MSP logs consecutive 100% first-flight days

November 21, 2011

The Minneapolis/St. Paul airport team achieved two back-to-back 100% first-flight days during the weekend, a first for the MSP operation. On Friday and Saturday MSP had 51 consecutive first flights that departed on time. Accomplishing a single day of 100% first flights is very difficult, and back-to-back days, for a hub the size of MSP, is very rare, said Bill Lentsch, s.v.p.-Minnesota Operations. “Achieving back-to-back 100% first-flight days is a tremendous accomplishment,” Bill said. “This doesn’t happen without excellent teamwork and commitment from all departments and suppliers who support the MSP operation. Congratulations to all of them for a job well done!” During the weekend, MSP also faced a 91% booked load factor on Friday and an 82% load factor on Saturday. Other challenges included a late Boeing 767 from the hangar, with 250 passengers and 198 bags to load in less than 40 minutes, and deicing staff being reassigned from their gate units as snow began to fall at the airport Saturday. “In spite of these challenges, each department of the MSP team came together with a focused determination to achieve this perfect performance,” said Richard Benz, manager-MSP control tower. “Although seemingly a daily occurrence, it is truly remarkable to see so many of our team become so enthusiastic and motivated to provide this outstanding service to our customers. The radios were lighting up across the airport between departments coordinating the necessary actions to overcome each hurdle as it developed. It’s gratifying to witness the level of pride our employees have in their station and this airline.” via Delta News Network No infringement intended

AutoMotorPlex Car Show

A couple weeks ago I visited the Chanhassen AutoMotorPlex for the monthly Cars & Coffee car show. I heard about show via a newspaper at work. The location was designed by a guy who wanted a place to live and store all of his toys. He couldn't find anything like this in the area, so he developed his own. The monthly car show gives tenants and others in the area to bring their cars out and talk shop while they show off their rides. Being a valet and car aficionado, I found this to be a very enjoyable Saturday morning. You can see some puddles in most of the pictures, but let me assure you that these are what remain from an early morning shower and not collections of drool from gawking car guys. Enjoy a sampling here or view the entire album from Facebook.

Tokyo

I know it looks a little goofy jumping from December of last year to September of this year, but there have been some updates between now and then, just not in blog form. This entry needed to be done because I want to be able to
remember this trip years from now.

My trip began on Friday with a flight from MSP to AZO for a family reunion. I got in to the Kalamazoo/Battle Creek airport around 5:15p and had just started connecting my ipod to the airport's free wireless to update my location and check all of my apps when my grandparent's flight from SFB arrived. After renting a car from Avis, we made the short drive to Barbie and Lanny's where my parents we're waiting for us. We had dinner,watched some baseball, and called it a night. The next day at the reunion I got to catch up with cousin Michelle and some other aunts and uncles. It was a fairly small group and the rain showers cut the afternoon short. The food was good as always and I got my olie bollen.

Sunday morning, we got up before the rest of the clan and my parent's dropped me off at the airport. I took the first flight to DTW even though my flight to Tokyo didn't leave until 3pm. I got online again with my ipod to let a few friends know that I was in the airport in case they were flying through. I met up with a former co-worker who worked the ramp in Minneapolis and transferred to Detroit to take a performance supervisor position. (sidebar- he attended Western Michigan for flight school) We chatted briefly about work and flying before he had to go load a flight.

Sometime between 1p and 2p the big planes started arriving and parking on the A concourse. So I went over to snap a few pictures. It's hard to get good pictures at DTW because the windows have tiny dots on the glass to reduce the amount of sunlight that shines through. My flight started boarding about an hour before departure. When I got my boarding pass, I was excited to see that I would be sitting in the upper deck in business class. While we were taxing, it felt weird to be sitting so high off the ground. I think I may have nodded off a couple times while taxing because it took so long and I was still exhausted, but when crew put the coals to the four engines, I was wide awake.

I watched a couple movies when the on demand entertainment system became available. After dinner, I got a few hours of sleep in my eggshell pod seat. These were the same seats used on the A330 that I flew to CDG and AMS so everything was very familiar. I woke up for the pre-arrival meal and watched another movie. It was about 5:30p when we landed.

I went through customs and found the train that would take me downtown. (there are quite a few lines and companies that run service in Tokyo.)It was a little difficult finding an ATM, but after taking out 10,000¥ I bought a ticket at the counter and hustled downstairs to the platform to board. When we got away from the airport, the sun had already set and it was hard to see much out of the windows. I could see buildings in the distance and a few cars when we passed through small towns on our way to Tokyo. The buildings looked very uniform in that there weren't really any flashy lighting schemes. There were lights in the stairwells or at the doors and each was in the same location so from the first floor to the top floor everything was aligned.

I made one train change at Shinagawa Station after the one hour ride on the Narita Express (NEX). I only had to go one more stop on the local train to get close to my hostel. When I got off at the Kita-Shinagawa station, I realized I didn't have directions from that station to the hostel, nor did I have a map. So I took my itinerary with the address and the Japanese translation to a gentleman at a nearby gas station. He didn't really speak English, but he signaled that it was about 3 blocks over. So I headed in that direction about 3 blocks and looked for another person to ask. He took me about half a block up the street right to the door of the hostel.

I checked in and found my room. It was so hot and muggy outside, I was relieved to find a air conditioning unit in my 5'x8' room. The front desk person showed me which buttons to push on the remote because the symbols were all Japanese. Since I only planned to stay one night, they were curious what my plans were. They informed me that the Tsukiji fish market would be closed for a holiday. I was a little disappointed, but wasn't going to let it spoil my trip. I headed back to the Shinagawa Station and then north to

Shibuya to do some sight seeing. The main attraction for me was the busy intersection that was featured in "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift". At this intersection, the lights from multiple directions stop traffic and pedestrians are allowed to cross all at once.

After taking this in, I walked around to look at some of the shops and find something to eat. I stopped at a nearby sushi bar and had dinner, not because I like sushi, but for the experience. It wasn't bad and I couldn't complain about the price for fresh, authentic sushi. I did a little more walking around before heading back to my hostel to call it a night.

I could only force myself to sleep for about 4 or 5 more hours. It was only about 5am, but the sun was already up. I took a shower and packed my things before checking out around 7. This time I walked to the Shinagawa station to see a little bit more what was around the area. I'm glad I did, but it was about a 10-15 minute walk and it was hotter and more humid than the night before. I took the train north to Tokyo station.

My only plans for the day now were to see the Imperial Palace and find some souvenirs. I needed an ATM again because I was running low on cash. Most places in Tokyo don't take credit or debit cards, especially not US cards. I found a Citibank, but like most stores in the area, they didn't open til 10am. So I went to the Palace first to take pictures. The palace isn't open to the public, but it is still cool to see the gates and the buildings from the outside.

It was still early, but I headed back towards the train station. I wanted to make sure I left myself plenty of time to get to the airport in case I got lost or had any other delays. I just missed the 11am departure so I had to wait for the 12p train. I could see a lot more this time on the train, including the Tokyo Sky Tree. This large telecommunications tower will replace the Tokyo Tower in February 2012. It is already the largest structure in Japan.

When I got to the airport I did most of my souvenir shopping in the airport mall. I went through security and headed to my gate for what I thought would be a pretty routine flight back to MSP. However, it as it got closer and closer to departure time, I still didn't have a seat assignment and the gate agents were working furiously to get as many passengers boarded as possible. When the boarding door closed, I still did not have a boarding pass. I was left behind in disbelief.

The flight to MSP was one of the last of the day so there weren't many options left. I hurried over the the other terminal on the shuttle bus to try getting on an American Airlines flight headed for DFW, but there wasn't time to make a reservation. In my rushed and flustered state, I left behind my wallet on the bus, but didn't realize it until I was nearly through customs with one of the gate agents who was helping me bypass the normal arrival customs processing. So the two of us had to walk all the way back upstairs and wait for the bus driver to come back. Luckily it was returned to me, and I made it back out the front check in area with the help of the Delta gate agent with no further issues.

I went to the Delta counter to purchase some ZED passes for other airlines because the Delta flights to the US were oversold for next couple days also. My first option was a flight at 10:45am to ORD on All Nippon Airways (ANA). The second was an American Airlines flight to DFW that left at 1pm. I took my tickets and found a place to settle for the night in the airport. I was moved around a couple times by the airport police because they didn't want passengers hanging out all over the airport. We were "gently corralled" into a spot down stairs by the arrival meeting area. There were maybe 30 other passengers (not all Delta) who joined me for an evening in the airport. The police/security came around to check every one's passports and make sure we weren't just bums. They kept an eye on us all night, which in a way was somewhat comforting. I didn't sleep great on the marble floor, but it didn't cost me anything. It's all part of the non-rev experience. I had done this only one other time in Toronto.

In the morning I had to wait a while for the ticket counter to open. When I went to check in I realized that I had forgotten a step in the ZED ticketing process. I had paid the fare to Delta, but I hadn't actually created a reservation for the flight with All Nippon yet. Fortunately, the agent was happy to oblige and in about 10 minutes I had a reservation and a seat assignment! No waiting around at the gate! I went through security and found something to eat since I wasn't sure what kind of meal I would receive in coach. I found a Rammen restaurant and got a some noodles and soup. I was surprised to find that the noodles were served cold so I dumped the soup on top and ate the two together. I kind of felt like the tourist at Tulip Time several years back who I saw put the sour kraut meant for the brats on top of his poffertjies. What a doofus!

I was pleased to find that the Boeing 777 that I would be taking to ORD had on demand entertainment in the headrests even in economy class. I was also pleasantly surprised to receive an ample inflight lunch and breakfast. I watched one movie before taking an extended nap.

Shortly after I woke up and ate breakfast, I opened my shade to see numerous Minnesota lakes barely illuminated by the rising sun. About 45 minutes later I was on the ground at O'Hare. I made my way quickly through the customs checkpoint and hopped on the tram to terminal 2. I realized that I would have a chance to make an earlier flight back to MSP than I had planned, so I hurried through security and ran to the gate. I made the change to my flight on my ipod through the non-rev website and boarded soon after. I made it back to MSP around 11am on Wednesday and had the rest of the day to relax. I didn't miss any work because I already had the day covered as a buffer. I didn't feel too jet lagged because I planned my naps accordingly.

The rest of my pictures can be viewed in this album.

It's Christmas Time in the Cities

On the contrary, this year I was fortunate enough to have Christmas off from both of my jobs. After work yesterday I drove down snowy I-35 and arrived in Pella shortly after 10pm. Kyle and Amanda beat me home a couple days so everyone was home by the time I got there. Last year I was late by a couple days and the year before that everyone trekked up to Dubuque to open gifts and celebrate. The snow made travel take a little bit longer but it was nowhere near as bad the year there were storms during Thanksgiving and Christmas and it took me over 5 hours to drive from Dubuque to Pella.

Earlier in the week I worked downtown at Fogo de Chao and from the light rail I saw the deflated dome. I had seen plenty of coverage on the news and during Vikings game, but it was weird to see it in person.

The snow keeps falling in Minneapolis. Our latest snowfall on Thursday night and Friday helped us top the record for the snowiest December in history. (http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=895829) At the house and at the airport and pretty much everywhere you look, we're running out of places to put it. After a while it gets difficult to throw the snow over the pile you you made the week before. Thank goodness for snowblowers. I can't imagine what it was like before them.

Next week we will have friends over to celebrate New Year's Eve. I was also fortunate to have this holiday off this year. However, I forgot to request off the following morning so I will be valeting at the St. Paul Hotel. Hopefully there will be quite a few guests on their way out who are still feeling generous and want to spread some holiday cheer.

Snowstorm Round 2

It was a busy week for me with work. I valeted Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights after working a 10 hour day at the airport. By Saturday I was ready for a break, but I could only sleep in until 9am. Snow began to fall at 10pm on Friday night and flights at the Minneapolis Airport had already been canceled through the 1 o'clock bank on Saturday. For some odd reason, friend and "crashpadder" Nick still had to go sit at the airport on reserve from 5:30a to 2:00p. Someone in scheduling didn't think that one through.
I spent the day watching the snow pile up. The Minneapolis Airport closed early in the afternoon because the trucks just couldn't keep up. I was released from my valet shift for that night because the party I was supposed to work had been canceled. So I watched movies and made barky pretzels and then I enjoyed about half of them while playing video games.
I slept in again this morning. The snow stopped last night, but the plows had not been through our neighborhood yet. I didn't plan far enough ahead and went out to clean of my car at 11 (about 10min before church started). By the time I got the snow off my car, the plow had come to clear our culdesac. So I had to wait for him. The other half of Gold Trail had not been cleared yet either so I had to plow my way through that.
The Vikings v. Giants game for this afternoon had been postponed last night due to the fact that the Giants charter flight had to divert to Kansas City. When I got home from work I learned that the Metrodome roof had deflated and torn in several places and there was snow on the field. The Gopher's new stadium couldn't be made ready for the game because of all the snow so the game had been rescheduled to Monday night at 6:20p in Detroit.

I also saw that my friend Paola was on Saturday Night Live last night for the first time! I was pretty excited for her. The last time she was supposed to be on her skit got cut from the program right before they were about to perform. She has been on the soap One Life to Live several times before also and has even had lines on that show. You can see her here on SNL. she's in the front left in purple at about 3:17 and 3:43 http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/whats-that-name/1264557
Today Patric continues the closet project and I also plan to get caught up with my chores and cleaning my room. It seems to be a constant task because I never have time to put stuff away at the time.
Not sure where this picture was taken, but it was posted by a friend on Facebook.

First Snow

Like most people, when it comes to the weather forecast I'm quite skeptical. I never believe it's going to happen until it actually happens. Needless to say I was surprised to wake up to these views. As of 9am we probably have 5 inches of the wet and fluffy stuff already on the ground and it's still coming down! This might require more help at work tonight or people may make the wise decision to stay inside. Either way I'll find out at 5pm when I call in to see if my shift is needed or not.
The weather doesn't great for Evanston, IL either for the match up between the Hawkeyes and the Wildcats. I'm hoping it's not that close of a game. We need to into next week strong against the Buckeyes. As ESPN.com points out, Northwestern has beaten Iowa in four of the last five meetings. Last years loss didn't keep the Hawks out of the Orange Bowl, but this year it could keep them from a conference title and significantly hurt their BCS ranking.

Halloween

Yesterday was my first real shift working valet downtown. I was positioned at Fogo de Chao which is the easiest restaurant in the city center because it's two right turns into and out of the garage. It went well. I got to see some pretty wild costumes of patrons walking down the street. A few of the honorable mentions are as follows: a group of Alice in Wonderland, a group of Super Mario Brothers, and despite the cold weather there were many people walking around in sandals (and I don't think they were in costume).

After work I went to a costume party hosted by friends Treye and Jen. If you don't have Direct TV, you may not be as familiar with this commercial, but I see it all the time so I went as the well-to-do Russian Direct TV customer. Here is a link to the commercial in case you haven't seen it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjWYbcbpiWA I got components of my costume from Goodwill which now actually promotes their selection of items for Halloween. They had decorations (which I think were new) and signs that said something to the effect of Halloween headquarters. I thought it was weird.

This morning our pastor explained the history of the holiday: It began as All Saints Day, which we still celebrate, to honor those saints who had gone before us or were serving around us. So the day before or the eve of All Saints Day became known as All Hallows Eve to honor all of the Saints, known and unknown. The word Hallows is rooted in the word Holy or Hallowed and that is how Halloween is derived.

So Happy Halloween and Happy All Saints Day! Anybody else getting discounted candy directly from the store tomorrow?