes later. When I got to my gate, I mentioned to the ticket agent that I was surprised that United would have two flights to Denver only 30 minutes apart and she replied that almost every morning both flights are full.
PDX – DEN
United 490
Boeing 737-500; N912UA
PDX Gate E2
Seat 9E (wing exit row)
Scheduled Boarding 7:30AM PDT
Scheduled Departure 8:00AM PDT
Actual Departure 7:50AM
Takeoff From PDX Runway 10L at 8:00AM
Scheduled Arrival 11:27AM MDT
Arrived at Gate B13 at 11:20AM
Landed in DEN Runway 16L at 11:15AM
Boarding for our flight started at 7:30, as scheduled. The door was closed at 7:50AM and we were pushed back from the gate. This was my first time of departing earlier than our scheduled departure time. While climbing out from PDX, we were treated with a great view of Mt Hood.
About 20 minutes after takeoff we were at our cruise altitude of 33,000’. A breakfast croissant was available for a $5 purchase, which I declined since I brought a cereal bar with me on the flight. The flight was smooth, with mostly clear skies below us. On descent over the Colorado Rockies, we got an excellent view of the mountain peaks.
Although the thunderstorm clouds were building over the Rockies, we had very little turbulence on our descent to Denver.
While on our final approach, I happened to notice a TED A320 landing on the parallel runway.
While I was at my afternoon appointment at Jeppesen in the Denver Tech Center, an afternoon thunderstorm passed through with a brief spell of heavy rain and lots of lightning and thunder. By the time I was ready to head back to DIA, the storm had passed by to the east and the sun was out again. Before leaving the Jeppesen facility, I took a picture of a statue of Elroy Jeppesen.
I arrived back at DIA at 6:15PM for my evening flight back to PDX. Since it was a Friday evening I was expecting DIA to be very busy, but it wasn’t very busy and I got through check-in and security very quickly. I had lots of time to eat dinner in concourse B before it was time to board my flight.
DEN - PDX
United 753
Boeing 757
DIA Gate B27
Seat 23A
Scheduled Boarding 7:45PM MDT
Scheduled Departure 8:15PM MDT
Actual Departure 8:10PM
Takeoff From DEN Runway 17L at 8:45PM, rotating after 6,000’ of runway used
Scheduled Arrival 9:43PM PDT
Arrived at Gate E1 at 9:50PM
Landed in PDX Runway 28R at 9:48PM
Boarding for our flight started at 7:45PM, as scheduled. The door was closed at 8:10PM and we were pushed back from the gate, 5 minutes earlier than our scheduled departure time. Once we were pushed back from the gate, we sat in the same spot by the gate until 8:30PM. At 8:30 the cockpit crew informed us we were delayed due to a mechanical problem that had to be taken care of, but were now ready to depart. As we were taking off to the south, we could see lots of lightning flashing in the storm clouds to the east of us. Very shortly after rotating, we made a sharp right turn to start heading west. There was continuous light to moderate turbulence while climbing out from Denver, but then the rest of the flight was smooth once we got to higher altitudes. During the flight we followed the sunset, which gave us a spectacular view. While on descent to PDX, we once again got a great view of Mt Hood. The descent to PDX seemed to be later and at a higher descent rate than usual, with the speed brakes extended and making lots of noise for a long time during the descent. I am not sure if this was due to a last minute runway change, or for other reasons.
My day started at the early morning hour of 4AM. I caught the Airport Light Rail at the Beaverton Transit Center at 5:00AM and arrived at PDX shortly before 6:00AM. I was expecting PDX to be very quiet that early in the morning and was surprised to see so many people and so much activity at PDX at 6AM. After about 15 minutes of waiting in line at the United ticket counter, I went through check-in and then quickly got through security for concourses D & E. Since my flight did not start boarding until 7:30AM, I had lots of time to walk through the concourses and take pictures of planes.
About 7AM, I decided it was time to get some coffee and head to the gate for my flight to Denver. When I got into concourse E, I noticed another United flight to Denver in the boarding process with a scheduled departure of 7:30AM. I was very surprised to see this since my flight was scheduled to depart only 30 minutes later. When I got to my gate, I mentioned to the ticket agent that I was surprised that United would have two flights to Denver only 30 minutes apart and she replied that almost every morning both flights are full.
PDX – DEN
United 490
Boeing 737-500; N912UA
PDX Gate E2
Seat 9E (wing exit row)
Scheduled Boarding 7:30AM PDT
Scheduled Departure 8:00AM PDT
Actual Departure 7:50AM
Takeoff From PDX Runway 10L at 8:00AM
Scheduled Arrival 11:27AM MDT
Arrived at Gate B13 at 11:20AM
Landed in DEN Runway 16L at 11:15AM
Boarding for our flight started at 7:30, as scheduled. The door was closed at 7:50AM and we were pushed back from the gate. This was my first time of departing earlier than our scheduled departure time. While climbing out from PDX, we were treated with a great view of Mt Hood.
About 20 minutes after takeoff we were at our cruise altitude of 33,000’. A breakfast croissant was available for a $5 purchase, which I declined since I brought a cereal bar with me on the flight. The flight was smooth, with mostly clear skies below us. On descent over the Colorado Rockies, we got an excellent view of the mountain peaks.
Although the thunderstorm clouds were building over the Rockies, we had very little turbulence on our descent to Denver.
While on our final approach, I happened to notice a TED A320 landing on the parallel runway.
While I was at my afternoon appointment at Jeppesen in the Denver Tech Center, an afternoon thunderstorm passed through with a brief spell of heavy rain and lots of lightning and thunder. By the time I was ready to head back to DIA, the storm had passed by to the east and the sun was out again. Before leaving the Jeppesen facility, I took a picture of a statue of Elroy Jeppesen.
I arrived back at DIA at 6:15PM for my evening flight back to PDX. Since it was a Friday evening I was expecting DIA to be very busy, but it wasn’t very busy and I got through check-in and security very quickly. I had lots of time to eat dinner in concourse B before it was time to board my flight.
DEN - PDX
United 753
Boeing 757
DIA Gate B27
Seat 23A
Scheduled Boarding 7:45PM MDT
Scheduled Departure 8:15PM MDT
Actual Departure 8:10PM
Takeoff From DEN Runway 17L at 8:45PM, rotating after 6,000’ of runway used
Scheduled Arrival 9:43PM PDT
Arrived at Gate E1 at 9:50PM
Landed in PDX Runway 28R at 9:48PM
Boarding for our flight started at 7:45PM, as scheduled. The door was closed at 8:10PM and we were pushed back from the gate, 5 minutes earlier than our scheduled departure time. Once we were pushed back from the gate, we sat in the same spot by the gate until 8:30PM. At 8:30 the cockpit crew informed us we were delayed due to a mechanical problem that had to be taken care of, but were now ready to depart. As we were taking off to the south, we could see lots of lightning flashing in the storm clouds to the east of us. Very shortly after rotating, we made a sharp right turn to start heading west. There was continuous light to moderate turbulence while climbing out from Denver, but then the rest of the flight was smooth once we got to higher altitudes. During the flight we followed the sunset, which gave us a spectacular view. While on descent to PDX, we once again got a great view of Mt Hood. The descent to PDX seemed to be later and at a higher descent rate than usual, with the speed brakes extended and making lots of noise for a long time during the descent. I am not sure if this was due to a last minute runway change, or for other reasons.