Seattle Tacoma International

I took an early shuttle from the Doubletree Seattle Airport to the airport. The US Airways Check in counters were busy, but the lines were not long and one self check in kiosk was available right away, so I could check in. I had hoped to do this the day before, but it was only possible to check in using the kiosk for flights departing within the next eight hours.

The US Airways flight was leaving from Gate A1. The closest security checkpoints was quite busy and the lines quite long and the dedicated priority lane not staffed, so I decided that I might see if checkpoint 2 was less busy as I noticed fewer planes leaving from this part of the airport at these early hour. And I was right, there was a short but fast moving line and I was able to pass security in less than 15 minutes. After I had stored everything back in my carry on, I headed for a quick visit at the United Club before returning to our gate. This is a new United Lounge and if I am not wrong it was a former Alaska Boardroom. The design was modern and light and a change from the usual layout using grey and brown colors. I picked a magazine and grabbed a cup of coffee before it was time to leave the lounge and walk to the gate, which was a fast five minute walk away.

I arrived prior to boarding time at the gate since I wanted to try a get a glimpse of the registration and also try to store my hand luggage above my seat. The overhead bins of the A320 close to the galley are usually used by the equipment for the safety demonstration and also used for blankets and other stuff. Sometimes the crew uses this bins which limits the space for passengers in the first rows and since First Class passengers are allowed two items of hand luggage, the overhead bins become full quite fast. Unfortunately I was unable to verify the registration of our Airbus A 320 for our flight to Phoenix at this time. The boarding announcement was made soon after I arrived at the gate and there was also an announcement that there was a random check of hand luggage at the gate. Of course I was lucky and was chosen was the random security check by the two TSA agents. The security check was performed very quick I did not have to wait for a long time, but I was the second last First Class passenger to board the plane ...

27 June 2013
SEA – PHX
[Seattle Tacoma International – Phoenix Sky Harbor]
US 360 (US Airways); Airbus A 320 (N631AW)
Gate A 1
05:05 – 07:51 [effective 05:02 – 07:44]
First Class
Seat 2 F

I boarded the plane through the jetbridge and all but one other passengers in the First class cabin had already boarded. As expected, I had some problems to find a place in the overhead bin of the First Class cabin to store my carry on. The smaller one fits underneath the seat in front of me while the larger one had to be stored over the first row of Economy class. One crew member offered a choice of departure drink. Of course a fancy champagne was not on offer … it was orange juice for me.

The passengers from Economy boarded the aircraft and the crew did their best to get us the pre-departure drink while boarding was still under way.

The captain welcomed us on board while we were still at the gate at this rainy Thursday Morning in Seattle. He informed us about the flight time to Phoenix and mentioned the weather he received an hour ago was blue sky and temperature in the low eighties. He expected that the first minutes after departure might be a bit bumpy, but the remaining flight should be smooth. The crew welcomed us a couple of second later as well and did the safety demonstration. It was done by the crew member rather than by showing the film. The Airbus A320 was equipped with screens above the seats but they were not used at this point. The plane was also offering on board internet by GoGo.

We pushed back at 05:02 and taxied for the runway 16L. Finally at 05:16 the captain pulled the level and our two engines roared and we accelerated and climbed into the rainy and cloudy early morning sky above Seattle.

Once airborne, the seat belt signs were not turned off immediately but the ride was not bumpy. The crew announced that the internet was now available and started the service. Like on my previous flights on US Airways, the service was done row by row rather than from the cart. The flight attendant serving the First Class cabin was asking what we like to drink and brought us the glass or cup. On this short flight, not glassware, but plastic cups were used. I had a coffee and was offered an item from the snack basked with pretzels, cookies, granola bars among other items but declined the offer.

The flight was not very eventful, the most passengers slept, read in newspapers or ebooks and the lights were dimmed through the flight. I used the time to finish a few reports and continued with this report and watched the landscape passing by since the clouds had disappeared and we now had not many clouds in the sky.

Our Airbus A 320 was equipped with three rows of First Class in a 2 – 2 configuration offering a seat pitch of 38 inch and a seat width of 21 inch. The 138 Economy Class Seat were arranged in the standard 3 – 3 layout with a seat pitch of 31 inch and a seat width of 18 inch. There is  unfortunately no power outlet at these seats.

Prior to starting our descend into Phoenix we passed the Grand Canyon, which was announced by the captain with some background information, which was a nice touch.

Finally the flight deck announced soon to start our descend into PHX and the seat belt signs were switched on again while the crew began to prepare the cabin for our landing in PHX. We touched down at 07:41 and taxied for our gate A4, where we arrived ahead of schedule at 07:44.
It was possible to get the carry on item from the Economy class overhead bin quickly enough and could therefore deboard with First Class. Not that it was really necessary as I had plenty of time until my flight to Philadelphia was scheduled to depart.

While I left the plane, I was able to spot the registration of your Airbus A 320: N631AW. Therefore let me give a quick update about the history of this Airbus A 320. It was ordered by Braniff and already received the registration N910BN but never flew for Braniff. Braniff was the successor of Braniff International Airways, which went bankrupt in 1982. With the support of the Hyatt Corporation Braniff Incorportaed was founded. After some more or less successful years, the airline went bankrupt in 1989 and suspended all operations in November 1989. Our Airbus came from an order by PanAm which Braniff took over and made its maiden flight on September 06, 1989 and after the grounding of Braniff was stored in the dessert. It received then a registration by the Irish Guinness Peat Aviation Leasing Company who handed it over to GECAS. It then finally joined the America West Airlines fleet on June 06, 1991 and received the registration N631AW. It was then equipped with 12 seats in First Class and 138 seats in Economy Class. In the process of take over of US Airways by America West Airlines it came to the US Airways fleet on September 27, 2005.
It is equipped with 2 V2500-A1 engines by IAE with a thrust of 111 kN. The Airbus A320 is available either with an engine of the V2500 series by IAE or the CFM56-5series by CFMI.

The exact type is an Airbus A320-231, this means it is an Airbus A320-200 with engines by IAE (the 3 in 231) and the first type of this engine (the 1 in 231).

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