By Shawn Gallagher
Hello from Terminal B of Boston Logan International Airport! I flew Boston – New York again the other day, this time with American Airlines.
This was a 9:31am departure from Boston. Although technically a morning flight, it was nice that it wasn’t too early. I didn’t have work or anything else scheduled on this day, so it was nice being able to travel at any time. I just chose this flight time so that I wouldn’t waste the day away.
Related: Benefits of morning flights; why you should always fly in the morning
I got this notification from the American Airlines app as I was getting ready to go to the airport. Always a good way to start the day.
A Quiet Airport
The airport was so quiet when I was there. This was at 8 in the morning. I should fly more on Tuesdays!
This reminded me of the Covid days.
I finally found a crowd around gate B9 for an American Airlines flight to Phoenix.
My aircraft of the day was N113HQ, a 17 year old Embraer 175 delivered back in August 2007.
Boarding began at 9:06am, which was 25 minutes before departure at gate B4.
Onboard
The majority of passengers boarding in group 1, including me.
I was in seat 1A, which is the bulkhead. I thought the legroom was fine, as my feet would barely touch the wall (I’m 6 foot 1, or 183cm).
The disadvantage of this seat is the lack of underseat storage. Both my carry-on and my personal item had to go into an overhead bin, which can be less on a small aircraft like the Embraer 175 and other similar ones.
I do like the solo seat though. The 1-2 configuration on the regional jets is much better than the 2-2 on mainline aircraft.
Having two air nozzles to yourself is an underrated benefit of having the solo seat when flying First Class.
Pushback began 9 minutes before scheduled departure.
Perfect weather for flying!
I got some great views of Boston Harbor and Massachusetts Bay as we took off.
We got a quick beverage service after takeoff. I appreciated the service and attentiveness of the flight attendants despite it being only a 45 minute flight.
The seatbelt sign was turned off for a little bit as well. This flight was very smooth overall.
Somewhere over Long Island, New York.
This was the first time I was trying out the Flighty app. I highly recommend it; it’s great for alerts and flight info and has incredibly good UI (shoutout to those who recommended me this app!)
We soon made our descent into JFK airport and landed early.
Concluding Thoughts
I fly between New York and Boston a lot, and I find the service and on-time performance to be pretty consistent. I know there isn’t much that goes into these flights, but maybe that’s what helps it run smoothly. I enjoyed my upgrade to First Class today.
All photos taken by the author.