Las Vegas McCarran International

There is no US Airways Club in LAS, only a Red Carpet Club. But it is located in another terminal and thus meant I had to clear security and re-enter it later. Not quite what I wanted to do in my one hour layover. So I got me an iced coffee in one of the Starbucks outlets located in the terminal and waited in the terminal near the gate. The terminal is offering good views to the tarmac and I watched the planes arriving and departing.

I watched the arriving of our 737-300 noted the registration of the plane. It was an old plane, as I could see by the windows of the cockpit and the old registration of America West.

Our 737-300 was delivered new to Air Europe on February 10, 1987 and transferred to Air Europa and back to Air Europe before it joined the America West Airlines fleet on November 07, 1990. Like all old America West planes it was transferred to US Airways on September 27, 2005 but the registration N313AW was not changed.

The Boeing was equipped with CFM56-3B2 engines. Compared to the CFM56-3B1 on N305AW for the flight PHX – DEN the week before, it has slightly more thrust with 22,000 lbf or 98 kN.

The plane was equipped with 8 seats in First Class and 126 seats in Economy in the usual layout.

Boarding started a bit delayed with families and people, who needed some additional time, soon followed by First Class and Star Gold. However, the plane was not quite ready, we had to wait in the jet bridge two minutes or so.

26 June 2011
LAS – PHX
[Las Vegas McCarran International – Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport]
US 603 (US Airways); Boeing 737-300 (N313AW)
Gate A 11
11:50 – 12:59 [effective 11:49 – 12:59]
First Class
Seat 01 D

In the plane I was greeted by a flight attendant. I stored carry on and laptop in the overhead compartment, as I had a seat in the first row and was therefore unable to place my laptop in front of my seat. Like the above mentioned N305AW the plane was showing its age. Many parts were duck taped or painted and had stains and scratches. The interior was the old one of America West only without logo. There was also no wall between door and first row. And this was the oldest plane on this trip.

The other passengers boarded the plane and it must have been a zoo in economy. The overhead space was limited and I think the overhead bins in the older 737 are smaller than the ones in the newer planes, but I might be wrong. Quite a few carry ons had to be gate checked.

While the other passengers boarded the plane, the flight attendant offered a pre departure drink. I went for an orange juice.

Finally all passengers had boarded the plane and we could close the door.

The safety demonstration was done during push back. During taxi and take off, I dozed a bit and also fell asleep for a few minutes during our descend.

Once in the air, a beverage service was done. This time no ginger ale for me, but a coke zero. Another change was that nothing was offered from a basket, but we were offered a prepacked mix of pretzels, roasted nuts and cheese crackers.

The flight attendant serving First Class served also the first rows of Economy Class, while his colleagues worked from the back towards the front.

Once the service was finished, he had a look on the passenger manifest and asked me about my onward connection. I told him, I would go to SFO and he joked not quite the direct way and asked me if it was about the miles. I smiled and before I could reply he smiled as well and just said “okay”. He gave me gate information and also directions in the terminal, which was nice. Okay, I already knew them, but he confirmed that the flight to SFO was indeed leaving from the international terminal.

The captain updated us a few minutes after we started our final descend into PHX with the current weather situation, which was 99° F with 110° F to reach during the day.

We touched down at 12:55 and taxied to our gate B2 at terminal 4, where we arrived four minutes later.

Doors were disarmed, but the crew on the rear seat forgot to disarm the rear door. Of course nothing happened, as this was already noticed and the flight attendant at the first door phoned the colleagues.

I was the first passenger to leave the plane and it was quite hot in the jet bridge – no wonder with close to 100°F and no air condition in the jetbridge.

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