Flying up to Boston today on a regional workhorse of Delta Connection, the Embraer E175. Delta currently operates both mainline aircraft and regional jets between BNA and BOS, but I’ve only ever flown IRL on regionals (CRJ-900; E175L, E170, E175S) between the two with the Atlanta-based airline, so that’s what I’m doing for this particular series of trip reports. Anyway, here’s the flight.
Server: Solo
Airline: Delta Connection (Operated by SkyWest Airlines)
Aircraft: Embraer E175
Origin: Nashville International Airport, Nashville, Tennessee (BNA)
Destination: General Edward Lawrence Logan International Airport, Boston, Massachusetts (BOS)
Flight Number: DL5610
Route: KBNA-KBOS
Seat: 4D (Domestic First)
Time En Route: 2 Hours 29 Minutes
Waiting to board our aircraft at Gate B11 before dawn. While DL5610 is normally operated by E170s and short-wing E175s of Republic Airways, the aircraft we were originally supposed to use (aside from it not being in Infinite Flight) went “down” due to issues with the air conditioning system, requiring it to be towed over to the Embraer maintenance facility across the field and a long-wing SkyWest E175 to be substituted.
Taxiing to Runway 02C for takeoff. We lucked out today, as our aircraft is one of SkyWest’s 70-seat E175s, with 8 fewer seats than the more common model operated by both them and Republic Airways. Not to mention, it’s not a completely full flight this morning and a fairly quiet bunch at that.
Officially Boston-bound as we get airborne by the Nashville ATC tower and a fairly full Atlantic Aviation ramp. The Sun is coming up over Percy Priest Reservoir, glittering off the surface. In the spring, summer, and early fall, it’d already be full of boaters out and about.
Climbing over rural Middle Tennessee, somewhere north of Hendersonville and southeast of Clarksville
Cruising at 33,000 over the outskirts of Louisville, Kentucky. Down below us is Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport and the UPS Worldport. This is one of the busiest air cargo facilities in the world, with an average of almost 10,000 tons of cargo passing through it each day in 2024 (~3.48 million tons in 2024).
Over the middle of Ohio as the winter clouds start to thicken up. Despite it being later in the morning than when we left, it’s still almost as bright out as it was back in Tennessee, showing what even a slight change in latitude can do. As for what’s going on in the aircraft, we’ve ordered a light snack and a Coca-Cola to keep our tastebuds awake. These E175s are about as good as it gets for regional jets, what with the lower density and extended pitch in Domestic First.
In our final descent into Logan International over Laurence G. Hanscom Field in Bedford, Massachusetts. Up until relatively recently, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology had a Boeing 707, registered N404PA and named Shashambre (ex-Clipper Seven Seas with Pan Am) based here and used as a flying laboratory and radar testbed in cooperation with the United States Air Force. It was retired and sent to the Boneyard at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, where she remains stored as of today.
Arriving on a frigid Boston morning on Runway 22R by Terminal C, packed as usual with JetBlue aircraft. There’s also a few Delta, American, and Southwest jets joining the B6s taxiing out for takeoff on 15R.
Taxiing by the B Gates with Boston’s iconic ATC tower in profile. Viewed from this side, it looks almost ordinary. Back before 9/11, there was an observation deck open to the public in the tower, which was obviously closed after the attacks when the entire aviation industry changed for good.
Deplaned at Gate A2. We’ve got several hours before out next flight, so we’re likely going to be spending them watching the traffic come and go before traveling across the Atlantic this evening.