Tweet
After getting off the aircraft, we headed straight to the Air France transfer transfer desks just before the security checkpoint (in 2C) for pax who have just arrived on flights. We told a lady what had happened at BOM and she said all she could do now was give us 44A and B, and that everything else was taken. She said someone else was already in 46 A and B. Ok, before I go on any further, here’s the scoop on what was going on-the agent at BOM released the seats and gave them back to us, but due to the ‘time constraint’, the system wouldn’t give her our boarding passes even then (for the same reason, when we checked in at OKC on our way to BOM, the system didn’t give us the boarding passes for the CDG-BOM leg). And the lady who gave us 44A and B at the transfer desk didn’t know that we were still in 46A and B and not someone else. The only reason they didn’t know is because the names of the pax don’t show up on their computer screens. But that one had a window and so we decided to go ahead with that. Somehow, I had a funny feeling about the new seat assignments. We didn’t have time to think though, and we headed through security and then up to the departure level.
Man, when things go your way…
Date: 8/9/04
Flight: DL 43
SDT:11:35a.m.
ADT: 11:53a.m.
SAT: 2:35p.m.
AAT: 2:25p.m.
Seats: 46AB
Equip: Boeing 777-200ER
Registration: N865DA
Dep. Weather: Mostly cloudy. Temperature in the low 70’s. ESE wind at 15mph gusting to 25mph.
Arr. Weather: Warm and hazy. Temperature in the mid 80’s. Southerly wind at 10 mph.
Notes: Wheels-up time was 12:20p.m.
We headed to gate 81, and decided to get freshened up. My mom went first, and the fun began for me:
[Germanwings A320 ready for t/o from 8L.]
[Eurowings B733]
[Malev Hungarian B736
]
After a while, I went in to the restrooms. Ok, two out of the 4 enclosed urinals were out of order. Then, out of the five or so sinks, all having the automatic faucets, only one was working (I found out when a guy tried three, and by luck, he happened to pick the one that was working). And there being nothing to indicate that problem, people were taking soap and holding/rubbing their hands under the faucets to get the water to come out. I began to tell them that “this is the only one that’s working.” Very bad, I did not expect CDG’s basic facilities to be in such bad shape. And then when I went outside, I noticed that the white paint of the chairs in the waiting areas had chipped off considerably.
And this is supposed to be one the best airports in the world. Anyway, we waited till the CDG DL agent came up, which was at around 10:00a.m. Till then, I looked outside (thankfully, it wasn’t raining yet) and took a pic.
[Luxair Fokker 50 holding short of 8L at CDG.]
And then it hit me. 44A did not have a direct window. It was the emergency exit seat, and having seen the layout on Seatguru, I realized it. I decided to get back our original seats if possible. We were the first in line and we told her what had happened at BOM and what had happened after we arrived, and she also said we’ll have to take 44A and B. I asked her if she could check if 46A and B were still under our names. She contacted someone over the phone. She spoke in French, so I didn’t know what she was saying (not that I minded it or anything). After a minute or so of conversation, she punched some buttons on the computer, and said “46 A and B.” I heard it alright, but I was quite surprised. After all, it’s not everyday that things turn out the way you want them to. My mom asked again, and she said “46A and B.” Wow, good stuff! We both thanked her. Kudos to her for getting us our seats back! Time and again, Delta’s customer service hasn’t failed us. Even the reservation agents are very polite and willing to go the extra mile. Ok, anyway, I was delighted. Boarding time wasn’t till another 20 minutes, so my mom decided to get a little snack for the both of us. She ended up getting nothing because the prices were ridiculous. And we were gonna get a meal in the plane anyway. I couldn’t wait to board the plane, I was actually kinda looking forward to getting in there. Boarding started on time at 10:45a.m. First to board were the Business Elite pax and those with Medallion status. Then it was the economy class. No zone boarding, just from the back to the front. Soon, we were walking down the jetway and into the plane. I noticed this was ship # 7006, as marked on the nose gear door. As I walked past row 44, I noticed there was already a guy sitting there. Hmm, strange. And the agent at BOM and at CDG said that 44A and B are the only ones left. Ok, anyway, we got the carry-ons in the bins and settled down. I noticed there were a lot of students on this flight and also, it was completely full. Once most of them were in the plane, the chief FA came on the PA and welcomed everyone on board. Then, they also mentioned new heightened security rules for international flights (you might recalll that the buildings of major U.S. financial coporations were under code orange):
-You can only use the restroom which is in your section.
-You cannot gather with other passengers in the cabin and talk, etc.
-You cannot walk/roam around the cabin for 30 minutes before takeoff and landing.
After that, the safety demo started on the screens and we were ready for push-back and engine start-up. We had to wait for a while though, because of traffic and another AF 340 taxiing out behind us. Activity was really beginning to pick up now. An Uzbekistan 733 taxiied out to RWY 8L for dep from T1. An Air Mauritius 340 left from a 2A satellite stand, followed by an AI 744 from the same. And the planes just kept on coming and coming… I’ll let you enjoy the following photos instead of reading and getting bored.
[CDG traffic. The 733 is of Uzbekistan Airways, I think. Taken onboard DL 43, CDG-CVG. Notice the jet on arrival.]
[Axis Airways.com 733. I dunno of which airline that 733 is. Anyone know?]
[More traffic for 8L. Yes, I got the frog tail]
[Star Airlines 320 and Air Madagascar 76. Photo taken onboard DL 43.]
[South African and SQ heavies on the remote stands south of T1.]
[Air Gabon 762ER ready for taxi. Does anyone know to what airline that M80 at the very left belongs? The best I could figure of it was NoirX, or something...]
I was really tempted to keep on taking more photos, but I decided to quit, since my camera’s not really that silent of an operator.
Anyway, as you may have figured out, we headed out to the north side of the airport. Yep, crossed the bridge and everything. I saw a NW 332 in the new c/s, and an Russian jetliner at T1, couldn’t figure out what model it was though. Anyway, we were #3 in the departure line-up for RWY 9R. An EVA 744 was ahead of us, and some other aircraft. We had to hold short for about three aircraft, one of which was an Olympic A300. Oh yeah, all the inbound jets were crabbing to the and banking around a lot, so yeah, the wind was definitely up in speed. Anyway, we were given clearance for takeoff after about 20 mins. It took the triple about 35 seconds to get airborne. We continued heading to the ENE for a while.
Ok, that concludes the second part to my flight review. Part three should be up as well.
Bring forward the questions/comments/suggestions. I’ll be glad to reply!
Happy Flying!
Man, when things go your way…
Date: 8/9/04
Flight: DL 43
SDT:11:35a.m.
ADT: 11:53a.m.
SAT: 2:35p.m.
AAT: 2:25p.m.
Seats: 46AB
Equip: Boeing 777-200ER
Registration: N865DA
Dep. Weather: Mostly cloudy. Temperature in the low 70’s. ESE wind at 15mph gusting to 25mph.
Arr. Weather: Warm and hazy. Temperature in the mid 80’s. Southerly wind at 10 mph.
Notes: Wheels-up time was 12:20p.m.
We headed to gate 81, and decided to get freshened up. My mom went first, and the fun began for me:
[Germanwings A320 ready for t/o from 8L.]
[Eurowings B733]
[Malev Hungarian B736
]After a while, I went in to the restrooms. Ok, two out of the 4 enclosed urinals were out of order. Then, out of the five or so sinks, all having the automatic faucets, only one was working (I found out when a guy tried three, and by luck, he happened to pick the one that was working). And there being nothing to indicate that problem, people were taking soap and holding/rubbing their hands under the faucets to get the water to come out. I began to tell them that “this is the only one that’s working.” Very bad, I did not expect CDG’s basic facilities to be in such bad shape. And then when I went outside, I noticed that the white paint of the chairs in the waiting areas had chipped off considerably.
And this is supposed to be one the best airports in the world. Anyway, we waited till the CDG DL agent came up, which was at around 10:00a.m. Till then, I looked outside (thankfully, it wasn’t raining yet) and took a pic.[Luxair Fokker 50 holding short of 8L at CDG.]
And then it hit me. 44A did not have a direct window. It was the emergency exit seat, and having seen the layout on Seatguru, I realized it. I decided to get back our original seats if possible. We were the first in line and we told her what had happened at BOM and what had happened after we arrived, and she also said we’ll have to take 44A and B. I asked her if she could check if 46A and B were still under our names. She contacted someone over the phone. She spoke in French, so I didn’t know what she was saying (not that I minded it or anything). After a minute or so of conversation, she punched some buttons on the computer, and said “46 A and B.” I heard it alright, but I was quite surprised. After all, it’s not everyday that things turn out the way you want them to. My mom asked again, and she said “46A and B.” Wow, good stuff! We both thanked her. Kudos to her for getting us our seats back! Time and again, Delta’s customer service hasn’t failed us. Even the reservation agents are very polite and willing to go the extra mile. Ok, anyway, I was delighted. Boarding time wasn’t till another 20 minutes, so my mom decided to get a little snack for the both of us. She ended up getting nothing because the prices were ridiculous. And we were gonna get a meal in the plane anyway. I couldn’t wait to board the plane, I was actually kinda looking forward to getting in there. Boarding started on time at 10:45a.m. First to board were the Business Elite pax and those with Medallion status. Then it was the economy class. No zone boarding, just from the back to the front. Soon, we were walking down the jetway and into the plane. I noticed this was ship # 7006, as marked on the nose gear door. As I walked past row 44, I noticed there was already a guy sitting there. Hmm, strange. And the agent at BOM and at CDG said that 44A and B are the only ones left. Ok, anyway, we got the carry-ons in the bins and settled down. I noticed there were a lot of students on this flight and also, it was completely full. Once most of them were in the plane, the chief FA came on the PA and welcomed everyone on board. Then, they also mentioned new heightened security rules for international flights (you might recalll that the buildings of major U.S. financial coporations were under code orange):
-You can only use the restroom which is in your section.
-You cannot gather with other passengers in the cabin and talk, etc.
-You cannot walk/roam around the cabin for 30 minutes before takeoff and landing.
After that, the safety demo started on the screens and we were ready for push-back and engine start-up. We had to wait for a while though, because of traffic and another AF 340 taxiing out behind us. Activity was really beginning to pick up now. An Uzbekistan 733 taxiied out to RWY 8L for dep from T1. An Air Mauritius 340 left from a 2A satellite stand, followed by an AI 744 from the same. And the planes just kept on coming and coming… I’ll let you enjoy the following photos instead of reading and getting bored.
[CDG traffic. The 733 is of Uzbekistan Airways, I think. Taken onboard DL 43, CDG-CVG. Notice the jet on arrival.]
[Axis Airways.com 733. I dunno of which airline that 733 is. Anyone know?]
[More traffic for 8L. Yes, I got the frog tail
][Star Airlines 320 and Air Madagascar 76. Photo taken onboard DL 43.]
[South African and SQ heavies on the remote stands south of T1.]
[Air Gabon 762ER ready for taxi. Does anyone know to what airline that M80 at the very left belongs? The best I could figure of it was NoirX, or something...]
I was really tempted to keep on taking more photos, but I decided to quit, since my camera’s not really that silent of an operator.
Anyway, as you may have figured out, we headed out to the north side of the airport. Yep, crossed the bridge and everything. I saw a NW 332 in the new c/s, and an Russian jetliner at T1, couldn’t figure out what model it was though. Anyway, we were #3 in the departure line-up for RWY 9R. An EVA 744 was ahead of us, and some other aircraft. We had to hold short for about three aircraft, one of which was an Olympic A300. Oh yeah, all the inbound jets were crabbing to the and banking around a lot, so yeah, the wind was definitely up in speed. Anyway, we were given clearance for takeoff after about 20 mins. It took the triple about 35 seconds to get airborne. We continued heading to the ENE for a while.Ok, that concludes the second part to my flight review. Part three should be up as well.
Bring forward the questions/comments/suggestions. I’ll be glad to reply!
Happy Flying!
Comment