Starting a series of trip reports that will showcase my first two flights on Alaska Airlines and my first time visiting Oregon over the past week. While my flight from Burbank to Portland last Wednesday, October 1st, was on a 737 MAX 9, we don’t have B39M in Infinite Flight at the moment, so I used the MAX 8, which has been used on this route. Otherwise, everything is pretty much the same, except for an en route time 6 minutes longer than the actual one. Enjoy!
Server: Solo
Airline: Alaska Airlines
Aircraft: Boeing 737 MAX 8
Origin: Hollywood Burbank Airport, Burbank, California (BUR)
Destination: Portland International Airport, Portland, Oregon (PDX)
Flight Number: AS1107
Route: KBUR-KPDX
Seat: 11F (Main Cabin)
Time En Route: 2 Hours 9 Minutes
Walking out to board our aircraft at twilight at BUR. We were originally supposed to board an hour and a half ago, but the aircraft developed a technical issue and went down at the gate. Calls were made to company headquarters in Seattle, with the final decision made to put the passengers that would’ve been connecting to SEA via PDX on an Embraer 175 to SFO and have them connect through there, and for those of us with Portland as our final destination to head there on a 737 MAX 8 arriving from Seattle that normally would spend the night in Burbank but was rescheduled to substitute for our original aircraft that couldn’t be made flight-ready tonight. This all actually happened to me a week ago, by the way. Kudos to Alaska for figuring it out as fast as they did.
Pushing back from Gate B3 with a UPS Airlines A300-600RF across the runway from us. Due to the passengers connecting through PDX being rerouted, it’s a noticeably less full flight.
Taxiing out on the west side of BUR due to the usual taxiway being closed for construction for most of its length. After 80 years, Burbank is finally getting a new passenger terminal that will hopefully allow for more service to this convenient alternative to LAX due to the increased number of gates.
Departure from Burbank under an overcast sky. Flight crew is going to try to expedite our arrival as much as possible to make up the lost time, but in any case, we’ll be getting in much later than normal. At least PDX is our final destination for this evening, and we won’t have to scramble to make a connection or worry about missing it altogether.
Northward turn over Sherman Oaks with the 101 below us and Studio City, Toluca Lake, I-5, and Burbank off towards the background
Cruising at 38,000 feet near Fresno. Currently enjoying a light dinner of cheese and apple slices we ordered before the flight. It’s not much, but it’s a lot more than you’d get on most airlines flying out of Burbank.
First drops of rain start to hit the windows as we make an unannounced intial descent over west-central Oregon. For some reason, Alaska doesn’t announce that they’re descending until shortly before starting the final descent, at least on the two flights I’ve been on.
Landing at PDX with a light drizzle after just over a couple hours’ flying time. Great flight and we’re relieved at how smoothly things went once we finally got boarded.
Taxiing to the C Gates on the south side of the airport, looking across at the UPS, FedEx, and Boeing ramps, with what looks to be a brand-new TAAG Angola 787-9 Dreamliner on the latter, and the Horizon Air and Alaska Airlines maintenance ramps
Finally deplaned at Gate C9 after a topsy-turvy trip, complete with gremlins, delays, and an exceptionally apologetic gate agent and flight crew who did more than make up for the lost time. Oh, and we got to see active F-15C/D Eagles in the flesh for the first time when we got off the airplane, since the Oregon Air National Guard’s 123rd Fighter Squadron has their Eagle nest and alert barns right across the runway, and there are several airframes visible under the lights of the shelter.
