Review of American Eagle flight Washington → Toronto in Economy

Since my dad changed jobs back in December, he’s had to travel a lot, and his latest trip was to Winnipeg, Manitoba in early February to visit with members of the staff of the Canadian Museum of Human Rights. The dates just happened to fall during a long weekend from school for my sister and I following our semester exams, so there was discussion that my whole family would go. However, my mom and sister decided not to go, so it was just going to be my dad and I spending four days and three nights in Winnipeg. Our flights were going to be with American/American Eagle to YYZ first, and then on WestJet from YYZ to YWG, two new airlines for me. So our routing looked like this:




At the Airport: We left our home in the DC suburbs at around 7:45, and arrived at the airport at around 8:10 or so. My dad and I each printed out our boarding passes ahead of time, and we were only taking carry-on luggage with us, so we didn’t have to deal with check-in. It was fairly dormant landside at DCA, despite it being the start of the morning rush. The TSA lines were moving quickly by those standards, so we were airside by no later than 8:30. We still had around an hour until our flight was supposed to board from gate 35X, so I got some Dunkin’ Donuts and my dad took care of some of his business while we waited.



Boarding: At around 9:10, we made our way to gate 35X. Whenever I’ve flown out of DCA in the past, it had always been from Terminals A or B, so flying out Terminal C was different. Instead of boarding from a jetbridge, you go down to the lower level and a separate (and really cramped) waiting area once your flight is called, and you get on a bus that takes you out to your plane at the remote stands. Once we got down there, it was really crowded and confusing, because there were multiple flights boarding at the same time down there, and with that came multiple announcements. Luckily, our flight was called almost right as we got down there, and we made our way out to the bus, where we sat for about 5 minutes with the doors open and cold wind blowing in. Finally, we drove out to the remote stand, where our CR2 awaited.



Once we got on, I had to duck down the aisle because I’m 6’2”, and it had been a while since I’d been on one of these regional jets, the first time since CPH-GOT on SK’s CR9. Our seats were 10A and 10C, and I assumed that A and B were on one side of the aisle and B and C were on the other, but I was wrong, so my dad and I were going to be together. I snagged the window seat, and I had to crouch over to look out of it. The CR2 sure isn’t made for tall people! As the rest of the passengers boarded, I took a look at the inflight magazine and other stuff in the seat pocket. A little while later, everyone had got on, and the lone female FA made the standard safety announcements, and we began our taxi to the runway. We made a powerful takeoff to the north at 10:16, around 14 minutes late.



The Flight: Almost immediately, the flight attendant began her drink service, as well as handing out Canadian customs declaration cards, which my dad filled out for us. I had apple juice, which was just fine for a flight of this length. I wasn’t expecting much service-wise on this leg, just something to drink and a FA that treated the passengers well, and we got just that. I passed the time by doing some reading and listening to music, and before I knew it, we were on our descent into YYZ. We came in from the east, and touched down at 11:11, waaaaaay ahead of schedule. My dad and I quickly got our bags and made our way into the terminal to catch our connecting flight to Winnipeg.
Landing at YYZ