Today’s flight is another replication of one I’ve actually flown on, this time from Portland to Burbank. On Sunday, June 14th, I flew back down to Burbank from Portland on a 737-900ER of Alaska Airlines, registered N479AS. This makes twice now that I’ve flown into PDX on an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 and left it on a 737-900ER. Anyway, without further ado, here’s today’s trip report.
Server: Solo
Airline: Alaska Airlines
Aircraft: Boeing 737-900ER
Origin: Portland International Airport, Portland, Oregon (PDX)
Destination: Hollywood Burbank Airport, Burbank, California (BUR)
Flight Number: AS559
Route: KPDX-KBUR
Seat: 11F (Main Cabin)
Time En Route: 2 Hours 7 Minutes
Getting ready to board our aircraft on a scorching hot afternoon in Portland. It’s somewhere in the mid-90s out and, according to Google, it’s actually cooler in L.A. than it is here. The terminal is absolutely packed today, enough that ee had to stand in line for 25 minutes just to order lunch at Mod Pizza.
Pushing back from Gate C7. While we were boarding, the traffic pattern switched around from using Runways 10L and 10R to Runways 28L and 28R. This means that we’ll go from near the front of the line for takeoff to near the end, behind a company 737-800 and a gaggle of E175s. Ah well, that’s life sometimes.
Waiting to taxi forward and turn onto the runway as Alaska’s Horizon Air Retro E175 starts its takeoff roll for Santa Barbara as AS2029. This is the second E175 special livery we’ve seen on this trip overall. Before N652MK started its takeoff roll, a UPS 767-300F landed on 28L, the second we’ve seen today, as we saw another depart from 10R while we were waiting to board.
Departing from Runway 28R along the Columbia River, with that derelict Ameriflight Beechcraft 99 about to slip out of view. Unlike the flight up here, the cabin is completely full, meaning that we’re not going to have nearly as much elbow room on the way back down. It should be shorter, though, which’ll alleviate this minor inconvenience somewhat.
Climbing to our cruising altitude of 35,000 feet near Aurora State Airport. Looks pretty sedate down there. We were originally scheduled for 1 hour and 47 minutes en route, but the delay caused by the traffic pattern switch added an extra ten minutes to our taxi time. Our captain says they’ll do their best to make up the time.
Cruising by Mount Shasta on our way south down the length of California. We got our fresh fruit and cheese box again and it’s as tasty as we remember. Brought some reading material to pass the time as we leave the Cascade Volcanic Arc behind us.
As we make our final approach into BUR, we’re passing over Van Nuys Airport. Traffic on the 101 in the background looks busy as usual. Hopefully it’s thinned out by the time we’re on it.
Taxiing by Burbank Tower after turning clear of Runway 08/26. Our flight crew did make up the flight time, cutting it back by ten minutes from 2 hours and 17 minutes to 2 hours and 7 minutes. Props to them on that. Now, we’re getting our backpack out from the seat in front of us while we taxi to the B Gates.
Deplaned at the same gate we left from, B4. Flying on Alaska this evening was a pleasure as usual, but we’re a bit tired from a hard week of vacationing in Sunriver. We’re off to the parking lot to pick up our car and head for our hotel!