“Today, Ken will cover most of the work inside the plane,” says Grutzmacher. “Are the lights working? Are the galleys and lavatories functioning? Are the seat controls OK? Is the emergency equipment in the right place? People often take out the life vests from under the seat cushions. Kids play with them. Then they leave the vests on the floor or try to push them back under the seat cushion in the wrong way.
“I’ll work outside and check things like exterior lights, tire pressure, landing gear, brake discs and mechanical systems,” Grutzmacher continues. “I’ll look for fluid leaks, check the doors and examine the exterior for damage. Maybe a bird hit the plane, or a piece of runway broke off and was thrown onto the plane by a tire.
“Ken and I switch back and forth,” he adds, “and being inside the plane part of the time makes quite a difference during summer and winter at O’Hare.”
2:30 p.m.: The Skychefs truck returns to 1AK. The catering crew restocks the Coach, Business and First Class galleys with Flight 86’s meals in rolling service carts, cases of beverages, duty-free goods, flowers and newspapers.
Nothing is left to chance. A label on the front of each cart describes its contents. In the Business and First Class galleys, color photographs on the carts indicate how the meals should be arranged on each plate.
2:45 p.m.: Half a dozen trucks now surround the plane. The Skychefs high-lift catering truck is still outside the forward door. The cargo and baggage crew is loading mail and air freight “into the belly,” and soon they will start loading luggage, a process that will continue in phases until minutes before takeoff.
3:15 p.m.: The catering crew leaves the plane.
3:30 p.m.: Deana Pearson, the departure coordinator, comes on board and starts going through her checklist. Are the galleys and lavatories clean? Are the first-aid kits stocked? Did the catering crew leave enough food and beverages? Are headphones at every seat? Have the flowers and newspapers been delivered?
She looks up. Antonio Castro, the Skychefs representative who is overseeing catering for this flight, already is arranging the flowers in vases and laying out the newspapers in Business and First Class.
3:30 p.m.: Inside the terminal, Flight 86’s Capt. Steve Nehlig and International Officer Bill Stocks have arrived at “flight ops,” the flight operations center, to study flight-related paperwork, review the weather and determine the amount of fuel to be loaded onto 1AK. Outside, First Officer Lee Smith is standing on the pavement, making his own preflight visual safety check.
3:40 p.m.: The cleaning crew leaves the plane. 1AK’s transformation is remarkable: Two hours ago, it was a hard-used and littered plane. Now 1AK is spotless and looks its part: a fresh-out-the-factory MD-11, the largest and most advanced jet in American’s 600-plane fleet.
3:50 p.m.: One hour before flight time. The pressure is on.
On the pavement, the cargo and baggage handlers are loading more mail, air freight and luggage.
Inside 1AK, the 14 flight attendants arrive on board and begin their pre-departure duties. In the Business Class galley, for example, Marsha Brown is at work. “I’ve already checked the Business Class menu and made sure that the food we have is what we should have, and that we have enough meals,” Brown says. “Soon I’ll start dividing some of the food and beverages for the carts that go down each aisle so that the dinner service proceeds on schedule.
“Tonight’s Business Class dinner has four courses,” she notes, “basil-cured salmon for an appetizer, a lettuce salad and an entree choice of chateaubriand, grilled veal chop or curry chicken. Dessert is fresh fruit and cheese or, if you really want something good, a blond brownie with vanilla ice cream.”
The simpler Coach dinner is served on one tray and includes a salad and a choice of three entrees: blackened filet mignon, garlic shrimp or lasagne. Dessert is a blond brownie with chocolate syrup.
In First Class, dinner is a more elaborate version of the Business Class meal. The lettuce salad includes fresh lobster. For the entrees, rack of lamb replaces chateaubriand. Two special touches are sevruga malossol caviar, which precedes the salad, and a grapefruit sorbet, served between the salad and entree.
4 p.m.: Capt. Nehlig, First Officer Smith and International Officer Stocks walk onto 1AK, greet First Flight Attendant Tracy Sherman and continue their preflight preparations and safety checks in the cockpit.
Three cockpit crew members have been assigned a jet that can be flown by two. “For overseas flights on jets like 1AK that can be flown by two people, U.S. carriers are required to have a third fully qualified pilot on board so that no one works more than a four-hour shift,” Sherman explains. “The captain usually makes an announcement to the passengers about this. That way, passengers don’t wonder who is flying the plane when they see one of the captains walking around.”
4:05 p.m.: “Will the flight attendants come to Zone A for a brief meeting?” Sherman announces over the intercom. “Galleys are excused.”
Two minutes later, the flight attendants have gathered in the First Class cabin. With rapid-fire delivery, Sherman discusses the flight plan (“3,953 miles; 7 hours and 17 minutes at 33,000 feet”), says that the weather is good in London (“sunny and 63 degrees”) and announces that boarding will begin at 4:15 p.m.
Then, Sherman asks the flight attendants to introduce themselves. All have flown to Europe many times, but this group has not worked together before. Sherman adds: “I’ll post the break list on the wall of the break area. Be sure to sign in and out so that we don’t lose you.”
4:10 p.m.: Inside the terminal, passengers occupy every seat in the waiting area near Gate K-16. Dozens more passengers stand along the wall.
Thom Callahan, a flight-service representative, is “ramping the flights,” going from gate to gate, making sure that all the flight crews will be ready to receive passengers on time. If some food or beverage is missing, Callahan arranges for replacements. If something is broken, he makes sure that it is fixed promptly. “My job is troubleshooting, making sure that flight services is not the cause of any delays,” he says.
4:15 p.m.: “Welcome to Flight 86 to London’s Heathrow Airport,” announces one of the gate agents. “At this time, we will begin pre-boarding. . . .”
4:16 p.m.: The first passengers start walking down the jet bridge. “Here they come,” says one flight attendant to another.
4:25 p.m.: The cargo and baggage handlers finish loading the freight into the plane and seal the compartments.
4:30 p.m.: “This will be your final boarding call for Flight 86 to London’s Heathrow Airport.” In the next few minutes, more than a dozen passengers will board. Some are obviously concerned that they nearly missed the flight. Others don’t seem worried, including the family of four that bought their one-way First Class tickets at the counter that afternoon for $3,727 each, or a total of $14,908.
4:40 p.m.: The baggage and cargo handlers are loading luggage onto the plane.
At the same time, the special-services representative briefly boards the plane and greets the First Class passengers.
Meanwhile, maintenance technician Grutzmacher finishes fixing a coffee maker in the Coach galley. Vilcek hands over the logbook to the cockpit flight crew for entries en route.
And the gate agent makes the second of three “this will be your final boarding call” announcements. A few minutes later, she makes the third-and final-“final” boarding announcement.
The boarding has gone remarkably well. Of the 245 seats (16 in First, 66 in Business and 163 in Coach), 199 are occupied. The Chicago weather is warm and sunny, and all the connecting flights arrived with plenty of time to spare.
4:45 p.m.: Gate agents are completing their “security reconciliation,” determining that no bags went onto Flight 86 for passengers who did not board the plane.
Throughout the boarding process, gate agents have collected the tickets that the flight attendants have taken from passengers at the entrance to the jetbridge. A gate agent enters each seat number into the computer. The passengers’ names go into the system and are matched with their bags, which already have been entered into the computer.
At the last minute, orphaned bags are removed from the plane. Fortunately, all of Flight 86’s bags match passengers. The cargo and baggage handlers seal the baggage compartment.
4:45 p.m.: A crisis in the Coach galley. Additional Coach passengers are boarding, and the galley is short eight Coach dinners. No problem. Skychefs representative Castro is standing outside the door of the plane with a service cart. In less than a minute, he hands eight foil-covered dishes to a flight attendant.
“It’s showtime,” says Sherman, and she gets ready to close the door for departure. Suddenly she stops. Pearson, the departure coordinator, is running down the jet bridge with something in her hand. Like a relay runner in the homestretch, she hands the tape for that afternoon’s CNN Broadcast News to Sherman.
4:50 p.m.: Tape in hand, Sherman closes the door. Flight 86 is ready for push-back, taxiing and takeoff. The four-hour turnaround was on schedule.
There’s no time for a moment of relaxation, however.
Another wave of American’s international flights has landed in the last hour, and ground crews already are busy at the International Terminal. The turnaround cycle has started again.
