Coming back to California on one of United’s widebody workhorses, the 777-200ER. These aircraft are a staple of the airline’s long-haul routes to Europe, Asia, Africa, South America, and Australia, with 51 airframes in service. 22 of these aircraft were inherited in the merger with Continental Airlines and can be distinguished from original United Airlines examples by the lack of a -UA suffix on their registration numbers and by their GE90 engines, as United selected the PW4000 for its 777 orders.
Server: Solo
Airline: United Airlines
Aircraft: Boeing 777-224ER
Origin: Brisbane Airport, Brisbane, Australia (BNE)
Destination: San Francisco International Airport, San Francisco, California (SFO)
Flight Number: UA97
Route: YBBN-KSFO
Seat: 11A (Polaris)
Time En Route: 13 Hours 26 Minutes
Boarding at Gate 78 on a bright, sunny morning in Brisbane. Our aircraft today is a GE90-powered 777-224ER, a subtype which makes up roughly half of United’s 51-strong international 777-200ER fleet.
We’ve got a quick taxi to the runway today due to the location of the International Terminal here at BNE
Taking off from Runway 01L for San Francisco. It’s good being back in a lie-flat Polaris seat after several weeks.
Leaving the Land Down Under over the southern end of Moreton Island, home to a national park and a popular camping destination
Lunch is served at 31,000 feet as we head towards Norfolk Island, the easternmost part of Australia. Today, we’re having the Colorado Flatiron steak, served with Yukon potatoes, charred rapini, mustard sauce, and Fresno chili peppers.
Getting ready for a few hours of sleep with our seat fully reclined after watching one of the movies. The Polaris seats have a very responsive IFE touchscreen, although a classic 777 remote is provided. Due to the ease of using the touchscreen, we really didn’t have to use the remote except for controlling the reading lights overhead.
Waking up at dawn in our intial descent into the Bay Area. Sleeping in Polaris was great, and this particular flight was probably the best one we’ve had in business class on a U.S. airline since we flew in Delta One on an A350-900 from Detroit to Shanghai.
Landing on Runway 28L in San Francisco as what appears to be another company 777-200 lines up on 01R
Taxiing by the alley between the F and G Gates
Deplaned at the same gate we left from, G7
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