This is my first airliners.net post.
I’m sorry this report won’t be as detailed as I wanted it to be; it wasn’t until we were taxiing that I decided to make a trip report, otherwise there would be terminal pictures and other trip-specific things included.
I flew north from Ottawa, Ontario to Iqaluit, Nunavut.
For the Christmas rush, First Air added a second return flight from Ottawa to Iqaluit.
Iqaluit is the same distance and direction from Ottawa as Ottawa is to Miami.
Iqaluit is the capital of Canada’s largest territory, Nunavut. You might be aware of it from manufacturers bringing aircraft for cold weather testing, or the Swiss 777 that diverted last year due to an engine failure.
Nunavut is about five times the size of Germany, with a population half of the seating capacity of Rome’s Colosseum.
Every community is only practically accessible by air, with some freight brought in by ship during the short ice-free summer.
First Air is the largest airline in northern Canada, and recently underwent a brand makeover. They fly Boeing 737-400s and ATR 42-300s and -500s. All runways in the territory, except Iqaluit and Rankin Inlet, are unpaved and relatively short.
This 737-400, C-FFNM, is in an all passenger layout with 156 all economy seats.
The other three -400s are combis; the same conversion Alaska Airlines had, with 72 seats and 4 positions of cargo.
The jet flights fly into the hub airports to connect with the turboprop flights. The 42-300s have variable combi configurations, with 0, 10, 18, 22, 30, 34, or 42 seats; a change of layout would be done overnight. The newer -500 series are standard with 42 seats.
The main jet routes, Ottawa – Iqaluit or Winnipeg – Rankin Inlet, are daily, while intra-Nunavut turboprop flights vary from daily to as few as four flights a week.
First Air’s competition is Canadian North. They mirror some routes, frequencies, and prices, but fly 737-300s and Dash 8-100s. The two airlines did have a codeshare agreement for about a year, which was widely unpopular before being discontinued in May of 2017.
Today’s extra flight, First Air 862 was scheduled for a 2:30pm departure, with a 3:10 block-time. It would then turn around and become 7F863, landing in Ottawa 10:15pm.
I checked-in online and got seat 4F, but even if I hadn’t there was no line-up when I arrived at 12:30. My ticket class allowed one bag at 70 pounds, with higher fares allowing two and three bags. After asking the agent how the flight was looking, she said it’s about 20% full.
After going through security, the gate was equally quiet. The captain didn’t do the walk-around until the posted boarding time. With only 30 or so passengers, boarding was quick and easy. The captain made his announcement, wishing us a happy new year before informing us that we would be de-icing, and that things were moving quickly there so it wouldn’t cause us a delay. We pushed 10 minutes early.
The two flight attendants did the safety demonstration during pushback. After the demo, a lady in the second row had a fit of dry-coughs, so the lead FA promptly poured her a glass of water.
The taxi was short, coming into Bay 3 for de-icing. There are four narrow-body de-icing bays, or two wide-body bays.
Ottawa’s de-icing provider is Aeromag. They have a fleet of about a dozen one-man trucks; half are open-bucket and half are closed-bucket trucks.
We took a quick spray of type 1 on the wings and tail before taxiing to runway 32 for a northerly departure.
The seatbelt sign came off at 10,000ft over the Gatineau hills. The lead flight attendant announced in English and French the time enroute, weather forecast, and onboard service.
Lunch today would be a choice of beef or pasta; the drinks available are complementary red or white wine and non-alcoholic drinks, with beer and mixed drinks being six dollars (cash only).
I took some pictures of the seats while the meals were being prepared.
I would guess the seat-pitch is around 34", ± an inch. It's roomy, even with the seat ahead reclined, the armrests easily tuck away, and the trays can slide closer in.
For more legroom, the two exit rows are pretty great.
The seat pockets contain a safety features card, air sickness bag, and magazine.
The view was somewhat cloudy, but pleasant. Unfortunately a camera can't capture the true contrast and colours.
As for legroom, I'm exactly 1 Smoot tall, and with crossed legs and winter boots, it's spacious.
Hot towels were handed out and then quickly collected. One flight attendant handed out the lunch options, with the lead following with drinks.
I chose beef, which came with vegetables and potatoes. There was also a caesar salad and bread roll on the tray. For drinks, I had a glass of apple juice and a water.
Lunch was hot and tasty, during which wine refills were offered; I asked for just half a glass of white wine in my now empty apple juice cup.
A few minutes later, the meal trays were picked up.
One flight attendant came by with warm chocolate-chip cookies.
The other flight attendant then came by with coffee, special coffee, tea, and soft drinks. The special coffee contains Irish cream, coffee liqueur, coffee, and whipped cream.
While this was going on, I took pictures of the front galley and washroom (rear galley pictures were taken later in the flight).
Pillows and blankets were available upon request, as were regional newspapers. Trash was collected regularly.
After the meal service, the sidewall lights were turned off, leaving the ceiling lights on. The sunset views were nice and slow; sunset happened in Iqaluit before 2pm.
There was an excellent trip report on this site done by abrelosojos in 2011 on First Air 955, where he mentioned the crew and meals “made me forget that there was no IFE. I didn’t even miss it.” I would agree; half the flight was occupied with food and drinks. I flew on Air Canada's MAX8 a few weeks prior; the plane is great, as is the new IFE system, but I'd trade quite a lot for a proper meal and friendly service. Streaming to devices, like on WestJet flights without PTVs is coming, but were not installed yet.
Just before top of descent, a water run was offered. The seatbelt sign came on at 10,000ft, and the cabin was quickly secured.
Approach and landing to runway 34 were both very smooth. The ceiling lights stayed on, so the pictures weren’t great.
During the very short taxi, the lead flight attendant thanked us for flying First Air, informed us that we would deplane from the aft door, the temperature was -26°C (-15°F), and wished us a happy new year.
The agents are pretty adamant about not taking pictures on the ramp, but it was just a quick walk to the terminal. Baggage delivery didn't take long at all.
And with that, First Air provided a solid product from start to finish.
Thanks for reading!
Never been to Nunavut, the one Province and Territory I haven't entered yet.
