Got a reverse of a route I’ve flown IRL today! Back in October of last year, I flew from Burbank to Portland on one of Alaska Airlines’s 737 MAX 9s and I got around to doing the same flight, but back down to Burbank. Part of the reason for this flight being an inversion of the previous trip between BUR and PDX is because both the aircraft I flew on (737 MAX 9) and the aircraft I saw arriving on a spotting trip in Burbank while waiting for some people close to me to arrive (737-800 in the current livery) are not presently available in Infinite Flight.
Server: Solo
Airline: Alaska Airlines
Aircraft: Boeing 737 MAX 8
Origin: Portland International Airport, Portland, Oregon (PDX)
Destination: Hollywood Burbank Airport, Burbank, California (BUR)
Flight Number: AS121
Route: KPDX-KBUR
Seat: 3F (First Class)
Time En Route: 2 Hours 24 Minutes
Boarding on a rainy day in Portland. As Alaska Airlines’s second-largest hub, PDX sends mainline aircraft to Burbank twice a day, typically the 737-800, 737-900ER, or 737 MAX 9. However, on occasion, BUR gets the MAX 8 on the PDX route, like our flight today.
Pushing back from Gate C14 as a SkyWest-operated Alaska E175 in the “Go Cougars” livery taxies in from Spokane. Our seat in the rearmost row of first class gives us an excellent view of the CFM LEAP-1B fan.
Taxiing to the the runway past a largely empty set of D and E gates
Departing Portland from Runway 10L with rain streaking across the window. Below us is the Atlantic Aviation PDX ramp, which is a lot busier than the northern pier of the passenger terminal today.
Breaking clear of the weather in our climb to our cruising altitude of 37,000 feet. Going to be a fairly smooth ride today down to Burbank, with the seatbelt sign being off for most of the time, according to the flight crew.
The weather has largely cleared up as we cruise near Chico, California. We’re having a fairly comfortable flight here in Alaska’s first class. It also helps that we have our row to ourself today.
Descending over Ventura County near Santa Paula. Santa Paula’s local airport is one of those out-of-the-way gems that are so common in California, with a certain rustic charm to it.
Arriving in Burbank in time for lunch
Due to the A Gates not being very busy today, we get to taxi to the terminal instead of following N959PW, a Challenger 604 that arrived just ahead of us from Pontiac, Michigan, on the other side of the runway. We do have to wait a few moments for our gate, however.
Deplaned at Gate B4 as the aircraft that left it, a 737 MAX 9 going to Seattle as AS1388, gets airborne in the background.