Philadelphia International

The airport shuttle of the Sheraton Suites dropped me at the check in counters of US Airways in the domestic terminal. I used the self check in kiosks and were able to retrieve the boarding passes for our upcoming last flights of this trip to Phoenix and then on to Seattle. The terminal was quite busy with long lines at the check in counters. The counters for passenger traveling in First or Envoy Class or holding Elite Status were less busy. This is – at least from my experience – quite often the case on the weekend with less business travelers.

I took the escalator up to the security Checkpoint at terminal C, where the lines for regular passengers were quite long, but the Priority Line was again less busy and I reached the head of the queue in less than 10 minutes with another wait of five minutes to finally pass the body scanner.

I walked towards the B Concourse and took the escalator up to the Envoy Lounge between Terminal B and C, where I took a seat and waited for boarding time after I got me a coffee and a yoghurt from the buffet. Ten minutes ahead of boarding time, I left the lounge and slowly walked to our gate in the C concourse. As I approached the gate, the boarding announcement was already made and boarding of First Class passenger was already underway.

29 June 2013
PHL – PHX
[Philadelphia International – Phoenix Sky Harbor]
US 1189 (US Airways); Airbus A 321 (N551UW)
Gate C 23
10:15 – 12:12 [effective 10:10 – 12:04]
First Class
Seat 2F

Most first class passengers had already boarded the aircraft but this time I was lucky and able to get a place in the overhead compartment next to our seat. This A321 was equipped with four rows of First Class in a 2-2 configuration.

While the remaining passengers boarded the aircraft, First Class passengers were asked if we like to have a pre-departure drink. Instead of the usual orange juice I opted this time for a tomato juice. Since we had to wait for connecting passengers, the flight attendant serving First Class asked if we would like to have a another glass.

Finally boarding was completed, the door of our A321 closed and the safety demonstration performed by the crew members. We were pushed back and I noticed that at Philadelphia the US Airways gates had signs indicating the destination of the plane waiting at this gate, the plane type including the registration and the estimated time of departure. The gates used by other airlines did not have these signs. I had not noticed this before, might it, that I did not paid attention or did I could not see the signs.

We taxied to our runway, where we had to wait and let an Embraer 190 of US Airways Express pass. The captain came over the intercom and gave us an update of the flight time and also mentioned that we were currently number 5 for departure. Finally, at 10:33 we approached runway 27L and accelerated and left the city of brotherly love towards Phoenix.

Our plane was an Airbus A321-211, delivered to US Airways on July 17, 2001. It had 16 seats in First Class and 167 seats back in Economy Class. It was as usual and indicated by the 211 by engines from CFMI, the CFM56-5B3 with 33000 lbf. Each of these engines has a weight of 2.38 tons. The CFM56 are very reliable but in the early years, the engines had some problems in heavy rain and / or hail conditions which resulted in some modifications of the engines.
We climbed to reach our cruising altitude of 37000 feet which was a bit below the usual altitude of 39000 feet. There were not many clouds in the sky, I could enjoy some nice views of the greater Philadelphia area. The fasten seat belt sign were turned off and the flight attendant closed the curtain between us in First Class and the hoi polloi behind the curtain.

First, we were asked what we like to drink, and as it was my turn I opted for a Ginger Ale with only a few ice cubes. Of course my impression of a few ice cubes was slightly different from this of the flight attendant, who had filled half of the glass with ice cubes instead of the whole glass. Never mind ….As everybody was served; he took order for our choice of lunch and started in the back of First Class. The choices were either chicken with mashed potatoes and vegetables or stuffed pasta with Ricotta cheese. Both mains came with a Cesar Salad and tomato with mozzarella. Later a lemon tart would be served as dessert. I opted for the pasta.

The tray with the meal was served after 45 minutes in flight at 11:30 Philadelphia Time. The meal was not bad, though the Cesar Salad was rather small. The pasta was quite good and tasty.

Trays were collected individually when the passenger had finished. Soon later the lemon tart was served.

The flight became a bit bumpy during meal service and the captain turned the seat belt sigs on. He had announced to do so a couple of minutes earlier. It was nothing serious and I have had bumpier rides without illuminated seat belt sign.

The flight attendant serving the First Class Cabin passed through the aisle frequently and asking if we like to have a refill or something different. He was attentive though he also sat in the front galley reading a book. But this does not mean he did not monitor the cabin.

I spend the flight time with updating this report, watching the landscape passing by, reading in a magazine and just doing nothing.

GoGo Internet was available on board this aircraft, but I did not buy a pass for the flight and enjoyed the time without internet. I am one of the few passengers who really wish that at least phone calls would not be allowed on board an aircraft.

Flight time passed quickly, even without internet and around 11:40 we began our final descend into Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. We touched down at 12:01 on runway 8 and had a short taxi to our gate A 29 at Terminal 4, where we arrived around noon slightly ahead of schedule. It was a stunning 118 °F in Phoenix and therefore the jetbridge quite hot.

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