BOS-CVG-RDU-CVG-BOS

29 May
DL 5884 dep RDU 1615 arr CVG 1745 CRJ 7A&B
DL 1010 dep CVG 1925 arr BOS 2148 763 10A&B

The original plan for Memorial Day weekend was to go with my from-England-visiting Aunt and Uncle and meet my Mum and Dad in Washington DC. However, we had also been invited down to North Carolina to celebrate the birthday of Christopher's baby brother (for the record, said baby brother is 25). We could have gone to DC and then flown down to RDU afterwards, but the fare would have been prohibitively expensive ($500 or more for a 3-leg trip). BOS-CVG-RDU-CVG-BOS was a mere $180 r/t.

Christopher (that's my husband, for those who don't read these reports regularly) and I left work approximately 1410 and made a quick (~30 minute door-to-counter) trip from MIT to Logan. I noted that the Blue Line was having a service disruption for the entire Memorial Day weekend. As if we hadn't been convinced enough already to take a taxi back from Logan Monday night, we certainly were now. Just typical - time to kill, since we'd left on time. If we'd been even ten minutes later I suspect that we would not have made the nice red-to-green-to-blue connections.

The Massport shuttle bus dumped us off, predictably, at Terminal D, and we walked back to Terminal C. Unfortunately, the sole escalator from the ground floor to the ticketing level was not operating, so we were forced to carry our bags up the stairs (for the record, we had 3 small bags: a tiny suitcase, the laptop, and a backpack). The DL ticket desk was mobbed, but the Medallion desk wasn't. We were soon helped and sent off to the gate (34). Funnily enough, we started walking the other way from the ticket desk, and the agent said "no, THAT way". I was just heading for Press Relay, but how could she know that? :-)

I picked up two puzzle magazines and then we stopped at Au Bon Pain for lemonade. We sat in Kidport drinking it and watching the planes come and go (lovely spot for ramp watching). After we finished, we walked past the new main entrance for Terminal C, complete with a new all-glass facade, and cleared security. This time it wasn't our laptop which was profiled, but our tiny suitcase. I don't know what they saw in it, we didn't even have any batteries in it, it was all clothes! They swabbed it and waited for the all clear (and I was completely serious, of course), and trooped off to Gate 34.

DL1574 sch dep BOS 1600, actual 1606. sch arr CVG 1825, actual
MD-88, N983DL, 4 FA's (1.5F, 2.5Y), seats 15B&C. No meal.

When we got to the gate area we found that they were calling for volunteers to give up their seats - a traveller's dream (and offering $400, too, plus seats on the next BOS-CVG flight)! However, the line for the desk was long (even with four agents - a surprising number for an MD-88, even one that's fully loaded), plus we really didn't want to change our flight plans. We were due into RDU at approximately 2000 and had a nearly 2-hour drive after that (our final destination was Ft Bragg, NC). With reluctance, I abandoned my place in the (LONG) line and we took our original seats when called for boarding.

Upon boarding at 1535 (right on time), I noted with interest that there were four flight attendants on this flight, uncommon for a non-meal flight. In addition, there was at least one FA jumpseating and a pilot jumpseating. Needless to say, things were VERY booked up. The overheads were jammed to capacity. We put two bags overhead and one below (due to the aisle seat on the MD-88 having very small underseat stowage). No, this MD-88 did not have the new bin extensions (no surprise, as the program only started recently). The flight attendants were being seat nazis during boarding. "Let me see your boarding pass". They handled the very full flight well.

The door was closed on time at 1600 and we pushed at 1606. However, we had a lengthy wait for takeoff. Due to northwest winds, Logan's runway configuration was restricted (curse the NIMBYs and their opposition to the new Logan runway), so we didn't actually takeoff until 1634.

After takeoff, the captain came on the overhead to tell us that we were going to cruise at 24000 (VERY low!), and our ETA was 2020, or right on time, 1 hour 52 minutes en route. I settled back with my book to enjoy what I hoped would be a completely normal BOS-CVG flight, just like the tens of other flights I've taken in the past six years of flying predominantly with Delta.

You read that last paragraph, right? If so, you must have the inkling that something unusual was going to happen. You couldn't have been more right.

Not long after we reached cruise, the guy next to me (not my husband, but the guy across the aisle in 15D) started pulling at his collar. He was all pale and perspiring. I must have missed it (as I was wrapped up in my book), but soon, two flight attendants were milling at him. Not knowing what was going on, I vacated my seat to go to the rear of the plane (the only place with easily accessible-to-Y-pax lavs on the MD-88). While I was back there, the call went out "If there are any physicians on board, please identify yourself to a flight attendant". In the mean time, another FA brought portable oxygen to the man in 15D.

Two doctors went up to row 15, and while they were doing so, the lead FA hauled out the emergency rescucitation kit. Uhoh. A few minutes later, she hauled out the general medical kit. Turns out that the man (who had a history of uncontrolled high blood pressure) was having an angina attack (but he didn't know it, as he'd never had one before). The MDs got him stable with a nitroglycerin tablet, and monitored his blood pressure.

For a while there, it looked like we might be diverting. One of the deadheading captains actually came up and asked the deadheading FA (who I was hanging out with in the rear galley, as I couldn't get back to my seat), if the captain flying the plane had been notified of the situation. He was quite adamant that the captain flying be made aware of the situation. As it turns out, the excessively competent cabin crew had kept the captain informed. In the mean time, I drank water (given to me by the deadheading FA).

Later in the flight, I did get a chance to go back to my seat (I also wandered up through F, they had a very nice looking snack!). The jumpseating pilot came back to talk to the man in 15D and get his details (probably for record keeping?). The lead flight attendant then came back and told the man in 15D what his options were. He could walk off the plane (not suggested), or he could be met by paramedics and taken to the hospital. He really did not want to go to the hospital but the flight attendant convinced him to call his regular doctor who told him that was the best course of action.

I don't know what would have happened if there hadn't been two doctors on board (a neurologist and an anesthesiologist, by the way, so not the most experienced in heart trouble, but not completely uneducated either). I also don't know what would have happened if the flight attendants hadn't been so excessively competent. Oh, sure, I bet the guy would have survived. But they kept the rest of the passengers calm.

We started descending at 1800, seatbelts went on at 1812, and we touched down at 1820. There was a delay getting to our gate as the paramedics pulled up (two trucks). The silly man from 15D chose to pick up his belongings and walk up to the front galley (he'd been instructed to wait in the cabin until everybody else got off). For the record, he lived in Cincinnati, so it's not like he had a connecting flight to catch. In addition, during descent he had called his partner (wife? SO? I don't know...), and downplayed the whole scenario. "Oh, just going to the emergency room for a checkup, no cause for alarm". Perhaps I panic too much, but *I* would want my husband with me at a time like that (what am I talking about? He'd be sitting next to me, of course :-).

After docking at B13 (right near the food court), we quickly made our way down to B22, and to the connecting flight. My husband was quite hungry, but all of the eating establishments had long lines, so we got on board while he was still hungry. I visited the lav before pushback and grabbed him some summer harvest mix from the galley.

DL 711 sch dep CVG 1855, actual 1854. sch arr RDU 2011, actual 2000
MD-88, N908DE, 3 FA's (1F, 2Y), seats 13B&C. No meal.

Yet another flight oversold, but this time we arrived too late to volunteer. I wondered why their yield management was so far off, until I found that seemingly half of the plane was filled with high-school-aged basketball players.

We boarded at 1830 (25 minutes before pushback), and pushed one minute early at 1854. The early pushback was a miracle, considering the number of people milling in the aisle at 1850. The basketball players were all swapping seats with each other and arguing loudly. The drill sergeants turned flight attendants (the other way 'round? :-) soon got them in order.

We took off at 1901 (7 minutes from push to takeoff at CVG, wow!), and our en route time was listed as 52 minutes. I don't know what DL's threshholds are for fastbreak vs normal drinks service (I know Cleveland, at 221 miles from Cincinnati, is fastbreak). CVG-RDU, however, was normal drinks service. I had more water (2 bottles!), and grabbed some snackmix for later.

The only other interesting thing during the outbound legs was that we had senior citizen rowmates during each leg. Luck of the draw? Who knows! In any case, the flight from CVG to RDU was depressingly boring, especially after the excitement of BOS-CVG.

Seatbelt was rang at 1934 (just 33 minutes after takeoff), final at 1946, and we were on the ground at 1953. RDU is quite a big airport (with a large Midway contingent, although not much AAmericAAn). It took us a few minutes to get to our gate, which we arrived at 2000. No luggage to claim, we went downstairs, out to get our rental car, and were en route to Ft Bragg (via a Wendy's in Cary) by 2030.

We spent one night at Ft Bragg and then drove back to RDU to meet Christopher's parents who arrived on DL 1139 at 1943 on Saturday. They had flown from Seattle (SEA-ATL-RDU), and were quite tired by the time we met them. We spent Saturday evening, Sunday, and most of Monday with them, before they drove with Christopher's brother and sister-in-law down to Ft Bragg again, and Christopher and I were back off to RDU (via a different Wendy's, this one near NCSU. It was just luck of the draw that we hit them twice in one weekend).

We dropped off the rental car at about 1430 and were at the terminal for 1445 (early, considering the 1 hour-ahead time for check-in wasn't until 1515). And there was no line, whether for coach or Medallion. I had noted with interest on Saturday night that there was a Crown Room at RDU. Interesting, considering there were only five or six positions for ticket agents. Is DL's clientele out of RDU that high yield?

We cleared security, and none of our bags were swabbed, but they *did* get upset with my kangaroo pouch. The thing was stuffed with wires and batteries so they must have been certain I had something interesting in it. Little did they know that it was Palm Pilots, a pager, my MP3 player, AA alkaline batteries, and some NiMH batteries for the camera. The poor woman even got confused over my travel hairbrush (which folds up into itself).

The DL Connection flights leave from gate 17, the same gates as Delta Express (although there were no DelEx flights going when we were there). Just as we arrived they were boarding the TransStates ERJ-145 flight to JFK. Eugh. The ERJ is *weird looking*. Watching people board the plane and having to duck to get up the aisle was rather funny.

DL5884 (OH) sch dep RDU 1615, actual 1624. sch arr CVG 1745, actual 1745
CRJ, N812CA, 2 FA's (incl 1 in training), seats 7A&B. No meal.

We were called for boarding at 1605, dropped off our pink-tagged bags (two of them) at the bottom of the stairs, and were on our way to 7A&B. There was no Medallion boarding call (which is typical for DL Connection flights at RDU, I hear).

I love Comair, and I had forgotten just how classy of an airline they are. The flight attendants (TWO of them on a CRJ, not something you see every day!) were quick in helping passengers while managing to slide down the relatively narrow aisle. We were all seated at about 1620. The trainee flight attendant read the script from a card ("Welcome aboard Comair flight 5884, along with your captain so-and-so and your first officer somebody-else, my name is Holly..."). Quite amusing, as *I* can recite the damned thing blindfolded. She later read the safety briefing from a card.

Said safety briefing was read before the door was closed, and it was a good thing, as something happened which you don't see very often today in commercial aviation. The door was closed at 1624 *and we pushed back at 1624*. Unheard of in big planes. I didn't note to see if we were tugged back or went back self-powered. In any case, we taxied to the (deserted) runway and were airborne for 1634.

The two flight attendants did not share the duties - the trainee did most of the work, with the senior providing suggestions and advice as needed. The single FA pushed the drinks cart down the aisle. Christopher had Orange Juice and I had water. I noted that Comair does not use the same supplier as DL (DL has an exclusive deal signed with Coke, which obviously doesn't apply to the connection carriers, even the wholly owned ones like Comair). Instead of 8oz bottles of Delta water, I got 4oz plastic cups (I asked for, and received, two of them).

The snack choices were interesting. Peanuts (King Nut, maker of summer harvest mix) - three bags per person, pretzels (don't remember the name), mints (Sunkist strawberry-flavoured mints), and wheat crackers with cheddar cheese. I had the last. YUM. I had been eating like crazy all day and the wheat crackers were just something else I tossed down my throat. They were very good.

The flight was short, and seatbelt was rang at 1723, with final at 1732 (transposition indeed!), and we touched down on runway 36R at 1738. We taxied between Concourse A and Concourse B, and saw ship number 7003, N862DL, 777-232. Wow, what engines. I hypothesized that the plane was due to go to LGW (I later found that I was right :-). We docked at gate C50 at 1745.

There was a little bit of a wait to get our planeside checked bags. The ramp agents had a bit of trouble getting the baggage door to open. Once they did get it open, we collected our two bags and headed for the transfer bus to Concourse B. Since we were on a 767-300, I knew there was no chance we'd be on Concourse A (as it turned out, the Concourse A bus wasn't even running, so it was moot).

A quick ride across the tarmac (including right behind the 777-232), and we got off the bus at the terminal. Most of these people didn't fly OH much, as they started walking towards the wrong door. "No, THIS way!", I said, and they all followed me like sheep. I managed to lose them on the escalator, though.

We headed for gate B3, and while on our way we noted an MD-11 (DL48, CVG-FRA) which had its #2 engine cowling wide open. Bad news! The scheduled departure for DL48 was 1915, and the agent said that the delay was "perhaps 45 minutes", meaning a 2000 departure. (Yeah, I went and asked, just call me nosy :-).

We sat in one of the sets of seats overlooking Concourse C, and read the time away until, at 1830, they called boarding for flight 711. We only saw three EMB-120s at CVG, and TONS of CRJs. I hear that OH will be all jet at CVG by December of 2000 - I can believe it!

DL1010sch dep CVG 1925, actual 1936. sch arr BOS 2148, actual 2149
767-300, N???DL, ? FA's , seats 10A&B. Snack (SkyDeli)

This flight has wavered back and forth between being a SkyDeli snack flight, and a cabin-distributed snack flight. I was hoping for SkyDeli (so there would be no delay in getting food!), and SkyDeli it was. Roasted chicken with cheese on basil (it wasn't really basil), plus lettuce and tomato. Plain potato chips (Poore Brothers), Milano Cookies (2, plain chocolate), apple, 8oz bottle of Delta Water. I hoped the non-turkey SkyDeli would not screw anything up (see previous trip reports as to my experience with this).

We went on board and sat in our bulkhead seats (no underseat stowage). I had asked when we got to the gate area about switching to non-bulkheads, but was told there were none left. I did ask about bumping, and was told the plane was "just even". Bummer!

We put all of our belongings overhead, including our jackets. The only things we left down were one book each. Since we filled a bin (those 767-300 outboard bins are not very big), I closed it. A late boarder came on board and went to open the bin. I said "don't do that!", but he did anyways, and jackets came tumbling out (I had jammed the jackets in at the last minute). That's what you get for not listening to me!

I destroyed my SkyDeli snack before we even pushed back (hell, before they'd even done final call in the gate area), so all I had to worry about was where to store the garbage. I put it down at my feet and hoped it wouldn't tip over too much. We pushed back at 1936, and we took off at 1953 from runway 27 (behind a whole slew of CRJs). They're doing some work on runway 27, it has a displaced threshhold from where it usually is.

The flight was relatively calm. We played games on the computer, read, and did puzzles. Later, I hauled out my MP3 player and listened to music while Christopher played games on the laptop. During the flight, the first officer came on board to tell us that the captain (whose last name was Skaggs) was on his last flight. He had 5,000 hours on a 767, and had flew combat missions (and had earned the distinguished flying cross) before joining DL. He'd been with DL for 30 years! His wife was on board (sitting right in front of us, actually, in first class :-), taking photographs of everything. The first officer invited everybody to stop and congratulate Captain Skaggs after the flight.

Seatbelts were lit at 2118, final just seven minutes later at 2125, although the gear didn't drop until 2138. We landed at 2141 on runway 22R, and were at the gate (33) at 2149. I had the pleasure of shaking the captain's hand and wishing him good luck. Delta is losing a fine captain. Mandatory retirement age seems silly to me!

We were soon off down the concourse, met my Aunt and Uncle (who had arrived from DCA on the US Airways shuttle), and were back home in a taxi.

I won't say "uneventful" trip because it wasn't. But a pleasant one, no less.

Next trip (and report): Zurich, next month!

This and all of my other trip reports are on the web at http://www.ckdhr.com/hrose/rec.travel.air.html

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