Alaska Air Group media day was conveniently scheduled just after the airline’s new Seattle to Long Beach flight began, so I was very happy to be able to fly from my home airport. Alaska was even kinder to put me in First Class. What was it like? Well it wasn’t full, which always makes me nervous… but it was a generally good experience. They do need to get catering resolved in Long Beach, however.
Disclosure: Alaska provided all travel for media day for those who could accept, including me
With a 7am departure, I scheduled a Lyft for 6. That had me at the curb about 45 minutes before departure.
The lines for TSA Precheck looked long, but they moved fast and I was through in five minutes. I opted in to Touchless, but it wasn’t on my boarding pass, or at least I didn’t see it. It was there on the return though.
The gates were crowded as the morning rush prepared to leave. Alaska was listed as using gate 11, but when I walked up, there was a hand-written sign saying the flight was at gate 10 (they share a counter area). They were already boarding group B by the time I got there, so I barely had to break my stride.
It was good to see an Alaska airplane back in Long Beach, and a fancy MAX at that. The line up to the boarding ramp was backed up a bit, but this didn’t bother me since this was my sunrise view.
Alaska 427
September 28, 2026
Long Beach
➤ Scheduled Departure: 702a
➤ Actual Departure: 706a
➤ From Gate: 10
➤ Wheels Up: 719a
➤ From Runway: 30
Seattle
➤ Wheels Down: 939a
➤ On Runway: 16R
➤ Scheduled Arrival: 945a
➤ Actual Arrival: 956a
➤ At Gate: C17
Aircraft
➤ Type: Boeing 737-9 MAX
➤ Delivered: March 31, 2022
➤ Registered: N973AK, msn 43346
➤ Livery: Standard Alaska with Green
Flight
➤ Cabin: First Class in Seat 2A
➤ Load: ~60% Full
➤ Flight Time: 2h20m
Lynn was greeting everyone at the door with Tim in the galley next to her, and she was very friendly with everyone. She asked questions, and she got into mini conversations as we all passed through the boarding door. We had started boarding early, and there were so many empty seats, that there was plenty of time for a relaxed boarding process. After chatting with Lynn, everyone was walking down the aisle with a smile.
I was the last person to board in First Class, and after putting my bag up I took seat 2A. These seats have plenty of room, and the footrest is a nice touch that only occasionally reminds me of riding a bus. I pulled open the window shades and prepared to get going.
I overheard one of the pilots come and brief the flight attendants, saying a lot of turbulence was forecast, but he wouldn’t make an announcement about it because he wasn’t sure if it would actually materialize. Turns out, that was a good call.
Tim came through offering water or coffee on the ground, but I didn’t need any of that. He came back again and asked what we’d want to drink after departure. I asked for a black tea.
For some reason we were slow to push back and start taxiing, but once we got toward the end of the runway, we never stopped rolling and leapt into the sky over Long Beach. After staying low to get through LAX airspace, we climbed up to 36,000 feet.
Tim came through with my tea, and I tried to log on to the non-Starlink internet but it wasn’t working. An announcement was made that they knew internet wasn’t working, so they were trying to restart it. Magically, it started working after the reboot. By then, I had decided to keep reading my book instead, so it wasn’t until later than I used a T-Mobile 1-hour pass to check email on my phone.
I guess they haven’t figured out catering in Long Beach yet, because there was no pre-order option at all. (There was for the return, so this wasn’t an issue of flight length.) A tray came out with a little granola and dried fruit for my neighbor. Tim asked if I was hungry, and I passed.
We skirted Nevada right near Lake Tahoe, and then headed toward the Oregon border. Around then, the chop picked up and the seatbelt sign went on. But then we descended to 32,000 feet and it smoothed out nicely. The seatbelt sign went right back off.
I got up to use the lav, and had a brief chat with the flight attendants. I had no idea, but apparently the Long Beach flights are staffed by LA-based flight attendants, and they are thrilled to be back. Tim had started flying in the 1980s. Both he and Lynn live in Long Beach, but they weren’t even the most senior. One of the flight attendants in the back used to fly for Jet America. I couldn’t believe there were still crews around from that era.
We started our descent, so I took a seat. It was a spectacular day outside with views for miles.
We came in from the south and then hooked around right in front of Paine Field before turning around to land.
After landing, we headed to the penalty box for a few minutes which explains why we were a few minutes late to arrive despite the quick flight time. At least my view from there gave me my first glimpse in person of the Aurora livery on the B787.
After parking at the gate, Lynn said goodbye to everyone, seeming to remember pieces of the conversations from the start of the flight. I heard her wish someone happy birthday. It was very impressive.
I then had time to kill waiting for someone else to arrive, so I took a seat in a quiet gate area and worked. It was great. Who needs a lounge?
After Alaska’s media day and The Air Show Live, I didn’t get to bed until 1am. I was then up around 7 just because that’s when I seem to wake up. After dropping off a box at the UPS Store, I headed back to the hotel to grab my stuff and check out a couple hours before my flight.
Why would I leave so early? Well, funny story. Alaska knows how little I care about lounges, so Shane gave me some lounge passes at our taping of The Air Show Live to show me what I was missing. Well played, Alaska. I figured I’d give it a shot.
My Lyft arrived around 10am, and I was very pleased to see the lobby construction done. It’s a whole lot better than the last time I went through. This time I had Touchless TSA Precheck on my boarding pass, so I got in that line. It didn’t take long to get through the ID checker, but there was a really long line beyond that point. This was weird. It seemed like the metal detector was flagging every other person to go through additional screening. Fortunately the guy in front of me was nabbed, so I sailed through. Then I took the train over to the N gates.
Once over there, I headed upstairs to the N lounge which is currently, I’m told, the nicest one in Seattle.
The new C lounge will be a whole new ballgame when that opens. Here’s a look at the new building that will house it which was just built near the base of B.
The lounge was bustling, but it wasn’t overcrowded. I was able to find a seat without any trouble, and I had a view looking over a Hawaiian A330 and Alaska Aurora-painted B787. Not a bad view at all.
I wasn’t really hungry, but when in the Alaska lounge… you get pancakes.
I had that and a water, and I settled in to start working on the podcast edit. I was there about half an hour, and then I left as my flight started boarding. It was fine. I didn’t need the pancakes, but hey, some lucky lounge person will get to read my copy of the House of Sand and Fog which I had just finished and left on the table.
At the gate, the plane had already boarded. Gulp, I was worried that this flight was empty, and… it kind of was. The gate agent said it was about 70% full, but really they just started boarding early.
Alaska 717
September 30, 2026
Seattle
➤ Scheduled Departure: 1138a
➤ Actual Departure: 1141a, then again 1210p
➤ From Gate: N4
➤ Wheels Up: 1244p
➤ From Runway: 34R
Long Beach
➤ Wheels Down: 255p
➤ On Runway: 30
➤ Scheduled Arrival: 236p
➤ Actual Arrival: 259p
➤ At Gate: 10
Aircraft
➤ Type: Boeing 737-990ER
➤ Delivered: August 15, 2014
➤ Registered: N469AS, msn 41702
➤ Livery: Standard Alaska with Green
Flight
➤ Cabin: First Class in Seat 3A
➤ Load: ~70% Full
➤ Flight Time: 2h11m
I was the last person to hop on in First Class, and I took my seat as they were delivering pre-departure drinks. They asked me if I wanted one, and I really did need some water. They asked what we all wanted in the air, and I said a scotch and a water, separately. I then logged on to the again-not-Starlink wifi using my TMobile passes so I could continue editing from my phone.
There was no footrest on this seat. Then again, this was a B737-900 instead of a MAX, so I guess this is an older model seat.
There was a little bit of traffic in the alleyway, so we pushed back a couple of minutes late. Then, just as it seemed we would head to the runway, we went right back into the gate. Oh crap, was the plane broken? Apparently not. The captain announced that ops had told them to go back to the gate to pick up some passengers. I’ve seen holding a flight for passengers, but going back? That’s a new one for me. Even weirder, we got back to the gate and then one, single, elderly lady got on the airplane. The door closed right away.
Then it was like the clock reset. They had to make all the announcements again and redo the safety briefing. We then sat there for awhile before we pushed back, and it was a long conga line before we finally got in the air a little over an hour after our original departure time. I asked the flight attendant who this lady was, and he said he had no idea. All he knew is that she was the one person of a large group onboard who didn’t make it, and ops said to go get her.
It was another postcard-perfect day over Seattle as we climbed to the north.
We then hung a right to head back south when all of a sudden…
There is nothing more awe-inspiring than seeing Mt Rainier on departure. We had a good view of Mt St Helens behind as well. We settled in at altitude and despite a light chop, the pilots turned off the seatbelt. I appreciated not being too heavy handed.
The flight attendants came through with my drinks, and I sat back to finish editing. Wifi wasn’t incredibly speedy, but it was at least fast enough for me to listen on the radio to the end of the Braves/Phillies game.
As we kept chugging south, lunch arrived. I had pre-ordered the cheeseburger.
Is this going to win any awards? No. Is it tasty and exactly what I wanted? Hell, yes. And then the potato chips also hit the spot. Finally, the warm cookie that followed was juuuuuuust right.
Once done, I kept trying to get caught up on emails. Then we passed over Lake Tahoe and I had to take a break. How anyone can fly without wanting a window, I’ll never understand.
As we continued down past Fresno, our flight attendant came by asking if anyone else wanted a drink. I had a ginger ale. Soon, we were told we had about 10 minutes before top of descent. We ended up starting down somewhere near the Grapevine at the southern end of the Central Valley. I had a great view of the Santa Clarita, San Fernando, and Simi valleys before we went feet wet over Santa Monica Bay. Only then did the seatbelt sign come on.
We headed toward Catalina on a very hazy day, and then turned toward Huntington Beach before lining up on final approach. We touched down and made it to the gate a little more than 20 minutes late. I’m sure some people weren’t happy about the delay but at least one grandma must have been thrilled.
Overall, Alaska did a very nice job in First Class on this trip.
