Etihad Airways EY205
Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji Intl Airport, T2 (BOM/VABB, India) to Abu Dhabi International Airport (AUH/OMAA, United Arab Emirates)
June 15th 2017
Departure 0435 hours, arrival 0605 hours
Seat 21A, Economy Class
A6-LRD, Boeing 777-237/LR, 9.6 years old
5th flight on Etihad Airways
1st flight on a B777-200LR
12th flight on a B777
Video trip report: condensing both flights in to one right here.
Well I post this trip report nearly a year after the electronics ban making the experiences here a little irrelevant, some things do hold true for Etihad here. It would be hard to envision a Skytrax 5 star airline put up such a horrible show as it did over here. Given the circumstances that came up during the trip back to the USA in June 2017, I present to you a short & quick trip report featuring two very different Etihad Boeings: the 777-200LR that has now been put out of service, and the flagship 787-9.
If there was any point during my summer trip that there was a nadir, this was it. The return was just so much going wrong. It was a very uneasy trip back to the USA. I squeeze in BOM-AUH-IAD simply because there was not much to write home about on the flights itself, but whatever happened around it.
Online check in for Etihad flights is 48 hours prior to departure. It was a pretty pain-free process on the mobile app, however mobile boarding passes were not processed. I was okay with that - I love physical boarding passes any day!
Manage my booking showing the seat map for the B77L
Mobile check in - confirming details.
Seat map - kinda full B77L:
Hmm, empty B789?
Check in completion confirmation
I had nearly 17 hours to kill in Mumbai. No amounts of time in Mumbai is ever enough. It is however always great to be back. I was very happy that I gave up the ambitious AI/9W 787/330 combo via Delhi. I got to see my cousins and I hung out some esteemed members of Airliners India: KaB, YaS and TG made for a great evening over snacks and beer. Later in the evening was a great dinner with my family, a last one before I headed back to India next.
ETIHAD'S (NOW HISTORIC) B777-200LR USAGE
This was going to be my first flight on the Boeing 777-200LR. I first knew of these aircraft thanks to Air India taking delivery of these during their rebranding in 2007. Neighbors over at Pakistan were the launch customer for the B777-200LR! Ironically, Air India termed the B777-200LR to be fuel guzzlers (remember, the same airline who’ve retired the B747-400 countless number of times and continue to operate them). As a result, the first 5 were sold dirt cheap to….Etihad! Etihad used the B777-200LR to great effect operating flights to Los Angeles and Dallas, both 16+ hour flights. Perfect for the 777-200LR!
2 would be used for AUH-DFW-AUH, 2 would be used for AUH-LAX-AUH. West bond departure in the morning, and they’d be back by the evening the next day. To minimize the downtime these birds wouldn’t overnight at AUH, instead head to India (BOM/DEL) before continuing westbound. 4 used for these missions, and one as a spare/other odd & short flights (or even Australia, some times). With A6-LRA and A6-LRB away to DFW and LAX respectively, it would be down to A6-LRC/LRD/LRE. Notice how even the registration has LR in it…?
THE NIGHT BEFORE
It was an uneasy night of sleep. The storm came in, and it showed no mercy. Mumbai was soaked pretty bad. I could not sleep. Not so much the thunder, but the anxiety of delayed flights departing BOM (although I had a nice long 3hr45min cushion at AUH), and my electronics, so to speak. I kept a keen eye on Abu Dhabi airport as well: EY206 was to be departing a little later than schedule.
I called a taxi to take me to the airport for 0030 hours. I gave myself plenty of time for spotting as well. As we backed out and head towards the airport, I said goodbye to my Mum. It was uncertain when I’d see her next, and it was a long trip ahead, all alone. I reached the airport at 0056 hours, well in time for departure.
UNLUCKY #17: CLUELESS GROUND STAFF!
The rain had reduced significantly. Etihad’s check in was all the way at island A.
It didn’t look like a very full flight, but that can be attributed to the fact that the plane only carries 225 passengers. As I joined the line for check in, the agent asked me where I was heading off to. Washington DC, I said. And this is where things started tailspinning out of control.
‘Sir, are you aware that you cannot take laptops, cameras and iPads in the cabin on USA bound flights?’ ‘Yes’, I said. ‘I will get my laptop re-packed at Abu Dhabi airport after security.’ ‘No sir you have to put it with your checked baggage right now.’ ‘Why? Your airline’s website clearly states that I can take my laptop with me up to Abu Dhabi and then hand it over to your airlines’ officials.’ ‘No sir, ever since March 2017 all USA bound passengers have to put their large electronic devices in to checked baggage.’ Remember this was despite the fact that Etihad had it published on their website. At this point I knew I was talking to some one who obviously did not fully aware of all of Etihad’s rules with regards to repacking @ Abu Dhabi. In fact, I would like to highlight a phone call that I had made to Etihad weeks before this trip getting a verbal confirmation & final assurance that I could in fact take the stuff with me up to Abu Dhabi. I would’ve rather handed these over to the people at AUH and minimize the time away from my devices, since this procedure has been tried and tested many a times.
Back to reality, and I was stuck with this clueless attendant who obviously was not well informed. This was a pointless conversation that was not going to go very far. In fact, he didn’t really seem to enforce it as much as he was in a hurry to get more and more passengers checked in. Dejected & defeated from this absolutely bizarre indecent, I went back and got those tacky suitcase films to protect from the rain - if that had been ripped open, I’d know if it had been tampered with. Not the most effective, but it is something.
The guy once again asked me if I had my laptop packed in to my checked baggage, to which I affirmed. Not like he checked my cabin baggage anyway, I could’ve gotten away with it - dang it! It hurts to be honest, what can be said.... The line moved slow, so slow. Up at the counter itself, there was some passenger who had already checked in but did not want the suitcases to be dispatched for whatever weird reason. That guy stuck around while my check in was processed for what honestly felt like eternity. Whoever Etihad contracted at Mumbai sure know how to ruin a flight even before it’s begun!
With their verbal assurance that my laptop would be fine (I packed it in between many clothes, but the threat of theft is always present…), I enquired about getting a legroom seat on AUH-IAD at least. While this was another long and slow process (why did I even bother…), I really wished for the before-check-in baggage screening that they still have over at CCU, that way no one’s really going through my stuff as much. Ho hum!
EY131 was to be a completely sold out flight. Did I want to be stuck in window seat on a 3-3-3 configured B787 with not so much legroom? The answer was simple. I purchased an emergency exit for the long flight, but the elegant idiot that was the check in agent insisted that I got a ‘complimentary’ exit row on BOM-AUH as well. While I declined, he kept shoving it down. Fine, whatever, probably won't be getting the actual window any more. I didn’t bother explaining that I wanted to be in the small Y cabin of the B77L, and that a proper window would give me some decent window view shots. I just took it. This meant well for the video TR, which is pretty short….
SECURITY & EMIGRATION
My God. I was done with all of this at 0148 hours. Spent pretty much an hour just at check in alone, oh good job Etihad! By contrast, I was done with immigration and security by 0157 hours - less than 10 minutes to knock out both. Solid stuff! Back in to the duty free with a very very light backpack, I was feeling very nervous and tired. It won’t be until just about 24 hours till I knew the status of my laptop. I was not looking forward to this one bit.
Bottle neck to departures
Lovely empty immigration -
After security -
I was looking forward to doing some planespotting, but that too was ruined thanks to the rain shower, ugh. Very unlucky, once again. I tried getting as much as I could though:
Domestics parked for the night
International 9W and MH bound for KUL
AI144 to EWR - delayed by 5 hours!
Heading down towards gates
UL A321 from CMB - always nice to see a UL planes
9W A333 to AMS
BA B789 to LHR
KE A333, AF B77E - Skyteam at BOM!
LH B744 - the only queen around at the time - to FRA
The race to middle east was well and truly on, starting off with the Emirates A380 arriving from Dubai, followed by Qatar Airways’ B777-300ER from Doha, and finally the smallest of the three Etihad’s B777-200LR from Abu Dhabi.
Emirates & Etihad were completely packed in addition to Lufthansa’s B747 to Frankfurt, and the Korean Air A330 to Seoul. The gate where the Qatar B777-300ER was at was hauntingly empty. An immediate knock on effect of the boycott! It made me very sad since arguably QR is considered to be the best of the 3 MEB3 right now.
Walked around for a little bit longer, headed to the domestic side of things, and browsed on the computer for a little bit. Not helped by the fact that there was this absolute creepy guy who kept looking at everything I did holy hell. I left that place and waited till we were ready to board.
Look at the MEB3 departing one after the other!
Back to the gate...
Back at gate 77, Etihad’s B777-200LR A6-LRD had arrived and was in the middle of its turnaround. Passengers had deplaned, bags unloaded, carts being exchanged. All said and done, the B77L looked rather impressive in the night light and rainy skies. I was a little excited to finally log in a B777-200LR flight, albeit not on a flight it was intended for.
Gate area:
BOARDING
Boarding was called pretty much on cue at 0345 hours - 50 minutes before departure. I wasted no time and joined the line. Eagerly anxious to get this flight going! So instead of keeping it classy and leaving the non-perforated boarding pass just the way it is these agents decided to fold it make the most uncoordinated rip to give us the stub and keep the rest of it. Awfully unprofessional!
As I boarded, the crew were around but not really welcoming any one, really. One chap in business class was watching the highlights of the 2017 Monaco GP qualifying - and WOW was that an impressive lap from Kimi Raikkonen!
UNLUCKY #18: THE ENTIRETY OF EY205...
Anyway, I walked past my original seat 19A which had a superb view outside, and towards 21A - the emergency exit seat which had absolutely no window even if it had been reclined back. The cabin filled up - mostly with elderly people on their way to vacations. It was quite the scene onboard as most of them didn't know what was going onboard with the baggage and stuff - they wanted to keep it with them as opposed to putting it up in the bins.... 21B/C remained for a while, until an elderly couple showed up. And boy were they cringeworthy…. They’d keep hitting the call button pretty much annoying the crew, store their bags on the floor by the exit door on the 777….oh man was this going to be an interesting flight.
Not a single Indian crew member on this flight - quite contrary to EY204, the A380 on the way in. Shows that Etihad only really prioritize that one flight compared to all others. I had also noted on EY255 (CCU-AUH) there were no Indian crew members while QR and EK both had at least one Indian crew member. The crew on this one were largely disinterested and this negative attitude showed through out. They locked up one of the lavatories without any given reason - this caused a lot of confusion amongst the passengers in flight, but more on this later.
Pushed back at 0433 hours, 2 minutes before time. The GE90s fired up which was perhaps the best part of this flight. Flight attendant in front of me decided it was a good time to remove her shoes and get….whatever there was in between her toes. Ew. Ew. Ew. Ewwwwww.
Quick taxi to Runway 27 - the last thing I remember was the sound of the GE90s being powered up and blasting down the wet runway of Mumbai.
It was a very uneasy sleep. Breakfast was served just under an hour after departure. One of the cabin crew members came around and pushed me on my shoulder. I looked up, absolutely bewildered. ‘Breakfast?’ was the question. ‘Sure’, I responded. A tray was placed in front of me with the main course on there. No choice for me. This was the Indian vegetarian option. ‘Heya, but would you mind checking if there is a non-vegetarian option?’ The flight attendant looked at me like I had asked him to donate me his kidney: ‘Non-vegetarian?’ he replied back before retreating back to the cart. He found a cheese omelet and placed it on my tray.
So then, in front of me was a horrible omelet du fromage. It tasty very synthetic and dry - which was compensated for by the overly soggy and equally terrible potatoes. I nearly chocked on the fruits because of how frozen they were. A rude awakening for sure! Chicken sausage was OK, and the best part of this meal was the strawberry yogurt and orange juice - the pre-packaged stuff.
Some other things I remember from this flight (the parts I was awake for at least…) was that way too many passengers lined up in the emergency exit area because of only one functioning lavatory. Language barriers meant that the crew had a very difficult time communicating with the passengers and vice versa, frustrations all the way around.
I remember seeing a beautiful sunrise as we descended in towards Abu Dhabi. A smooth touchdown and we taxied towards one the USA-bound flight gates, gate 59. I was happy this flight had come to an end, albeit it meant a slightly longer layover at Abu Dhabi.
Cabin on arrival
Exited the plane - the B777-200LR looked gorgeous in the morning sun, a pity it was such a crap flight.
This B77L stayed the night at AUH while A6-LRE was operating EY211 from New Delhi, and was inbound.
CONCLUSION FOR EY205
Oh. My. God. I couldn't believe that this was the same Etihad that had impressed my girlfriend and I just a few months prior to this one. Everything on this flight was just...wrong. There really is no need to justify it's very small rating here, it is all pretty self-explanatory. There is so much that has changed over at Etihad over the past year, not all of them necessarily good. The electronics ban was not handled very well here either. Pity, I was hoping at least a mediocre flight on Etihad over to Washington DC.
Etihad Airways EY131
Abu Dhabi International Airport (AUH/OMAA, United Arab Emirates) to Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD/KIAD, United States of America)
June 15th 2017
Departure 1045 hours, arrival 1700 hours
Seat 24A, Economy Class
A6-BLE, Boeing 787-9, 2.0 years old
6th flight on Etihad Airways
1st flight on a B787-9
7th flight on a B787
Video trip report: condensing both flights in to one right here.
LAYOVER AT AUH
Arrivals to transfers
Transit security -
Mornings are a horrible time in any of the middle-eastern airports. Its the middle of a significant bank of arrivals and departures: a hub at work. It is also means the ideal time for the human body to let go of waste. And so, lines heading in to the rest rooms at Abu Dhabi international felt like they were miles long. I did an alright job hanging on till after US CBP pre-clearance.
With exactly 4 hours till departure and pretty much nothing to do after USA pre-clearance, I decided to bite the bullet and go through. Not without drama though - I was put through the special screening thing. People are held in a small room that has a few TVs and a play area for the little ones.
Suffice to say I was quite annoyed by the end of this. Don’t get me wrong - I am all for special searches and that random people are picked up for it. It is all in the name of safety. What did annoy me was the fact that the security were just in the middle of their own conversations and that they would boss the passengers around, and not really give proper instructions.
And yes - part 2 - of course there were people getting their laptops and DSLR cameras (you read that right!) repacked in to the hold! I was even more worried about my laptop. There were way too many thoughts in my mind and it was terrible. I should’ve just stuck to keeping my laptop in my bag, I could’ve got my camera with me. Coulda woulda shoulda - there was over 3.5 hours till departure, and even longer till I’d find out the fate of my baggage.
Immigration was next - and sign me up for a 45 seconds long entry process in to the USA , fantastic! Absolutely no line and very fluid unlike the last time. Immigration officer Martinez was kinda very rude and he could’ve been nicer about a few things, but whatever. Headed back up the escalator to the gates:
Gate 58 to Dallas
Gate 59 to LAX
Gate 60 to Washington DC
Gate 61 to JFK.
Etihad was pushing for the departure of the Dallas and Los Angeles flights on the B777-200LRs - the plane that got me in from BOM was heading to LAX. God I’d hate to be on the B77L for 16 hours - and while I say that today there are no more 77Ls in Etihad’s fleet.
Settled in to a recliner seat with a decent view of the tarmac. I was face to face with A6-LRD: a Boeing 777 that I simply did not get myself to like. The activity around included a few Etihad planes heading to various destinations - I am kicking myself for not taking enough pictures because I was so out of it. A lovely A340-600 taxied by, in addition to the LAX and DFW departures, and some other wide bodies to other places.
Eating and drinking options are very limited in this part of the terminal and all in all very boring with not much traffic going past either. Not too long later I saw the lovely tail of the Dream)liner taking me to IAD show up as it was pushed back from a remote bay - it had come in Riyadh that very morning. While efficient and very next gen, one can tell the B787 is much smaller than the B777 from this perspective shot right here:
And yes - from whatever 'spotting' I did at AUH - this was the last time I saw an AirBerlin plane.....
At gate 61 was A6-APJ - Etihad’s 10th, last and newest A380 operating the newly upgraded JFK flight. This flight had departed well on time, leaving EY131 as the last USA bound departure for the day. Just the 4 morning departures to the USA for Etihad, versus 9 over at Dubai, and 10 over at Doha. Says a lot right there, I feel.
Gate:
Anyway, as departure drew closer people started lining up at the gate. However just like a month ago, the staff resorted to yelling over the passenger announcement systems asking passengers to wait until boarding was actually called. This happened at 1031 hours, 31 minutes before departure time. It was a long and slow process. Joined the line at 1043, but wasn't until 1055 when I was actually onboard:
The B787-10 had just been launched a few days prior, and here I was finally logging in my first B787-9 flight!
THE FLIGHT ITSELF
The cabin looked pretty inviting compared to the 777. Seats are exactly the same as you’d find on the A380 - expect narrower, and with quite the crunch in space obviously. The 787 is stated to be Etihad’s flagship plane and I was excited to sample out this one.
Seat 24A did not have much of a window view - but I was committed to sleeping for as long as I could. The legroom was much welcome for this long flight. Unlike the A380, the legroom felt tighter compared on this one, at the regular seats at least.
The cabin crew on this one already felt more proactive compared to EY205 - they were willing and helpful with the passengers. An infant was seated with the family in 24D/E/F - so a bassinet was needed. The nanny onboard ensured that the family would have a trouble free flight and that the bassinet would be installed after take off.
13 hour flying time was announced for this capital to capital encounter. A generally smooth flight over the middle east, Europe and over the Atlantic in towards DC where an on-time arrival was expected despite a possible delay in departure. We were waiting on some passengers who were connecting - and here I was around since 6am at Abu Dhabi. Yeesh. However, seat 24B was empty which was nice.
About half an hour past departure time we were handed out water and refreshing towels - was pretty nice. Pillows and blankets were already placed and amenity kits were handed out later in the flight. Pushed back a few minutes after, 31 minutes late. The GEnx engines were fired up and we taxied to take off nice and easy.
I could vaguely see Doha in the distance as we pursued a North-North Westerly course and I could not imagine what was probably going through people’s minds back then - of course it is probably all very normal right now, about a year on.
Fired up the TV screen as we flew over the mountainous terrain over Iran. Drinks were served with snacks, I went for my vodka and sprite. Around this time, the flight attendants took control of the windows - they were set to it’s darkest level unfortunately something that is very typical of Etihad that we have established here.
The cabin crew serving us was the nanny who would show up very close to our faces during service - a little too close to comfort maybe? Unfortunately they had run out of any forms of meat option. Bummer! And it was not like this plane had a lot of Economy seats up front anyway. But the very nice & kind crew apologized profusely for this. I was glad to have the paneer (cottage cheese) because it is something I look forward to when I go home, and this was probably the last time I was going to have it for a long time. A simple salad alongside a lovely dessert rounded out another decent meal on Etihad - showing that EY205’s meal was a one off.
Lovely meal
The rest of the flight was between sleeping for a good long time and logging in to the WiFi to follow India & Bangladesh’s clash at the semi final of the Champions Trophy. What surprised me was that this wasn’t unlimited WiFi as was on the past Etihad long hauls - this was by data. Once I ran through this I found out the 2hr/4hr/flight pass was back. Dang!
Two types of WiFi on the same flight? Hmm....
Missed the popcorn service - but I got a rather underwhelming sandwich, quite unlike the good ones I got on AUH-ORD a few months prior.
Unlike the A380 the B787 feels a little less gimmicky - while the restroom had the laminated walls of brown squares there weren’t the projections from the ceiling on to the floor of various diamonds like Etihad’s new livery. Perhaps this is more to do with Boeing’s Sky Interior on the B787. Seated in the emergency exit seat (for once) gave me the opportunity to run to the restroom whenever I wanted to - I timed this perfectly for the last time. About 2 hours prior to arrival when I saw the carts were being set up for service I used the opportunity to freshen up real quick before arrival. An aisle full of carts and a line full of passengers is never fun for the flight attendants I would imagine.
The last meal was the usual no-option Indian vegetarian. This time it was paneer rezala with rice and dal makhani. More Indian food - oh please sign me up! Another fantastic meal to round out what turned out to be a pretty decent flight on Etihad. A long line formed in front of the exits as people tried to head for the restroom in the rush before arrival.
Nice and easy - smooth decent and arrival in to Washington DC - my first time in the Capital of the USA! We docked at the gate a few minutes before time - right beside an Air France A380.
I waited for everyone to disembark because I had all the time to kill before my next flight, but anxious of the fate of my laptop. While waiting, the Etihad boarding music that got my girlfriend and I to love Etihad back in January 2017 finally played for the first time during this trip. A little to late, perhaps?! Boarded the tram and headed for the arrivals.
ALL'S WELL ENDS WELL!
A golden cart with suitcases were brought to arrival - these were the large electronic devices. I could’ve just sent it there had it not been for the loads of wrongful information by the guy @ BOM. And pretty soon - there was my suitcase, still in its wraps coming around on the carousel. A quick rip of the wrap plastic and my laptop was there, all fine and working well. It all worked out in the end. Glad this worked out well, I suppose I freaked out a lot for nothing! I was now counting down time till the next flight - and the end of this trip pretty much.
Before I conclude, I would like to apologize for what seems like a very empty trip report. The lack of window seats meant that pictures were reduced significantly. I would’ve loved to have done some spotting @ AUH - given that an A340-600 is pretty rare nowadays. It is what it is I suppose - and there is a lot coming up in store!
CONCLUSION
Well, a tale of two Etihads it would seem. The B777-200LR was quite the flight to forget and things changed dramatically on the B787-9 to Washington, the long haul flight that mattered. Food was good on this one - pity I didn’t get to know what the options were whatsoever. The crew took very good care of all the passengers on the long flight which is always nice to see. And as for Etihad themselves - wow, a lot has change since I flew with them - reduction of routes & frequencies, removing aircraft, deffering new aircraft orders, just cuts all around. One can hope they come out of their hole and get their act back together. The pre-clearance facility is absolutely fantastic and its use is not being justified given the rather limited flights between AUH and USA. AUH-IAD/JFK is a completely different ballgame compared to AUH-ORD/LAX (and back then) DFW given that the product on the A380 and B787 is very different compared to the B787. Would Etihad be an airline I fly again? To be honest, probably not. I’ve seen what they’ve got and it can be quite the mixed bag and there is so much more out there when flying between the USA and India, a lot left to be tried!
My other trip reports:
2017
A (slightly) unlucky summer '17 (7): Jet's extended range B737 (9W472 CCU-BOM, Y, pics & vids)(video trip report)
A (slightly) unlucky summer '17 (6): Delays galore, inefficiency ensues! (SpiceJet, B737-900ER, SG517 BLR-CCU, Y)(video trip report)
A (slightly) unlucky summer '17 (5): Missed opportunity with Jet's A330 (BOM-BLR, Y, B73H, May '17) [pics & video TR](video trip report)
A (slightly) unlucky summer '17 (4): Short flight on the Etihad A380! (AUH-BOM, Y, May '17) [pics & video TR] (video trip report)
A (slightly) unlucky summer '17 (3): Elegant Etihad? (JFK-AUH, A380 Y, May '17) [many pics & video TR] (video trip report)
A (slightly) unlucky summer '17 (2): No MD-88 for you! (MSP-LGA, DL Y, May '17) [pics & video TR]] (video trip report)
A (slightly) unlucky summer '17 (1): No CRJ-700 for you! (GFK-MSP, SkyWest Delta) [pics & video TR] (video trip report)
Spring Break 2017 - To the Pacific Northwest! (AMTRAK, BC, Idaho, NO flights!)
Winter Break 2016/17 (9): The Final Hop Home (AA Eagle ERJ-145, ORD-FAR, Jan '17, Y) (video trip report)
Winter Break 2016/17 (8): Ultra long haul with Etihad (AUH-ORD, Y, Jan '17) (video trip report)
Winter Break 2016/17 (7): Enticing Etihad to Abu Dhabi! (CCU-AUH, Jan '17, Y) (video trip report)
2016
Winter Break 2016 (6): My last flight on Jet Airways' ATR (GAU-CCU, Y, Dec '16) + Scintillating Sunderbans (video trip report)
Winter Break 2016 (6): My last flight on Jet Airways' ATR (GAU-CCU, Y, Dec '16) + Scintillating Sunderbans (video trip report)
Winter Break 2016 (5): Konnecting to Kaziranga (S24363 B73H CCU-GAU Y, Dec '16) (video trip report)
Winter Break 2016 (4): Take us home, Qatar Airways! (QR540, DOH-CCU, Y, Dec'16) (video trip report)
Winter Break 2016 (3): Long haul middle seat - our first flight on Qatar Airways! (QR28 MAN-DOH, Y, Dec'16) (video trip report)
Winter Break 2016 (2): Pencil Jet across the Atlantic (AA54 MAN-ORD, Y+, Dec'16) (video trip report)
Winter Break 2016 (1): The Frozen Embraer Delay - missed connection! (FAR-ORD, Dec '16) (video trip report)
Thanksgiving '16 in the Sin City - My Allegiance with N891GA, to divert or not to divert (LAS-GFK Nov '16) (video trip report)
Thanksgiving '16 in the Sin City - My Allegiance with Allegiant! (Part 1, many pictures) (video trip report)
The day I flew the world's most popular plane (GFK-FAR-CKN-GFK, C172)
Summer '16 trek back home - Part 14: Delta Connection, a quick hop in the Midwest! (MSP - GFK, Aug '16) (video trip report)
Summer '16 trek back home - Part 13: Super old, Super 80, Mad Dog Across the Midwest! (AA ORD-MSP, Aug'16) (video trip report)
Summer '16 trek back home - Part 12: Flying the Friendly Skies... (United Munich to Chicago, Aug '16)) (video trip report)
Summer '16 trek back home - Part 11: Epic Lufthansa, Epic A340! (Delhi to Munich, Aug '16) (video trip report)
Summer '16 trek back home - Part 10: Konnect, Lite, Delight...(S2 B73H CCU-DEL, Aug '16) (video trip report)
Summer '16 trek back home - Part 9: Take me home, Vistara! (DEL-CCU, Jul '16) (video trip report)
Summer '16 trek back home - Part 8: Vistara's INAUGURAL flight out of Kolkata! (CCU-DEL, Jun '16)) (video trip report)
Summer '16 trek back home - Part 7: Efficient IndiGo! (Mumbai to Kolkata, A320, May '16) (video trip report)
Summer '16 trek back home - Part 6: Big delays, cracked windshield, angry passengers (SG CCU-BOM B73J) (video trip report)
Summer '16 trek back home - Part 5: Air India's domestic Dream)liner (DEL-CCU May '16) (video trip report)
Summer '16 trek back home - Part 4: Nearly First Class - stories of the empty A380! (LH FRA-DEL May '16) (video trip report)
Summer '16 trek back home - Part 3: World's longest jet, Lufthansa's B748i! (ORD-FRA May '16) (video trip report)
Summer '16 trek back home - Part 2: ChicaGO on United's A319! (MSP-ORD, May '16) (video trip report)
Summer '16 trek back home - Part 1: Sun rise onboard the long range CRJ (DL GFK-MSP CRJ-900, May '16) (video trip report)
The pencil jet(s) for spring break! (+ Iron Maiden bonus): Delta MSP-FLL-MSP, March '16 (DL1608 video trip report, DL2027 video trip report)
De-iced & Delayed, cold onboard a CRJ! (ORD-MSP-GFK on Delta, Jan '16) (ORD-MSP video report) (MSP-GFK video report)
Delta's aged B767-300ER across the Atlantic! (CDG-ORD in Y, Jan '16) (video report)
Air France's NEW Economy (B777-200ER, Bengaluru to Paris, Jan '16) (video report)
Delays and despair: stressed out in the middle seat! (Jet Airways B737 Mumbai - Bengaluru, Jan '16)
Air India's hybrid babybus from Kolkata to Mumbai (Jan '16, Y) (video report)
2012
South Africa 3: 12 days in Scintillating South Africa (Kruger, Kulula and Rand Airport, Apr' 12, LONG!)
South Africa 2: Elegant Emirates Economy! (DXB-CPT, B77W, Apr '12)
South Africa 1: My first flight on Emirates, my first flight on the 777 (CMB-DXB, Apr '12)
2011
International transit with Jet Airways (BOM-MAA-CMB, Oct. '11)
Konnecting to Bhubaneswar (9W BOM-BBI-BOM, Jul '11)
Three trips between India and Sri Lanka (9W BOM-CMB-BOM: Jun '11, Jul '11, Oct. 11)
To India's Orange City: Mumbai - Nagpur - Mumbai on Jetlite & Tadoba National Park (May 2011)
My last flight on Kingfisher Airlines (and 2 other Jet flights, May '11)
