Review of Boutique Air flight Pittsburgh → Altoona in Economy

Report No: 2022-803

Dear folks,

Welcome to this brand new series where I originally intended to fly 3 different US domestic products which I have never flown before but schedule changes and cancellations ruined the original plan of the trip so I had to make some modifications on my mini side trip within the United States of America.

After replanning the itinerary, I was luckily able to squeeze flying Boutique Air as I had an open ticket with them as my plan of flying them earlier in June 2022 was cancelled last minute due to changes in my personal schedule. In this report, I would be sharing my experience of my first Pilatus flight which was with Boutique Air from Pittsburgh to Altoona and then to Baltimore ( next report ) which are routes part of the Essential Air Service program in the USA.

Boutique Air stopped flying to Altoona in September 30, 2022 and now the Essential Air Service to/from Altoona, PA is now operated Contour Airlines with flights to/from Philadelphia instead, thus this report would cover a terminated route.

So the original itinerary for this trip was as following, but flight #2 had been cancelled, which required a change to the itinerary.

However the actual itinerary is as below

Loads for this flight

50% - 4 out of 8 seats were occupied today 

On the day of travel, I took bus 28X to the airport, which costs $2.75 one-way.

The bus was empty and the ride was smooth as for most of the journey the bus either uses dedicated bus lanes or freeways.

I was at the airport 100 minutes before scheduled departure time since earlier during the day, I got a voicemail from Boutique Air that the check-in desks were going to close at 3pm ( 80 minutes before scheduled departure ) for that day.

There was only one check-in desk available and at the check-in desk, my weight was being asked such as my backpack was weighed due to fuel balance reasons.

Then my boarding pass for the first leg to Altoona was handed, but I was checked all the way to Baltimore
I was told that my onward boarding pass to Baltimore would be handed to me upon disembarkation at Altoona.

Boutique Air passengers could use the First Class security lane at Pittsburgh Airport and the ground staff has informed me about that at check-in. 

Security at Pittsburgh Airport is located at the lower level and the lines were pretty short that Tuesday afternoon.

Despite some of these small airlines using private jet terminals at airports, Boutique Air was using regular gates at their while they were flying to Pittsburgh so it is required to use the AirTrain to the concourse where the gates are located.

The train ride is short and uneventful.

Other than the edges of the car, there are no seats on these vehicles, probably due to capacity reasons.

After we have arrived to the concourse, it was time to head upstairs to the gate level.

THE CLUB AT PIT - PITTSBURGH AIRPORT

As I had PriorityPass, I was able to visit The Club lounge at Pittsburgh before my flight. Boutique Air doesn't provide any lounge access to anyone.

Here is what is on offer that day

The buffet

The salad bar

There is also a table where fruits are available

The drinks section

The lounge also has a bar which was not pictured from a closer spot.

The food was indeed quite OK for a PriorityPass lounge at a medium-level airport and the hot blueberry cobbler was delicious. 

While at the lounge, the Boutique Air gate agent had called me through my cellphone and told me that our aircraft is ready and we could depart early if everyone is ready so I packed my belongings and started walking to the gate.

GATE AREA & BOARDING

FIDS

Boutique Air used Concourse A alongside 4 other carriers

The edge of the concourse is deserted with no other flights.

N111WG was there, parked at stand A16, which would be our aircraft for the day.

This Sun Country 737-800 was also visible at that time

After arriving at the gate, the gate agents thanked me for coming early and told us that we would board soon

About 30 minutes before scheduled departure boarding started and we used a closed to public elevator to go downstairs to the apron in order to board our Pilatus PC-12. At the tarmac, the co-pilot checked boarding passes and told us where to sit.

I was been told to sit at the second or third row so I chose a second row seat which had decent legroom.

The seats are similar to private jet seats and they are very comfortable, especially when comparing to slim Economy Class seats on narrow-body jets. 

Before pushback, our co-pilot has instructed the safety briefing for this aircraft and asked whether anyone would like any soft drinks or snacks since moving and standing up during the entire flight is forbidden due to safety reasons.

I have asked for a bottle of water.

We were able to start engines 20 minutes before scheduled departure time and start our taxi

Some Embraer aircraft at remote stands. Republic Airways has a maintenance facility here as most of the aircraft there are registered under them.

US military jets

And after a short taxi, it was time to take-off.

Shortly later, we were over the clouds.

I had a small nap and woke up just before landing at Altoona

Where we have landed 23 minutes ahead of our scheduled arrival time.

The airport was pretty empty that day

And after a short taxi, we have parked

ALTOONA BLAIR COUNTY AIRPORT - AOO

After disembarking the aircraft, a member of the ground staff handed my onward boarding pass and directed me through the departures hall for my onward flight to Baltimore; while all the other passengers, whose final destination was AOO were directed towards the exit.

So, this report has came to an end and the journey would continue shortly with the last part of the series which is the onward flight to Baltimore with the same aircraft.
Thanks for reading this Flight-Report and hope to see you on another Flight-Report.