I visited Baltimore recently for a family reunion. Checking fares, I was not excited about the prospect of boring United at a rather high price, so I decided to use some Alaska miles to try out some different aircraft types on American. I eventually found an interesting routing: Denver-Chicago O’Hare-Dallas Ft. Worth-Baltimore. Not only was it three different aircraft types (737-800, 787-8 and MD-80), first class was available on each segment and there were three meals served. Denver-Dallas Ft. Worth is not a meal route, nor is Chicago-Baltimore or Charlotte-Baltimore, so meal-geek me was pleased. The only worrisome bit was two rather short connections, but I decided to take my chances.
I also wanted to fly an AA “Mad Dog” MD-80 on its longest current route, DFW-BWI, while they are still around. They are being retired in earnest, and the clock is ticking!
For my return I purchased a ticket on AS BWI-SAN and another SAN-DEN on United, but that’s another report. I prefer aisle seats so if I can’t get direct aisle access you aren’t going to see much out the window!
I decided to take the A-line train to the airport so I got a ride to Union Station and caught the 4:30 a.m. train. Day-trippers are common in Denver so this company will store bags while you explore.
Union Station is a beautiful piece of architecture.
Amtrak and commuter trains share these platforms; there is a medium bus-loading area underneath with about 20 “gates.”
The trip was uneventful; lots of airport workers use the early trains to get to their jobs.
This little café recently opened next to the train at the base of the Westin hotel.
I’ve got TSA Pre-Check so security was quick. This is all getting torn out to “improve” the airport, e.g. make passengers walk through a shopping area and spend more money.
I always visit the United Club if I’ve got time; this is Concourse B.
The club (West) was delightfully deserted. Breakfast options are fairly plentiful, although it’s a bit carb-heavy and protein-light for my taste.
The oatmeal station.
Cereal, juice and infused water, plus some yogurt parfaits that are easy to smuggle onboard.
Illy espresso and an oatmeal/berry/raisin concoction. I scarfed it down and headed off soon after.
Deserted club.
New UA service DEN-LHR is a big success.
787s usually route through SFO, where they’re based now. NRT is also served from DEN.
The bar doesn’t open until later so if you want booze or a soda pop you are out of luck.
It’s $9 to ride the A-line, but you can go round-trip if you want to visit the airport and return the same day.
Down in the concourse-train station, SkyWest advertises new service to Moab (via the hateful CRJ-200, but hey, it’s a non-stop flight).
Frontier, Delta, American, Spirit, British Airways, Lufthansa and Air Canada are the major Concourse A carriers. N318FR is an A320-252N.
Another animal tail on Frontier A321 N721FR.
AA gates are clustered at the east end of Concourse A. Hey look, the sun’s up.
Here’s our first aircraft: N890NN, a 737-800, a bog-standard workhorse of many an airline fleet. That day it did DEN-ORD-DEN-ORD-BDL.
Very orderly boarding at A49. Everyone was too sleepy to queue.
Aug. 8, 2018
DEN-ORD AA2771
6:59 a.m. – 10:33 a.m.
737-800 - N890NN - Seat 5B
BreakfastSixteen seats in the F cabin. AA starts numbering its rows at 3; a crabby old fart was in already in my seat, 5B, thinking it was 3B, but he soon cleared out. Not even a grunt of “pardon me.”
Sky Interior on this aircraft. Not fancy but comfortable enough for a few hours.
AA A321 was off to Phoenix, I believe.
The seats have a handy tablet-holder; “Mad Men” season 3 was this passenger’s choice.
After takeoff toward the south and a quick left turn, hot towels and drinks appeared. AA coffee is not as good as AS or UA coffee, in my opinion.
I enjoyed some music on my own tablet. An appropriate tune!
Breakfast: omelet with cheese, sausages, potatoes, fruit and a biscuit from the basket (chocolate or regular croissants were also on offer). I pre-ordered as the other choice of oatmeal did not really appeal to me. I can get that in the United Club! Not a hint of pretense about this breakfast, but it was hot and tasted very good.
This aircraft had overhead video; some sort of NBC compilation was shown. The rather moronic Seth Meyers was featured. I stuck to my tablet until an episode of “Superstore” came on.
Old-school entertainment controls; there was also a full selection of audio channels.
Inside the inflight magazine, “American Way,” this aircraft chart showed something that does not really exist: an MD-80 in new colors; none have been nor will be painted in this livery.
After a VERY long taxi (nearly 25 minutes) we arrived at H6. My flight to DFW was already boarding, but it was fairly close by at the “dog” gate, K9.
Another 737-800 at H7, N825NN, had arrived from Boston and was headed to San Diego. Like a good little workhorse does.
Looking toward downtown Chicago with a surprise invader into the frame at the far left.
The busy K concourse. No time for a club visit, which would have been United again.
My next aircraft: N816AA, a 787-8. It had arrived from Dublin the day before; this day it did ORD-DFW-ORD-LHR. Subsequent days saw her visiting Rome, Paris, Venice, Shanghai, Barcelona, and Tokyo Narita, all from Chicago.
They really were boarding when I arrived at the gate. Almost done, in fact.
Grab that tail number!
ORD-DFW AA1106
11:15 a.m. – 1:37 p.m.
787-8 – N816AA - Seat 3L
LunchA brief wait in the jetway (Group 9, you know) and I was on board. Nice cabin after that basic 737-800! This is the less-than-popular front- and rear-facing cabin design. I’ve flown in F on the 787-9 (DFW-LAX) with the newer style that I preferred, but only slightly. I flew on this type on AA DFW to/from Beijing and Shanghai in 2015, but in Main Cabin Extra.
Again, somebody was in my seat – the gentleman wanted to face forward but was in rear-facing 2L! I politely declined. The seat was loaded up with a duvet and a big pillow.
That explains it, Casper-brand bedding in a nice cross-promotion.
The seat was quite spacious and in good working condition.
I liked the small hand-held screen for a secondary display of the audio programming or the moving map.
Lots of storage spaces.
And a clever two-brightness reading lamp.
Seat-adjustment display.
Looking forward toward the galley/flight deck.
We pushed back on time and headed out. Sorry for the off-color but the 787 windows can do that sometimes. United 737-800 N26215 was headed for San Francisco after arriving from Houston IAH.
Speedy takeoff roll with our light fuel load; and we’re up and away!
O’Hare outskirts.
My favorite: fluffy clouds.
And that sexy Dreamliner wing.
I had to try out the full-flat position, for about 30 seconds. Nice, but this flight is too short for sleeping!
Drinks and hot towels were soon on offer.
Hot nuts are an AA staple. I enjoyed a glass of sparkling wine (served from a mini bottle, certainly nothing highbrow).
Live TV was available but the video quality was not the greatest, with quite a few signal interruptions. And CNN is not the most entertaining network I can name.
This medium boarding area divides the front and rear business (sold as first domestically) cabins. Presumably drinks and snacks are found here on longer flights.
The forward cabin.
Soon lunch was served: a “deconstructed” niçoise salad with chicken. Also served with a choice of bread/butter, it had greens, hard-boiled eggs, tomatoes, green beans and potatoes. Quite nice for the short flight; I had pre-ordered again. The other choice was a chili relleno-style dish.
With dressing and chicken added, the salad was delicious.
More pretty clouds outside.
Dessert came around about 30 minutes later: a choice of snickerdoodle or chocolate-chip cookies (or both). Yeah, the chocolate-chip version is pretty ugly but I gobbled it up anyway.
A little music to stare out the window to (the Dreamliner is wonderfully quiet in flight). AA does a great job catering to its very large Spanish-speaking customer base.
Handy gadget-holder pocket.
Forward lavatory; international-style toiletries were not present on this flight.
Starting our descent toward DFW.
AA loves to hand out these mints at the flight’s end; I never eat them, though.
We circled around and landed toward the north.
Sprawling DFW.
I assumed we’d be arriving at the D concourse (where the larger AA jets usually converge), but I was wrong. Company 777-200 rotated as we waited on the taxiway. I was again nervous about my connection: we arrived at 1:52 p.m. and boarding for my BWI flight started at 1:55 p.m.
I needn’t have worried; we arrived at A24 and I departed from A20, just a few gates down. Here’s N7547A, an MD-82 heading to New Orleans after arriving from Kansas City. Interesting in that on Aug. 21 she flew to Roswell, New Mexico, for storage (after arriving from Cleveland on a revenue flight the night before). So she’s only 13 days from retirement here! Sad face.
Here’s MY Mad Dog, MD-83 N9615, a 1997-vintage bird just arrived from Oklahoma City (she started the day in Norfolk, then to DFW and to OKC and back. Back to normal color again. Subsequent days saw her visiting smaller AA stations like Washington IAD, Cincinnati, San Antonio, New Orleans, Indianapolis, Pensacola, Milwaukee, St. Louis and Wichita, all from DFW. But still working her little tail off!
Love that tail!
Another crowded concourse. DFW has had endless makeovers since its early-‘70s debut but is still very functional once you learn your way around its huge expanse.
DFW-BWI AA1185
1:55 p.m. – 6:25 p.m.
MD-83 - N9615W - Seat 5E
LunchWe boarded perhaps 10 minutes late but departed and arrived on time. You don’t get THIS view with every jet you board.
In all its analog glory!
Also 16 seats in F but so different from a newer 737. The cabin was in very good shape. I’d forgotten how noisy the MD-80 is! Starts off so quiet on takeoff and then gets louder and louder as the airspeed climbs. About row 15 is quiet, then you get that lovely engine drone near the back. But I love them anyway.
This flight was very uneventful; I did not have a window seat so no clouds were on display. The crew was EXCELLENT, though. Very energetic and really hustled to serve the full cabin. I asked for a bourbon and got a double Woodford Reserve. A short nap may have followed later.
Rather odd service; drinks were hand-run from the forward galley, then a cart with drink refills and hot entrees and tray setups was rolled out, serving from back to front. Efficient, but just a bit like economy on a longer flight.
Another pre-order: this was a rolled pasta with ricotta and a marinara-style sauce, salad and a choice of bread/butter (pretzel roll for me). Again, not gourmet, but tasty and well prepared. I had red wine with my meal.
And another ugly cookie (chocolate chip again) for dessert.
I strolled to the back to admire the droning engines. But I’ve sat here and it can be rather tiring after a while.
That nice 2x3 seating in economy. I just love these planes. At least Delta will be flying them (plus the 717) until the end of time!
Too soon we were arriving in warm, humid Baltimore, parking at gate C7.
That’s the end – hope you enjoyed my dAAy of flying!