Round The World and other travels

Flight Log: OS82

Los Angeles (LAX) - Vienna (VIE)

I had awoken this morning to the news that OS82 was going to be 90mins late, and wondered whether it could possibly have anything to do with a well publicised power outage at the airport the previous afternoon. Either way, this would slip a further 15mins by the time I left my hotel, but my Vienna-Amsterdam follow-on connection still looked reasonably safe. Better news awaited my arrival at LAX: although it had proved impossible for me to complete online check-in, I had been successful in replacing my Miles & More frequent flyer details with my United equivalent, thereby identifying myself as a Star Alliance 'Gold' member. This had opened up preferred seating and I had been pre-allocated 3A, one of the coveted 'throne' seats with a flat surface area (usually referred to as a 'console') on either side of me.

But I'm in danger of getting ahead of myself! After a remarkably easy airside transfer at the Tom Bradley International Terminal, and realising that I had a long time to spend in the airport, I went on a more-or-less comprehensive walking tour of the departure gates, noting that nearly all of the departing aircraft were Asia-bound. I still had plenty of time for a spell of relaxation in the Star Alliance lounge, which I remembered well from my Lufthansa flight to Munich in April 2018. It was nowhere near as crowded on this occasion, which seemed just a little bit odd.

In due course I boarded my aircraft from a bus gate to find my seat waiting for me, with bedding and headphones already in place. Interestingly, there was only one passenger in front of me (2A) and one behind (4C). I wondered why my centrally placed seat wasn't designated 3B; presumably Austrian wanted to emphasise that it was still very much a window (and aisle) seat. I accepted a welcome drink of apple juice, the other choices being orange juice and water. The onboard chef - dressed in full whites - handed out menus, then came back to take main course and breakfast orders. I pondered that it was going to be interesting to compare Do&Co food as served by Austrian with that served by the current regime at British Airways, as sampled on my outbound flight to Chicago.

Doors were closed at 1721 and the expected flight time was given as 10hrs 50mins. It turned out that the real reason for the delay was unscheduled maintenance - so much for my earlier speculation. Pushback occurred at 1728 and we took our leave of LAX at 1742, directly into a layer of fog. After gaining altitude and making a U-turn, it was possible to see land as we continued our climb. Presently, I had a visit from the senior cabin crew member, to welcome me on board and assure me that my connection to Amsterdam was still looking safe - so please sit back and relax. I don't know who was in 1A, but the captain came out for a chat with him, which soon put me in my place.

Hot towels were distributed by the chef, which I thought was just a little bit strange. I guess he had a spare minute or two. While I started up The Departed, my table was adorned with nuts, bread, butter, salt and pepper, napkin, cutlery and two glasses, then champagne and ice water were poured into the latter - separately, of course. Shortly thereafter, the antipasti trolley appeared and I chose the prawns, prosciutto, mozzarella and tomatoes, and spring rolls. It wasn't that I didn't fancy the other two options; I just didn't want to look like too much of a greedy pig!

The soup was served at my seat from a tureen on the trolley, and as the chef seemed keen to do something about my empty glasses, I allowed him to pour me a sample of the Grüner Veltliner; at least, that's my version of events and I'm sticking to it. I then chose the beef main course paired with the Zweigelt red wine. The cheese course was nicely presented with red and green grapes, walnuts and almonds, and came with a glass of port, which I didn't recall seeing in the menu. Finally, I had some of the chocolate-chip ice cream and a glass of the dessert wine. Oh dear, yet another boozy flight ... oops!

I finished off my film and settled down for the night.

*     *     *     *     *     *

I woke up just before 1100 Vienna time. A look at the map confirmed that we had taken a very northerly course across Greenland, missing Iceland altogether, but passing between Shetland and Bergen to aim to cross the coast of continental Europe near Esbjerg, Denmark. I started up a performance of the four Mozart horn concertos and soon the arrival of a cold towel indicated the imminent delivery of breakfast. In line with my indicated preference on a card that had been collected the previous evening, this was omelette-based.

The final part of the route took us east of Hamburg, close to Dresden and east of Prague. We touched down in Vienna Schwechat at 1330 local time and arrived at our allocated gate eight minutes later. It had been an excellent flight, the main highlights being the spacious 'throne' seat and superb catering. The style of delivery of the Do&Co food reminded me not so much of my outbound flight on British Airways; rather, it recalled my 2014 experience of a Turkish Airlines long-haul flight, this being another airline that uses the same, excellent supplier.

Home | Major Trips | Short Trips | About this site | Index