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You are here: Articles > Flight stories > Flight to L.A. #1
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Article overview It's the beginning of the air trip from Montreal to Los Angeles for a family of 4, starting on the flight from YUL to Cincinnati on a Canadair Regional Jet. Originally published in April 1998. Re-edited in January 2005. |
  adies and gentlemen, Comair flight 3731, non-stop service to Cincinnati and Lexington, is now ready for boarding. Passengers, please proceed to gate 8A..." This is the beginning of a small trip to Los Angeles. We are flying the YUL - CVG - LAX trip (Montreal - Cincinnati - Los Angeles). I am filled with excitement to see the great city of the West Coast with my family, this time my father, my mother and my sister... The date is March 1st, 1996, and the time is 9:00 AM.
 As narrow as a bus
I looked at the plane... My first reaction was: "Wow!"... It looks small. As small and as narrow as a bus, except for the wings. We boarded using the small built-in steps of the plane. A female flight attendant, with dark short hair and a genuine smile, greeted us. I found my seat with my sister on the port side of the aircraft. I think: it IS narrow but at least we have the advantage of seating either on an aisle seat or a window seat. All the passengers have boarded in this confined little cabin The Seat Belt sign sign turned on. The flight attendant that greeted us earlier now welcomes us aboard, over the P.A., and explains the safety features in English, and then in French, with a cute European accent. When she has to put her microphone aside to show the use of the oxygen mask and yell the instructions amid the engine noise, I realize she is the only cabin crew member on this flight. "I will now demonstrate the oxygen mask. (click) SO YOU PULL THE MASK TOWARDS YOU...!!!" Fast departureAfter a few minutes we boarded, I looked at my watch. We were supposed to leave at 9:15 AM... And the time is 9:27. A minute later, nicely aligned on runway 28, the plane started rolling very quickly... After barely 15 seconds, we were already airborne. I started by seeing small fields and highways surrounding the arport. Soon enough, we were so high I could barely see the city. The only recognizable landmark was the St. Lawrence River. I had never felt so high, not even on a wide-body plane. 
The Seat Belt sign turned off. The flight attendant introduced herself. "My name is Lody and if there is anything I can do to make your flight a little bit more enjoyable, please let me know. Thank you!" She then started a light drink and snack service. She passed around the cabin offering juice or soft drinks and taking from a large transparent plastic bag some small snacks, two or three per passenger: crackers, little oatmeal cookies. And I noticed that, to each passenger, she asked if they wanted to have the cheese-peanut butter crackers as well. I found it funny that, in French, she would ask: "Est-ce que vous aimez ça?" (litterally: "Do you like it?") when showing this particular snack!
It's time to admit it. The plane offered a very good comfort in despite of the small size. The seats were comfortable and it felt roomy enough. But best of all, the engines were not much of a nuisance compared to other aircraft. Or maybe it's simply that this was a plane of my size... back then! DizzyTwenty minutes after sipping my Coke, I felt a little dizzy and started getting a little gas. I think this is just about the last time I have soft drinks on a plane. I asked Lody to bring me some water and she gave me a tiny Vittel covered recipient, almost the size of a dipping sauce package for chicken nuggets. I drank the water. Nothing. I tried, a little bit too quickly, to get to the sole lavatory at the rear of the aircraft. I didn't notice that the Captain and the First Officer were waiting in line for the lavatory. WHAT? The two flight crew members are out? FAA regulations  say, and I quote: "If one pilot leaves a pilot duty station of an aircraft when operating at altitudes above 25,000 feet MSL, the remaining pilot at the controls shall put on and use an approved oxygen mask until the other pilot returns to the pilot duty station of the aircraft." A very similar regulation is adopted by Transports Canada. So the Captain and the First Officer shouldn't be waiting in line for the bathroom at the same time! Unless... we were lower than 25,000 feet.
I finally got to the lavatory and it helped, in despite of the very small size of it. When I got back, I sat down and watched Lody, as she walked down the aisle with some sheets of old dot-matrix printer with the little holes on each side. She finally came to our row and gave us the directions on how to get to our connecting flight in Cincinnati. Arriving at Terminal C, we must take a shuttle to Terminal B, where the Delta Air Lines plane to Los Angeles will be departing from. ApproachThe Seat Belt sign turned on and the plane started a slow descent into the Cincinnati area. The landscape looked very beautiful on this sunny day. The terrain was more and more visible and I don't even feel we are actually descending. The No Smoking sign blinked three times. This is when I finally deduce that this is a reminder to the cabin crew that we are on final approach. And so, Lody announces we have been cleared to land at the Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky International Airport and reminds us to verify our seat belts are fastened, and our trays and seat backs are up right. We had a very smooth touchdown at 11:30 AM. 
I imagined from the start that Cincinnati would be a tiny airport with only regional aircraft. But NO! Cincinnati is very large and from the Regional Jet, I saw many wide-body planes, but also narrow-body aircraft and private jetplanes. As I deplaned the aircraft directly on the tarmac, like in Montréal, Lody said goodbye. We went to pick up our baggage with the little purple tags I mentioned about before. They were standing on a platform right besides the CRJ. I walked into the Terminal C and we went straight to the Ground Shuttle stop that would take us to Terminal B. In about an hour and thirty, we would be boarding another plane, a wide-body this time, bound for Los Angeles.
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This is part of a series of 5 articles on a trip from Montreal to Los Angeles and back. Click on the numbers below for easy navigation.
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All CRJ pictures: by Sergio Ortega, captured and modified from Microsoft Flight Simulator 98.
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