Review of Copa Airlines flight Panamá City → Los Angeles in Business

Background:

This series covers a weeklong trip to PTY and BAQ on CM, for a detailed background, please see Part 3.

Part 1 – LAX-SFO [AA 6047, Embraer ERJ-175, Main Cabin Extra] – No report
Part 2 – SFO-LAX [AA 169, Boeing B737-800, Main Cabin Extra] – Bonus to Part 3
Part 3 – LAX-PTY [CM 473, Boeing B737-800, Clase Ejecutiva] – Here
Part 4 – PTY-BAQ [CM 675, Embraer ERJ-190, Clase Ejecutiva] – Here
Part 5 – BAQ-PTY [CM 630, Embraer ERJ-190, Clase Ejecutiva] – Here
Part 6 – PTY-LAX [CM 472, Boeing B737-800, Clase Ejecutiva] – You are Here

This report will cover the return flight from PTY to LAX aboard CM in J. The lounge visit is to the beloved Copa Club and the bonus will be of Panamá City.



Pre-flight:

After arriving off my flight from BAQ, I went over to the Copa Club. Checking in, I inquired about shower availability. The agent said both were in use and that they’d page me when it was ready.



Artwork in the lounge.



The infamous buffet. Those guys in the foreground of the picture are in the 9am beer club too^^



My offering.



Just as I was finishing up, I was paged by the front desk. Arriving, I was escorted into the shower room. There are 2 showers in the Copa Club and this time it had hot water. The room is large and well cleaned/dried between guests, so it makes up for the fact it could use a renovation.



After my shower, I went to the bar to sample the Panamanian offerings. They have 4 beers: Miller Lite, Heineken, Balboa, and Atlas. I find it a little weird that they don’t offer Corona or Stella Artois (the 2 beers they offer in-flight). A Balboa while I watch Wimbledon.



And an Atlas while I read some FRs.



My boarding documents.



After 2 hours in the lounge, I decided to kill the last hour with a walk around PTY. The artwork on display in the lobby below the food court.



The banners welcoming TK to PTY. These have been here for 2 months, time for a change?



FIDS showing my flight as on-time.



Some spotting, but limited exotics at PTY in the morning. It is more interesting at night when all the European carriers are there. You can probably tell which photos were taken in the new wing and which photos were taken in the old terminal based on the window tinting.

DL B738.



UA B739.



CM ERJ-190 in ConnectMiles.com livery.



Avianca Ecuador (AeroGal) 2K A319.



Walking to my gate area.



My plane today. I got a little worried seeing a plane sans-Scimitar winglets thinking it might have the old cabin.





————————-

Copa Airlines, CM 472
Equipment: Boeing B737-800 [HP-1730CMP, delivered March 2012]
Departure: 11:55 (ATD: 12:11)
Arrival: 16:48 (ATA: 16:28)
Flight time: 6:17


Since our flight is to the US, the gate area was roped off and you were required to clear security at the gate (x-ray carry-ons and metal detector). PTY is getting cleverer, I saw 4 flights to the US leaving from a corner of the airport and they roped off the whole area to make all 4 flights into a single quarantine zone.

As I got inside, special assistance was being wheeled down the jetbridge. Boarding flights in Central/South America is usually fairly organized and you can see that no one was crowding the boarding area.



Business class is called and I’m down the fancy Chinese-built jetbridges.



There was no one in the galley to greet me, so I just turn into the cabin, which is 4 rows of 2-2 seating with 50” pitch. The cabin was only 40% at OLCI, but will of course go out 100% since CM sells off its J seats to the highest bidder. If I remember correctly from previous CM flights, an upgrade from Y to J on LAX-PTY has a minimum bid of ~$230.



My beloved seat: 4A.



50” seat pitch, but no under seat storage for ALL rows.



Pre-placed on the seat were pillow and blanket.



A view of the J-cabin as boarding was wrapping up. You can see the 40% load (I was the only person in rows 3/4), meaning the other 60% is waiting for the bids to clear.



BSI.



While waiting, the seat tour. Seat controls (why is the footrest pictogram backwards?), USB and audio jacks.



AC power ports on the front of the center console.



Seatback contents.



Panorama.



The fleet information. The really important data is in the bottom with fine print. The new J cabins are only guaranteed on routes to SCL, GIG, GRU, LAX, SFO, JFK, YYZ, EZE, and MVD. Any other route is a crapshoot. The old J cabins lack IFE and have 38” seat pitch, buyer beware.



Safety card for this B738.



Our neighbor is a CM Colombia B737.



Eventually, headphones and amenity kits are handed out. PDBs and menus? Another fail by CM.



It’s 11:45 and the captain is still standing in the galley. He makes an announcement we will be leaving 15 minutes late, but all passengers are on board. What are we waiting on? A missing crew member! Unbelievable, how is a crew member late to a long-haul flight?

Anyways, the missing crew member finally scampers onboard and we immediately push back. This guy is no fool, he strategically walks in the shadow of the wing.



Taxing out past the CM B738 in *A livery.



As we reach the runway, an AA B738 lands.



Another CM B738 will be following us out.



Aligning onto 03R.



Lifting up over PTY.



The CM hangar.



The rise out of PTY is quite steep since the planes have to quickly clear the mountains in the center of the country.



We soon reach the cloud level and make a turn towards LAX.



The IFE (same size as Y), with decent content. If you travel CM more than once a month, then you might run out of good options though.



I open up the packaged blanket and find this. Ewwww. I immediately request a new one which is handed to me without any apology.



So things keep getting better. The missing FA was the FA assigned to the J cabin, which explains why menus were not handed out and meal orders were not taken on the ground. She finally comes out and starts taking orders all verbally. I was asked what I wanted for aperitif and that the only main left was pasta. I was not asked what salad dressing I wanted either. Again, you see deterioration in FA engagement as she works front to back in the cabin, where row 4 is like an after thought.

No menus were handed out on this flight, but since I have the menu from Part 3 of this series, I took a picture of the CM472 page for reference.



About 75 minutes into the flight, I finally get my aperitif and warm mixed nuts.



After that is cleared, the starter tray is brought out along with another beer.



This is what CM calls “shrimp ceviche.” It was two cold shrimp next to a very sweet mango salsa. Definitely not like any ceviche I’ve had before…



Standard salad.



And here comes the pasta main. I think it looked even worse in person than in the photo. The sauce was just all dried up and flavorless. The ravioli were nuked in the microwave and were dry and sticking to the plate. The filling was flavorless. It was so dry and unappetizing. I ate maybe two and left the rest. Even for Y, this would be a very poor main.



After dinner, the dessert carts makes its way down the aisle. I ask for the ice cream with chocolate sauce. She was in such a hurry that she starts wheeling away and I have to hit the call button to request my Bailey’s. She didn’t offer drinks with the dessert so it had to be forcefully requested.



Water bottles were handed out when dessert was cleared. Meal service concluded as we were approaching the Gulf of Mexico.



It was cloudy the whole way so no aerials of Mexico this time.



I passed out after my early morning in BAQ and awoke to find a customs form tossed into my lap.



I continued my relaxation while checking out the music selection, which is definitely heavy on the Latin music (not surprising), but they do have some eclectic music offerings like Michael Jackson.



Way too early (~2 hours out), the FA comes through and asks if we want the pre-arrival snack and what we want to drink with it.



The snack plate and a cup of coffee. The roll was a brick, I couldn’t even bite into it. The rest of the plate was some dried fruit, olives, cheese, ham, and some crushed pecans. Not very good and probably one of the worst pre-arrivals snacks I’ve had on CM. They serve smoked salmon ex-LAX, but a piece of lunchmeat ex-PTY. The inconsistencies in catering quality are incredible on CM.



All bad things eventually come to an end and opening up the window I can at least take some solace in the beauty of Southern California.



Flying over Escondido.



Entering the Pacific Ocean directly over the aptly named city of Oceanside.



Catalina Island off in the horizon.



Turning back into the LA Basin.



We make landfall directly over Sunset Beach.



Port of Long Beach.



LGB (mainly used by B6).



Long Beach as we head north.



The I-605 and 91 interchange as we head past Lakewood, Paramount, and Downey.



Downtown LA can be seen poking up through the haze.



We turn to align with LAX over Downey. The start of the I-110 spur can be seen as it crosses over the San Gabriel “River.”



The I-110 and I-105 interchange for the highway lovers out there.



Welcome to LA’s sprawl of single family homes.



Crossing the I-405.



Maybe I should just buy an RV and live here. Great spotting 24/7^^



We touch down ahead of schedule by the cargo operations. DHL B767F and CZ B777F.



Western Global Airlines MD-11F. For the history fans, AY acquired this beauty in 1993 before it was sold and converted to a freighter.



Western Global Airlines B747F. Also as a background, JL acquired this plane in 1992 before it was sold and converted to a freighter.



Passing by TBIT, the Koreans are here. OZ B772 (starting this fall, OZ will only operate A380s to LAX) and KE A380.



AA at T4.



DL B772 at T5.



AS B737 and DL B717 lining up in front of the Theme Building and AS B739 in Disneyland special livery.



We pull into Gate 69B next to an AS B738.



Deplaning.



Arriving at T6, we have to walk all the way to T7/T8 for immigration.



I get to try out GlobalEntry for the first time.



Then it is walking all the way back to T6 to collect the bags. TBIT is so much nicer for arrivals. It was another 20 minutes waiting for bags to start and my *G tagged bag was one of the last ones off. I get to CBP and they ask where I’m returning from. As soon as the word “Colombia” rolls off my lips, there is a quick scribble on my customs form and I’m red-flagged. Reaching the front of the line, the agent tells me to follow the red arrows on the ground to the inspection area. The CBP agent spends 15 minutes carefully going through all of my belongings before thanking me for my cooperation and wishing me a good day.



And with that, this series is over.



***BONUS***

Panamá City was founded in 1519 and today is a modern hub for commerce and transportation as the connection between North and South America. After the razing of the old city by Henry Morgan, the present day Casco Viejo (Old Quarter) was settled in 1673. It has traditional colonial Spanish architectures with brightly colored buildings and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.



The streets of the Old Quarter.



Plaza de la Independencia.



Basílica Metropolitana de Santa María la Antigua, which is currently undergoing reconstruction.



Palacio Municipal de Panamá.



Ministerio de Gobierno.



Traditional colonial buildings.



Teatro Nacional.



La vista Panamá.



Iglesia La Merced.



We can't be in the northern parts of South America without a Plaza Simón Bolívar with the Iglesia San Francisco de Asís in the background.



Simón Bolívar the Liberator.



So most of Panamá City is not nice, it is a typical Central/South American city stricken by poverty and is relatively run down. That said, I never felt unsafe walking in these areas during the daytime and nobody bothered me.



But they have a China Town^^



And mangy cats^^



Casco Viejo from the Cinta Costera Park.



Panamá City is becoming the Dubai of the Americas and this evident with rapid construction of high-rises and lavish casinos.



Simpler times still exist with the local fish market.



The best way to get around Panamá City is the public transportation. You can buy an IC card for $2 and use it on all buses and subways in the city. The bus costs $0.25 and the subway costs $0.35.



The bus system is modern, but figuring out routes can be difficult.



The metro was just built in 2014 so is very clean and modern.



If you are more adventurous you can ride the "Diablos Rojos," these privately owned buses will be disappearing soon.



The original settlement was called Panamá Viejo. This settlement was destroyed in 1672 when Henry Morgan and his band of pirates looted and razed the town.



Special exhibit at the Panamá Viejo museum.



Pedro Arias Dávila, the founder of Panamá City.



Isabel la Católica, the Queen of Spain that commissioned the exhibition.



The iconic bell tower from the old church.



Views from the top if the bell tower.



You can then walk through the archeological site looking at the ruins of the old town.