BWI Airport News

[k25150]

I flew on the new 737-800 from Ft. Lauderdale. It's really nice. Smells like a new car.

As soon as you enter you can tell it's bigger because the isles are wider. The seats have better leather or better faux leather. Much softer. Much more leg room. The headrests look like Recaro seats in sports cars. Really nice. The seat pouches are netted. The storage bins are a totally new design and huge.

The plane has cool LED lighting effects with many different modes. There is a touch screen control up front that the flight attendants use for the lights and other things. They now can use carts when serving drinks because of the wider isles.

The bad part of the trip was we sat at the gate at FLL for an hour and 15 mins. At first they said they were waiting for the maintenance guy for scheduled service. Then 20 mins. later they said they were waiting on some paper work. We heard the paper work thing 2 more times before they told us there was a paint scratch that was down to the metal and they were required by the FAA to file a report. I wouldn't have bought the excuse if they didn't mention the FAA. No surprise that the bureaucracy would inconvenience 175 people for scratched paint.

Good thing it was the last flight of the night and there were no connections or those people would have been in an uproar. He made up 15 mins. in the air. Flight was 98% full.

[Itus]

Good to hear positive things about the interior. (Some photos would be nice too if you have any!) I haven't flown Southwest in about a year now, but I recall that the last 5 or 6 flights I had were all over one hour late. I think since then Southwest has supposedly improved their on-time performance somewhat, but at that time it really was unacceptable. That's not the reason I don't fly them anymore though.

I keep reading on airliners.net about how Southwest is having a rough time integrating their IT systems with those of AirTran. It seems like they made a lot of route maneuvers before any interconnectivity could take place, and as a result some of AirTran's flights lack any feed to sustain them (as some of that feed switched over to Southwest). Codesharing will not take place until next year at the earliest. There seem to be a lot of complaints about how Southwest is using an archaic system that won't accommodate international flights or true codesharing (though they recently announced a deal to use Amadeus as their reservation system for international flights starting in around 2014).

I believe the CEO also said that AirTran's international routes are not completely safe from cuts either. I guess this means BWI's Caribbean flights could face some insecurity going into the next couple years.

[micrip]

Originally Posted by k25150

I flew on the new 737-800 from Ft. Lauderdale. It's really nice. Smells like a new car.

As soon as you enter you can tell it's bigger because the isles are wider. The seats have better leather or better faux leather. Much softer. Much more leg room. The headrests look like Recaro seats in sports cars. Really nice. The seat pouches are netted. The storage bins are a totally new design and huge.

The plane has cool LED lighting effects with many different modes. There is a touch screen control up front that the flight attendants use for the lights and other things. They now can use carts when serving drinks because of the wider isles.

The bad part of the trip was we sat at the gate at FLL for an hour and 15 mins. At first they said they were waiting for the maintenance guy for scheduled service. Then 20 mins. later they said they were waiting on some paper work. We heard the paper work thing 2 more times before they told us there was a paint scratch that was down to the metal and they were required by the FAA to file a report. I wouldn't have bought the excuse if they didn't mention the FAA. No surprise that the bureaucracy would inconvenience 175 people for scratched paint.

Good thing it was the last flight of the night and there were no connections or those people would have been in an uproar. He made up 15 mins. in the air. Flight was 98% full.

They are supposed to be retrofitting the older planes with the new interior, with a target date of 2013 to get them all done. Read somewhere that when a jet arrives for the retrofit, the crew doing it has only 10 hours to complete it!

I'm hoping to get a retrofitted plane for my upcoming trip to Colorado this Summer, or, if I'm lucky, a new 800. I understand that a lot of them will be based out of BWI as they are delivered, and several more are due this year.

[k25150]

Right. They will be using the same new seats for the retrofits on the older planes. I think they said they can add 5 seats to the old 737's.

Sorry no pics of the new interior. I still use the little flip phone with it's pathetic camera and my Blackberry doesn't have a camera.

The funny thing was the ground crew at Ft. Lauderdale kept coming onboard to check out the plane and the new lighting gizmo.

I guess sitting there for 75 mins. gave them all a chance to see it.

[Balmurfan]

http://www.travelandleisure.com/arti...st-airports/18

[Itus]

Originally Posted by Balmurfan

http://www.travelandleisure.com/arti...st-airports/18

heh the same issue says this about Dulles:

Flying into the nation’s capital? Well, Dulles is disparaged for its location (19th ranking) and baggage handling (15th). Flying out of Dulles? Expect long lines at check-in and security (15th) and staff who won’t exactly jump to attention (17th). The cleanliness and design of Dulles (15th) won’t lift your spirits either. Our survey suggests it’s worth considering routing your D.C. plans through Baltimore instead.

http://www.travelandleisure.com/arti...rst-airports/8

[jetblast1]

As requested before, a few photos of our newly refurbished BA 767 which was here last night. Registration is G-BNWW for those interested.


Club World business class (24 seats)


World Traveller Plus premium economy (24 seats)


World Traveller economy (141 seats)

[Itus]

Thank you JetBlast! Compared to before, this looks even more refined and elegant, and much more uniform. And probably the best part is the larger bins, which were the main point of irritation for me on the older version.

I imagine this aircraft still has the same IFE system as before, and not the version used on 77Ws, is that correct? The seats are different than on that aircraft it seems.

[jetblast1]

Originally Posted by Itus

Thank you JetBlast! Compared to before, this looks even more refined and elegant, and much more uniform. And probably the best part is the larger bins, which were the main point of irritation for me on the older version.

I imagine this aircraft still has the same IFE system as before, and not the version used on 77Ws, is that correct? The seats are different than on that aircraft it seems.

The bins look nicer (the center bins are even 777-style pivot bins now) however the size difference isn't much. Even with the larger middle bins I still ended up putting my bags in the side ones.

It is the same IFE as before, not the new AVOD as installed on the 77W. The seats are still the same ones however the IFE screens have been cleaned up and remastered a bit, and seat fabric itself replaced. The 77Ws and one 772 have the brand-new economy and premium economy seating that is being rolled out on the rest of the fleet.

[Gsol]

Travel and Leisure Magazine just published a survey of the Best and Worst Airports in the US. They rated the top 22, of which BWI is included and ranks 6th best. Here is the link:

http://www.travelandleisure.com/arti...st-airports/18

The most interseting to me were the airports that don't rank in the top 22, including Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Cincy, Indianapolis, Nola and KC.

The airports are ranked according to cleanliness, ease of getting through TSA, on time performance (BWI excles here), closeness to town, ease of getting to town, friendliness of staff, and others.

[jetblast1]

Some (kind of) recent shots from around the field...

[Itus]

Sweet photos. Not that I particularly like Delta, but I am really enjoying the photo with the three Delta tails, one of which being that of the 747. That's a great shot actually. If it weren't for the characteristically black building, I would have never guessed that was BWI.

Also, who's operating the 777?

Thanks for the photos. They're pretty great shots all around.

[jetblast1]

Originally Posted by Itus

Sweet photos. Not that I particularly like Delta, but I am really enjoying the photo with the three Delta tails, one of which being that of the 747. That's a great shot actually. If it weren't for the characteristically black building, I would have never guessed that was BWI.

Also, who's operating the 777?

Thanks for the photos. They're pretty great shots all around.

Thanks Itus. The Delta shot is one I haven't been able to get before and probably won't again! I generally try to keep the photo posts to a minimum though unless anyone wants otherwise (easier for folks on slower internet connections!)

The 777 is a privately-owned aircraft, it is operated by Mid East Jet.

[shakman]

I did not know the 747-SP was still around. (Saudi Arabian)

My favorite photo is the three Delta tails as well.

[flugzeug]

That 757 looks pretty ratty. Wow.

[micrip]

It does. Probably was bought 2nd hand from one of the major airlines.

Bet the DC-10 behind it is even more ancient.

[flugzeug]

Originally Posted by micrip

It does. Probably was bought 2nd hand from one of the major airlines.

Bet the DC-10 behind it is even more ancient.

That is actually an MD-11. There are no passenger DC-10's flying in America.

[smokeybandit]

Originally Posted by flugzeug

That is actually an MD-11. There are no passenger DC-10's flying in America.

Omni Air finally scrapped theirs?

[flugzeug]

Originally Posted by smokeybandit

Omni Air finally scrapped theirs?

Yes. They have been withdrawn from use. They just burn too much fuel, and are maintenance hogs.
They made a video of the last one leaving Tulsa. Kind of sad.

[flugzeug]

In fact, the MD-11 in the picture is probably being scrapped too.