En Route IAH to ORD 9:45 AM

Well we’ve just been sequenced which is pretty consistent with my other trips to ORD. Sequencing occurs because of the heavy traffic at most major airports. In order to keep planes from entering holding patterns that can last up to an hour airports and airlines realized it was cheaper to slow down on the way. It saves gas and it keeps the passengers from getting antsy as the plane flies over the same real estate for an hour. I’ve never flown to Chicago and not been sequenced. You can tell when it happens because the plane starts to slow down. We’ll be landing in Chicago in less than an hour and we have about 30 minutes to get to our next gate. I was hoping to get lunch but that probably is not going to happen. Then it’s another 2 hour flight to Newark, New Jersey and a 20 minute train ride to Manhattan. The flight so far has been uneventful and quiet. The plane is old, it smells moldy but it has laptop power, which CO does not.

We were up at 5AM, left the house at 6AM and were at our gate by 6:50AM a full hour before our flight was scheduled to leave. There were two flights departing from our gate area, ours to ORD (O’Hare in Chicago) and the other to MIA (Miami International Construction Zone and Drug Bazzarre as Dave Barry calls it). Those of us bound for Chicago had on our long sleeves with coats over our arms knowing we’d need them in a few hours, the folks headed to Miami were clad in t-shirts and shorts. We pushed back on time and got in line for the runway. I can remember back when planes didn’t have to wait in line, they just taxied and took off. The last time I flew on a “whisper jet” as these MD80’s are called, was on my way to Seattle, we took one from Dallas. The MD – Super 80 “Whisper Jet” name is a throw back to the days when airlines named their fleet types. Such names as “Astroliner” “Sky train” “Golden Jet” and others The MD80 was called “Whisper Jet” because th engines are mounted in the rear of the plane making the cabin much quieter for the front ¾’s of the cabin. However, because the engineers are mounted on the fuseleage instead of under the wing, the back part of the cabin is VERY noisy. The restrooms particularly. These planes are old. I really don’t miss the in-flight entertainment; I rarely watch it.