This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
Used the Metro / Washington Flyer service. I believe the long term plan is for the Silver Metro line to go all the way to IAD. It's nearly there now as the Washington Flyer bus ride only takes about 10 mins now.
VS check-in was in full swing and I was swiftly checked-in and my bag tagged all the way to MAN (on a single PNR).
Security was very fast and efficient and for the first in in as long as I can remember, we where not asked to remove lap-tops from bags, which I thought was a little odd
Made my way to the A gates and the VS Clubhouse. I was handed lounge pass for LHR T2 for my flight to MAN.
The IAD Clubhouse was as nice as ever. It's a very relaxing lounge even though it's not very big. The staff where fantastic and nothing was too much trouble.
Paid a few visits to the air-side smoking lounge they still have at IAD. It must be one of the few US airports that still has these
The food was great as well. I started with the pumpkin soup followed by a CH burger and Passion fruit Sorbet to finish which was all very nice and tasty.
G-VOOH was already on stand across the terminal building.
The flight was called around 19:45 for a 20:15 departure. Only 106 pax and 11 crew on this evening's flight so boarding didn't take long at all. I was warmly welcomed on-board by several crew. Once again the whole crew where fantastic the whole flight.
The door was closed and we pushed back around 20:20.........and then just stopped waiting a few meters away from the gate for a good 10mins or so. The captain came on to inform us he had a minor issue and had a warning light which he was trying to work his way through a set of procedures to try and get rid of. Another 10 mins or so later the captain came back on to inform us that he had not been able to get the warning light to go off so we where going back on stand as a VS engineer was waiting to see if he could fix the issue. Workmen had also started work on the now empty stand so they had to be cleared out of the way and we where towed back onto the stand. The door was opened and the engineer and some other ground staff boarded the aircraft.
The FSM announced that as we where back on stand that pax could get off if they wanted to, however, they would not be allowed back on (apparently it's a newish FAA procedure all airlines have to offer to pax in such situations)
The captain again announced that the procedures he and the engineer where working through would take about 40 mins so the crew started handing out soft drinks along with the snack basket. The seat belt sign was switched off so pax could move around the cabin.
40 mins later the captain came on again to tell us that they needed to completely re-boot the entire aircraft and switch everything off for approx. 10 mins. Like he said, switching it off and then back on again often does the trick!!
We where obviously warned that the entire A/C would be in darkness during this time so we where asked not to walk around or use the washrooms during this time. It was quite a surreal situation sat on a almost completely dark A/C. As promised after 10 mins, things started booting up again and everything slowly sprung back to life.
Another 20 mins or so later the captain announced that he was pleased to say that the re-boot had worked but he was now having to re-fuel and re-file new paperwork which would take another 45mins or so. The FSM announced that during this time, the crew would be serving dinner, though they where not able to serve alcohol as we where still on the ground.
As I'd eaten in the CH, I'd already decided I would just have the soup for the starter, missing the main course and then just having desert, which was cheesecake. The crew took the orders, along with the breakfast cards. The food was nice and the service was as per it would have been in the air. Again pax where able to move around the cabin so a few people sat round the bar for a short time.
Apparently 2 pax had also decided to get off the A/C so we now only had 104 pax on-board this evenings flight.
This is the second time in the last couple of years that I've eaten dinner on a VS flight whilst sat on the ground, the first time was the VS75 flight from MAN that had the faulty fuel relief valve.
Finally at around 23:35 the door was closed (again) and we pushed back for second time. I think everyone was holding their breath as we did, but thankfully this time we where soon taxiing to to runway to make our way to London, albeit, 3 and a bit hours late
Our new arrival time into LHR was around 10:20. As I had a 5 hour lay-over at LHR anyway with a departure time of 12:25 to MAN, I would be fine, but would probably need to forgo Revivals
This evenings flight would be be around 6.5hrs Once we where airborne, most pax in J decided to sleep, myself included. I changed into my own shorts and t-shirt (I don't like those VS PJ's). My seat was converted into a bed and before long I was bedded down for the night. Nice and comfortable with just enough room for me (the suits do feel narrower than the main-deck B744 ones, I'm guessing they are similar to the Airbus ones width-wise)
I slept for a good 4 hours or so and was woken by the breakfast service starting. 2 bacon butties and a couple of pancakes soon arrived, which went down very well
As we approached LHR, we were stacked for 10 mins or so, but where on the ground by 10:20, on a remote stand though
so we had to be bussed to the terminal and arrivals. I landed myself again as usual as I needed some nicotine . Immigration was pretty much deserted with no queues on both the manual or the e-gates. Some 15 minutes later I was outside and then soon heading across to T2 for my final VLR flight up to MAN, which turned out to be a EI A/C for some reason?Even with the delay, the crew where fantastic once again and I look forward to flying on the Dreamliner again soon hopefully
Regards
James Mitchell
James Mitchell
