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HPN-ATL-HPN on FL. Many pics.
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Very good report and pictures!!! HPN looks like a cool little airport.
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Boarding and Delay
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Boarding began at around six. As we boarded, the F/A's seemed much friendlier than the ones coming down. After Boarding, I proceeded to seat 24A, the same as before. The plane was equally un-vacuumed as the plane we were on before. The Captain came on and did his welcome address (although the PA was working poorly), again calling the F/O Co-Captain. A few minutes later, one of the F/A's came to my mom's seat and started to look at her outboard armrest (my mom hadn't called her). As she was inspecting it, it was clear that it wasn't attached. She went to the front of the plane to tell the Pilots. Next thing we knew, there was an announcement over the PA telling everyone onboard that we would be delayed for about 10-20 minutes as a broken armrest would need to be fixed. I started cracking up over this as it seemed ludicrous to delay a flight over that. Pretty quickly, two technicians came down the aisle to fix it. After inspecting it, one left, while the other pulled out a Leatherman to rescrew it in. After that, he pulls out a roll of Duck Tape (Is Speed tape the proper term as it was FAR-Compatible?) and taped it down. Meanwhile, I discovered that my seat was reclining partialy on its own (it might have gone farther if the guy behind me wasn't tall-I feel bad that I was inadvertantly bumping him the entire flight). Not wanting to delay the flight farther, I waited to tell the F/A's until we deplane at HPN. That probably wasn't so smart, but oh well. We pushed back about 10-20 minutes late, and after taxied to Runway 9L. The F/A's did the safety demo as we pushed back, but the head F/A reading the script did it was too fast. Coupled with the malfunctioning PA and it was very hard to understand. Not a big deal. We turned onto the runway, and like before, we were rolling the second we were on the runway. We were airborne once again.
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Delta MD-88 N946DL taxiing along side us on Taxiway L.
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Delta 757 holding short of runway 9L as we begin our takeoff roll.
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Overview of ramp 4 taken from 9L during the takeoff roll. Concourse C is on the left, and concourse D on the right.
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Overview of concourse E taken shortly after rotation. Note the AF 747 in the back.
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The ATL control tower.
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The famous "Fly Delta Jets" sign.
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Inflight
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After climbing to FL320, the F/A's began their service. As I noticed while boarding, they were much friendlier. They made two rounds of services vs. the previous one, and were smiling as they did it. The snack was the usual pretzels, and when the service was finished, I pulled out my laptop to do some studying. The rest of the flight was uneventful, and before long we had began our descent into HPN. It was obviously dark by the time we were descending, so it was hard to track where we were as were approaching. The landing went smoothly, and we taxied off the active. We stopped on Taxiway A, and the Captain came on to tell us that we would be waiting there until another aircraft could be moved from the gate (just as I had witnessed on the flight going down). After about 20 minutes a gate opened up, and we taxied to the gate.
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Baggage Claim
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Deplaning went quickly, and we proceeded to baggage claim, which in HPN is about 30 seconds from the gate. It took about 20 minutes for our bags to start coming out. My mom and brother went to get the car, which again took awhile. It was 10, and it felt good to be in the car going home.
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Summary
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Overall, I found the service on FL to be unexceptional. It certainly isn't great, but I wouldn't call it bad either. They offer good value considering their prices, and their flights are decntly timed. The fact that they serve HPN is also another reason why I fly them. I had something that I needed to be at from 11:00 to 12:00, and if I were going to any of the big three (LGA, EWR, and JFK) it would have been impossible to be there and make the flight at that time. However, the crowdedness of the terminal and the delays on planes getting to the gates, as well as the tightness of parking are evidence that expansion is needed. They are doing some work on the terminal, but I fear it won't be enough. I would love to see the airport continue to expand, but under the current conditions it's not possible.
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Would I fly FL again? Given the amount of family I have in Atlanta, I will likely be flying them again versus being stuck on a CRJ on EV. However, if I were going to any of the three Florida destinations that they and B6 serve from HPN, I'd be going JetBlue. Blue Patato Chips beat pretzels any day.
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Sunday, June 10th, 2007
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International (ATL)-Westchester County (HPN)
FL661
Scheduled Departure: 6:46 PM
Scheduled Arrival: 9:11 PM
Seat 24A
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Aircraft:Boeing 717-2BD
Registration: N938AT Del. 4/06 (third to last off the line)
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Check in and Security
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We arrived at the airport at around 4 as we had nothing else to do before our late flight. We waited on line for the curb side check in counter. When we finally reached the counter the Skycap informed us that we needed to use the electronic check in to print out boarding passes first. I ran to print them as my family waited at the counter. We left the bags and went inside to security. The line was reasonable for ATL, and we were through in about 20 minutes. We continued downstairs to take the people mover to Concourse C. When we arrived at Concourse C, it was packed. Our flight was leaving from C5, but do to the fact that we were early and there were no empty seats, we went to the area of C1 to find a seat. I attempted to go on the internet to do some studying for my exam the next day. Fortunately, the internet wasn't complimentary and as a result had a perfect excuse to spend the next hour and a half spotting. It was my first time spotting, so I was a bit apprehensive, but fortunately (or unfortunately, depending how you look at it) no one gave me a hard time and I was able to record a lot of regs and take a lot of pictures. I saw a 757 in the new C/S take off. It looked pretty good in person, from the 5 seconds it was in my line of sight.
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Delta 767-332ER N1610D taxiing passed Concourse C on taxiway L.
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ASA CRJ-200ER on L
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Delta MD-88 entering ramp 3.
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AirTran 717 on L.
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Delta 767-332ER N176DN on L.
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AirTran 717 on Ramp 3.
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AirTran 717 N959AT on L.
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Delta MD-88 on Taxiway M and ASA CRJ taxiing to ramp 3.
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Delta 767-332 N123DN on L.
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Delta 777-332ER on L.
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ASA CRJ-200ER on L.
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FL 717 at Gate C3 I believe.
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ASA ATR-72 N636AS waiting on Ramp 4.
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ASA CRJ-200ER N923EV on Ramp 4.
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ASA CRJ-200ER N837AS.
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AirTran 737 N315AT.
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AirTran 737 N166AT.
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Stupid catering truck getting in the way of my shots.
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Habitat for Humanity 767-332 N171DZ on Taxiway L. When I saw it coming from my vantage point at Gate C5, I ran to the end of the concourse to get a better pic. It was well worth it-it's such a great livery.
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The weather outside was nice for almost the entire trip. Fortunately the sun was on the other side of the plane by that point in the day, and there were numerous cloud formations (sorry I don't know the proper meteorological terms). As we approached ATL the Captain came on and said that there were some thunderstorms east of Charlotte that we would have to navigate around. They didn't hold us up too much, and pretty soon we were on our descent. We landed on runway 26R at around 5, and as we came in it was very clear where you were. It was Delta, Delta, more Delta, and AirTran everywhere you looked.
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The Battle for Atlanta.
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Thunderstorms moving in over the AirTran apron.
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N965AT waiting for the storm to pass.
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Deplaning and Baggage Claim
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We pulled into gate C7. As we pulled in the thunderstorms began and the ramp was shut down. Whether or not this had anything to do with the long wait to deplane I don't know. After deplaning, we headed down to the people mover to take us to the terminal. We had to wait at baggage claim for about half an hour as the airport waited for the thunderstorms to pass before opening the ramp. Finally, we got the bags and left the airport around 6.
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I was very disappointed to find Toulouse brand coffee in my hotel room. I'm a fan of Seattle's best!
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HPN-ATL-HPN on FL. Many pics.
Booking
My family and I had to travel to Atlanta for my cousin's wedding. After comparing flight times and prices between LGA and HPN (no reason to schlep to EWR or deal with JFK for a flight to ATL), we found that HPN flights were cheaper and offered better times. We compared DL (connection operated by EV) and FL. We ended up splitting the reservation between FL and EV as my mom, one of my brothers, my grandmother, and myself would travel down Friday while my other brother and dad would fly EV as my other brother had a conflict for Friday evening (it ended up that they would switch spots, and that eventually my dad and brother would switch to FL-both long stories that I won't go into).
I made both reservations online. The DL reservation went smoothly. However, the FL reservation proved to be problematic. First, it wouldn't accept a perfectly valid credit card. After several attempts, I got it to go through with another card. I assumed we were all set. A week or so later my mom informed me that she never recieved confirmation for the flight. I called AirTran, and they found no record of the flight. They seemed very unprofessional on the phone, using a lot of slang and not seeming to care very much. This persisted through subsequent calls I had to make due to complications with the itinerary, however with each call they seemed to get more professional. I rebooked the flight and was able to get the same fare class (whatever was cheapest) or one simialar for both flights. With that, we were ready to go.
Friday, June 8th, 2007
Westchester County (HPN)-Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Internatonal (ATL)
FL653
Scheduled Departure: 1:46 PM
Scheduled Arrival: 4:04 PM
Seat 24A
Aircraft: Boeing 717-2BD
Registration: N895AT Del. 1/05
Check-in:
We arrived at the airport around 12:20-12:30. We unloaded the luggage and I waited at the curb with my grandmother while my mom and brother went to park the car. This took awhile as parking at HPN is limited and due to the recent growth in service is pushed to the limit. At around 12:45 we headed to the check-in line. There was a little bit of a line, but it went pretty quickly, especially considering the amount of flights FL has at HPN and the small size of the terminal. We had already printed our boarding passes so all we needed was to check our bags. The agent was unexceptional (B6 is the only airline at HPN to employ their own agents-the rest are employed by the company that runs the airport Avports, which also manages HVN, ACY, ALB, TEB, and FRG). She did, however, tell us that the flight was delayed until 4:00. She told everyone in line to remain at the airport, which was good on her part.
Security and Boarding
I had called FL to confirm that the flight was delayed, but their call line said that the flight was on time. My mom decided we should go through security. The three of them went through, while I went up to the observation deck (which is pre-sterile zone). I only took one photo as I was apprehensive due to the over zealousness of HPN security. I saw a lot of bizjet activity, as well as our 717 land with the clam shell thrust reverse rs. Pretty cool. After about 15 minutes my mom and brother started frantically calling me saying to come through security because the plane ontime and was boarding. I had known that beforehand and had timed it out accordingly, but it was pointless for me to argue, so I went downstairs. Security went pretty quickly, and I joined my family in the overcrowded airside portion of the terminal. Every seat was taken and many were on the floor or standing. The flight wasn't boarding. Typical maternal anxiety had brought me downstairs. Oh well.
One shot from the Observation deck; FL 717 destined for Fort Lauderdale I believe
About fifteen minutes after I had made it through security, they started boarding the flight. They attempted to do it by zones, but it was no use. Everyone just lined up, although single file as there was no room for more than three abreast. Our boarding passes were scanned quickly, and we proceeded through the hallway that led to the Jetway.We proceeded to row 24. We had the whole row to ourselves, and I got seat A.
Photos taken while at the gate
A view at the Landmark Aviation Hangar with a Bombardier Challenger outside
HPN's fire department
Fuel Truck.
Aircraft interior
The aircraft seemed relatively trash-free, however it was clear that they hadn't vacuumed it. There was significant visible condensation/steam visible from the A/C vents, which I had noticed on my last FL 717 flight. Maybe something with the 717's A/C design? The seats weren't great. They were thin, not really padded, and had no adjustable headrest. There was no foot rest, and the 30" pitch made it a bit cramped. However, not bad for a two hour flight, and certainly not bad considering the price.
Pushback and Delays
The head flight attendant came on the PA, welcoming us aboard, etc. Next, the Captain came on and made the usual announcement. He seemed like a very nice guy. Interesting to note that in all of the announcements, the F/O is referred to as a Co-Captain. Interesting. The F/As did the safety briefing as we pushed back (read from a script and manually demonstrated as there are no monitors onboard). After we disconnected from the tug, we proceeded to taxiway F (HPN Diagram:http://204.108.4.16/d-tpp/0706/00651AD.PDF), where we stopped. The Captain came on and told us that the computers at Air Route Control at HPN were down, and that they were issuing clearances manually, one by one. Probably not so comforting to non aviation aware passengers, who could have confused ARC with ATC.
Numerous times the F/A's had to come on telling passengers who had stood up to sit down. Some people just don't get it. I had a perfect view of the terminal, and was able to see all of the activity. Numerous bizjets landed and took off, although taking pictures were hard due to our position and my being on the left hand side of the plane (runway 16 was the active). I began to notice that aircraft were starting to build up over by the threshold of runway 29 and the end of taxiway K. At the most, there were four waiting over there. There was a FL 717, a UA (I believe OO) CRJ, a DL CRJ (most likely EV), and finally a US CRJ (I couldn't catch the operator). My theory is that they were having trouble getting planes out, and as a result, had to keep planes from coming to the gates (HPN has only 2 gates and around 3 hardstands at the terminal). Slowly, planes pulled out and those waiting were able to proceed to the gates. After about 45 minutes we finally got our clearance. We proceeded across the active and down taxiway L. We were number two on line for takeoff. After the first plane took off (I couldn't see it due to my vantage point). We proceeded onto the active, and as soon as we completed the turn, the pilot opened the throttle as fast as possible and we blasted down the runway. Along the way I was able to see numerous plane that had taxied behind us still waiting. These inclued a B6 E190, a MQ ERJ (parked off the end of Taxiway A), a ZX 1900, as well as many aircraft still waiting to be cleared to the gate around the vacinity of runway 29. At least we were finally airborne.
A view across HPN from Taxiway A. My flight school is the hangar on the right.
A NetJets Cessna Citation V landing on runway 16.
N184JB, destined for somewhere in Florida.
The Same Citation taxiing behind us on Taxiway A.
An Eagle Fight ERJ-135, N840AE resting in the sun.
An overview of part of the Terminal ramp as well as Hangar A. Next to the aforementioned ERJ-135 is an Air Georgian Beech 1900 C-GORF. It was on the ground for a while. To the right you can see some of the airplanes that were forced to hold due to too many planes being at the gate.
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C-GORF taxiing behind us.
A UAX CRJ, N920SW, operated by SkyWest, taxiing to the gate after holding by runway 29.
N840AE taxiing behind us. It went to park off Taxiway A.
FL 717, N991AT, taxiing to the gate after holding.
Another Eagle Flight ERJ-135, N801AE, taxiing off the active. It would remain over there until after we took off.
View after taxiing across the active after we finally received clearance.
Inflight
The climb was smooth, and at 20,000 feet the Captain came on to tell us that we were 690 miles north of ATL and that he would turn off the fasten seat belt sign. We continued our climb until we reached FL350. Beverage service didn't start until we were at cruising altitude. It was the usual free drink plus a bag of pretzels, which I am pleased to report are no longer those disgusting artificial butter flavored ones. The flight attendants only made one service during the flight. Overall I found them to be non-exceptional; neither bad nor great.
Climbing out of HPN.
Procedure turn over Westchester.
Hudson River
In flight service on AirTran.Tags: None
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