TRIP REPORT: AA 1847 22 April JFK-DFW/AA1661 22 April DFW-SE

So after a few weeks home, the inevitable happens and I am back on the road. I have this trip to SEA returning Thursday, then to HHH(actually SAV) on Airtran (a first) Friday.

I woke up at oh dark thirty got showered and headed out to JFK well before sunrise for my 7:40AM flight. Unfortunately this was to be an MD-80, but I was trusting...

Got to the airport with less traffic than usual, parked and walked over to the terminal - it's a crying shame what they did to the old terminal 8--the building missing the stained glass makes one sad.

The TSA guy was making everyone turn wheel bags wheels up--something new- he said that it helps prevent the wheels from getting stuck on the track rollers. For a change, he was nice and offered a logical explanation. The guy at the metal detector, however, was unlike anything I have seen. I am assuming he wants to be a cop (or got turned down), because he was almost yelling at people for going through the metal detector too fast. He made me and a number of others go through twice or more yelling "stand back" quite often.

Another peeve--they have installed plexiglass on the conveyor taking the output from the x ray-I think they are trying to force you to move further down the line to get your stuff, but it causes more congestion than it releives...this is JFK though #-o

A quick visit to the Admirals Club, coffee and juice, then off to the gate. Very pleasant gate crew, good morning and thank you as each passenger boarded (F at least). Settled into seat 4F, greeted by the lead FA, who came to each customer and introduced herself. She had a nice idea-asked each customer for their first name, and asked if it was okay to address them that way. In my mind, it establishes a rapport but also serves a security purpose (matching manifest). I was VERY impressed.

We pushed back a minute or so ahead of schedule, stopped where the tug is supposed to disconnect, then.... nothing. After a few minutes the captain comes on, says the air start from the APU is not working, we need to go back to the gate to get the mechanics to check it out. Back to the gate, mechanics come on board, and confirm that the APU air supply is not properly feeding the starters. Captain comes on every few minutes to update--says they are done, now waiting for the log book (I guess in accordance with scrutiny from a couple of weeks ago). Here's the rub--it takes 35 minutes to get the log book! THEN it takes another 20 minutes to get the air cart. FINALLY they started one engine at the gate, towed us back and off we went. I will say all the while they kept us informed , and did an extra beverage service while at the gate, but all I could see was my 1h20m connection time evaporating.

The flight itself was very pleasant--had an egg quesadilla (SP?) which was actually pretty good. I got a little sleep, and the FA was very attentive--up in the aisle for most of the flight. Upon landing, we had a very long taxi (landed 17L, which is out by itself on the east end of the airport). Arriving at the gate exactly at the scheduled departure time for the connection, I went right to the gate agent, who took my old boarding pass, commented that ops had told them all misconnects had been rebooked, but she saw they weren't, and in 32 seconds flat, handed me a new boarding pass with an apology. We shared a laugh, and I went right off to the A/C in the A concourse for a bit.

Luckily there was another flight within an hour of the original, and since my boss was arriving yet an hour after the new arrival time, all was good. The only down side was that it was another MD-80, rather than the 738 which operated my original schedule. The crew more than made up for it though-friendly, helpful, and in very good humor all the way-which was good, since I think DFW-SEA is just about the longest MD-80 flight on the AA schedule, comparable to ORD-west coast. Lunch was a turkey and swiss croissant which was okay, and another nap, followed by Ipod music. We arrived right on time, and I proceeded to pick up the rental car, and here I am....

An interesting note....the captain on DFW-SEA was John Testrake, Jr. His dad was the captain who got hijacked in a TWA 727 about 23 years ago--a real hero. On the way out, I shook his hand, and told him his dad was a hero, and that I was very sad when I learned of his passing...

Other than the log book thing, which made no sense, but caused the misconnect, not a bad trip so far!

Off to business--return to follow tomorrow night......