Philadelphia International

In the terminal, I went to the US Airways club located at B/C concourse – and missed the elevator. The signs were not clearly visible with the terminal crowded on this busy Friday afternoon and due to construction work at this part of the airport. And I had in mind it was at a different place accessible from the main course. But this was the Red Carpet Club, as I later remembered.

Finally I found the escalator to the US Airways Club. At the reception desk I asked about the flight to Charlotte and was told it would be delayed by at least twenty minutes. However, it was still showing on time on the screens and also on all notification I have set. I use flightstats or the Star Alliance flight alert system for notifications about the status. It is also helpful to have an web enabled mobile for the use in the United States though this limits me to 2G speed since I use an European mobile phone with a US SIM card.

The lounge was surprisingly not that crowded and it was not difficult to find an empty cubicle with four free seats. I got a ginger ale from the bar and checked e-mails and sent a few text messages.

Scheduled boarding time approached and the screens showed the flight still on time. Since the flight times usually are longer than the actual flight time, it might be possible that the flight made up some time in the air from CLT to PHL, so I proceed to the gate. Arriving there the screen was still showing the flight on time, but there was no plane at the gate and boarding time had already passed. A few minutes after scheduled boarding time the flight changed to 30 minutes delayed and still no plane in sight.

I decided to wait in the gate area and against returning to the US Airways club.
Finally, the plane arrived and the passengers deboarded. To make a long wait short, we boarded with a delay of 30 minutes. First passengers traveling with small children were asked to board the plane as well as people, who needed more time. Also passengers in zones 4 and 5 were asked to check their carry ons, as there will be not overhead space in this completely sold out plane.

Our flight to Charlotte was on board a Boeing 757-200 with the registration N204UW with an eventful history. The plane was delivered to Indianapolis based American Trans Air on November 01, 2000 from Boeing factory. In 2003 American Trans Air became ATA Airlines and the plane was transferred to ATA, the registration remained the same. After the plane was returned to the lessor in 2005, the plane was leased by Air Horizons on June 15, 2005 with the new registration F-GRNI. But Air Horizons ceased operations after if filed bankruptcy in Paris in November 2005. On February 23, 2006 the plane was acquired by US Airways, which is currently listed as owner. It became the registration N643UW. In August 2007 our Boeing 757 was equipped with winglets, which caused a re-registration and now it has the registration N204UW.
The Boeing 757-200 has two Rolls Royce engines of the type RB211-535 E4. These engines came in service 1984. It is not as fuel efficient as its major competitor Pratt & Whitney’s PW2037, but more reliable and quieter. It is interestingly to know that these engines were the first Western engine offered to the Russian Tupolev TU 204-120 planes. The engine achieved 180-minute ETOPS approval for the 757 in 1980. The engine has a thrust of 40,100 lbf or 178 kN and a weight of 3,3 tons each.
Our Boeing was equipped with the 12 seats in First Class and 164 seats in Economy Class. US Airways has four different types of 757 and this one was the 757-200 ETOPS which is used on international flights. Boarding is in row 7, but there are 2 row of Economy Class between First Class at the front of the plane and the exit. First Class is in 2-2 configuration with electronic 160° recline and lumbar support. Seat pitch is very generous with 60 inch but seat width is only 19.5 inch. Economy Class has the usual 32 inch seat pitch. The seats are equipped with empower power outlets.

Finally boarding was announced for First Class Passengers as well as Divided Miles Preferred Members and Star Golds. I boarded the plane and turned left, as the 757 had the main entrance at the beginning of the main cabin.

24 June 2011
PHL – CLT
[Philadelphia International – Charlotte / Douglas International]
US 1587 (US Airways); Boeing 757 (N204UW)
Gate A 10
18:55 – 21:01 [effective 19:44 – 21:31]
First Class
Seat 02 D

This time no greeting at the gate, as the flight attendant was still busy preparing the flight. It seems, they were trying to save some time and had decided to speed up things. The cabin of this 757 had full recliner, which are nice to have on a transcon or a longer flight, but are not really necessary on a short 1:20 flight. Unlike the seats on the other flights on my run, these seats had empower outlets, which I did not really needed on this flight. It would be nice to have this configuration on a transcontinental flight or a flight to SJU, but this was not going to happen.

No predeparture drinks were offered and nobody of the crew hangs the jackets. The crew was busy and there were also some dead heading crew members of US Airways on this flight. One pilot joined his colleagues on the flight deck on this flight. So literally every seat on this plane was taken.

Pillows and blankets were placed on the seats, which came a bit by surprise. The plane filled with passengers and they crew made continuously announcements asking passengers to clear the aisle once the reached their seat to let passengers pass and to store smaller carry on items under the seat and only larger one in the overhead spaced.

Finally the announcement boarding competed was made. The safety video was shown, while we were still at the gate.

What from my impression was not really nice so see was the fact the one dead heading crew member used her laptop and another one his cell phone while all other passengers were requested to switch off their electronic devices. As much as I understand, that there was for sure a need to use the devices, it is not really good if this could be seen by other passengers,

We pushed back with a delay of 49 minutes at 19:44 minutes and taxied for the runway. The captain, who had welcomed us on board already and gave us an update of the flight and the weather in Charlotte informed us that there were at least 15 to 20 planes ahead of us. I had already seen the long lines of planes waiting for take-off from the lounge and the situation was now even worse. Approximately ten minutes later the captain came over the intercom and had some good news, we could pass a few planes and he hoped being allowed to overtake some planes with no delays. Five minutes later a 757 of Delta let us pass (or had to let us pass) and we were not number two for take off. Finally at 20:16 the captain powered the engines and we took off. They tried to speed up things as the crew had another flight out of CLT and were in danger to be over the allowed working time.

After the fasten seat belt signs were switched off, the crew started the service.

One flight attendant was serving first class passengers and offered a choice of beverage. He served the first rows of Economy Class as well after we got our choice of beverage; I opted for a ginger ale and was given the can. He was of average attentiveness.

We were also offered the basket with chips, cookies and cereal bars during the flight and during the time he served economy class passengers he asked if we like a refill or something else to drink.
During the flight I read in the magazine and lowered my seat and relaxed. I found the seat quite more comfortable than I had expected; Superior to the old Business Class Seats of Lufthansa and to the old Business Class of United, electronically operated and adjustable in many different positions. But the seat showed its age. At the place where the control unit for the inflight entertainment system was once located was now a metal plate, which did not fit very well.

The captain came over the microphone several times and gave us an update of the flight time. We could save some more time in the air and reduce our delay from an ETA of 21:55 to 21:25. Not bad. Soon, we began our descent into Charlotte and some of the dead heading crew members helped to prepare the cabin for arrival and collected items from the beverage service.

The approach into CLT was a bit bumpy and like in PHL we could see the skyline of the city of Charlotte during our approach.

We touched down at 21:22 and taxied for our gate. One of the disadvantage of the 757 is that one could not get off the plane before Economy. As there are a few rows of Economy between First Class and the door, we had to wait after these passengers before we in First Class could leave the plane.


Once in the terminal I walked toward the exit. I had decided to see, if I can get the boarding passes for my flight on the next day. The first attempt with my frequent flyer card failed but the second try with the confirmation number of US Airways was successful. All three boarding passes were issued.

I took the elevator down and called the Four Points to send a shuttle to the airport to pick me up.

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