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www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-thu-737-united-sidebar-oct29,0,7662278,full.story
A reporter's flight log from the 737's final journey
A flight log

Tribune reporter Julie Johnsson was aboard United Airlines' last 737 flight Wednesday. Here are excerpts from her dispatches. The times are local to the airports.

Meet N331UA

5 A.M., DULLES AIRPORT -- It's 21 years old, entering its golden years after logging 60,846 hours in the air during 33,836 flights. During those trips it consumed 54.5 million gallons of fuel.

If you've flown regularly on United out of Chicago's O'Hare International Airport since 1988, chances are good that you encountered N331UA at some point.

This 737 transported more than 3 million passengers over the years. And it flew through O'Hare more than any other United hub: Some 8,094 times, 23 percent of its total flights.

'The guppy'

5:30 A.M. -- Flying the Boeing 737? To United workers, you're climbing on board "the guppy," a nickname given to the jet for its short, rounded appearance.

The plane provided flight attendant Celeste Gibson with her ticket to small-town U.S.A. when she first started working at United in November 1970.

United had purchased 75 of the jets in the late 1960s to replace the propeller-driven planes that ferried folks from the carrier's hubs to small- and medium-size cities such as Lincoln, Neb., and South Bend, Ind. "Oh, the places I saw: Saginaw, Grand Rapids," Gibson quipped.

The early 737s were ideal in the days before jet bridges, Gibson said, because they had built-in stairways that unfurled after the plane's doors opened.

That wasn't the only difference from today's service. United offered passengers hot meals, no matter how short the flight.

And lugging baggage on board was unthinkable. For starters, there were no enclosed overhead compartments, only a long, open bin on each side of the aircraft where passengers tucked their coats and hats.

'OK, let's go'

6:04 A.M. -- Gate C-23 was festooned with balloons and a buffet table for passengers that included free cake and coffee, the first indication to Dave Smith of Virginia that this wasn't an ordinary United flight.

He'd had an inkling that something was unusual the night before, when he noticed that flight number on the itinerary posted on his fridge matched the aircraft make.

The flight and all its accouterments were a pleasant surprise to Smith, who had thought he'd drawn a dreary work assignment: a 6:04 a.m. departure to Chicago. Instead, he gloated to his still-sleeping buddies via e-mail.

Passengers and flight attendants snapped photos of each other after they boarded the aircraft. Someone passed around certificates marking the historic flight for every passenger to sign for service members in Afghanistan.

Walter Clark, chief pilot at United's Washington Dulles hub, walked the aisles, shaking every passenger's hand before taking the controls of the plane.

Trailing him anxiously was Sherri Kawell, United's hub manager at Dulles. "OK, let's go," she muttered. "We need an on-time departure."

Victorville boneyard

7 A.M., O'HARE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT -- We pull into Gate C-24 at O'Hare, next to another United 737 that is due to fly directly to San Francisco. Then it will be retired, as well.

Earlier in the week I talked to Jeff Ecklund, who flew more than 1,000 flights on the Boeing 737 during his six-year career as a pilot at United Airlines.

By far, the most painful was a 40-minute journey on April 28, he said. That's when Ecklund was assigned to ferry a 737 from United's San Francisco maintenance center to Victorville, Calif., the desert boneyard where many United jets bake in the sun until other airlines, often third-world carriers, claim them.

"It was extremely depressing as we walked away from the airplane," Ecklund said. "That was a precursor of what was to come. I was parking the airplane and watching my job go with it."

After logging 3,400 hours in a 737 cockpit, Ecklund knew every quirk of the Boeing jet. And as a junior United pilot, he knew the end of his employment drew closer with each 737 pulled from United's fleet. He was furloughed on Sept. 16, one of 1,450 United pilots losing their jobs in cuts that will conclude Nov. 11.

The long goodbye

10:30 A.M., O'HARE -- A crowd gathers around the gate chosen for the day's festivities. It is a mix of United employees and Denver residents anxious to beat a snowstorm.

Among the onlookers is Rich Fennessey, a Cleveland resident and longtime plane buff who caught an early flight to O'Hare with his wife to claim a part of aviation history. They flew on the plane's longest leg of the day, the 2 1/2 stretch from O'Hare to Denver International Airport.

"The day after United made the announcement (of special Flight 737), we booked our tickets," he said.

Fennessey still regrets missing a chance to be on United's first 737 flight in April 1968, a short hop from O'Hare to Grand Rapids, Mich. Though he never made it on the plane, he owns the original flight timetable, sharing copies with fellow travelers in the gate area.

Every seat is full on our 737 as it leaves the gate. On the ground, the crowd of employees has swelled, maybe even doubled. Some take photos. Most stand somberly and watch it go. It's on to Denver, Los Angeles, and then San Francisco.

A captain's last voyage

3:50 P.M., LOS ANGELES INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT -- With sun streaming into the cockpit window of the last United Boeing 737, Captain Bob Russo reflected on the toughest trip in his 31-year career at United.

He was in the middle of that journey, with one final segment to go: the short hop from Los Angeles to San Francisco.

This day he battled the elements as well as his emotions. He has dealt with driving snow, bone-rattling wake turbulence on the approach into Los Angeles, de-icing, you name it. Then there have been the co-workers and passengers lined up to wish Russo well.

Russo still considers the high point of his life of flying jets to be the moment in 1991 when he saw his first captain's hat. "I did it," he said he told himself.

Since age 11, being a pilot was all Russo had aspired to in life. He grew up near the northwest corner of Midway Airport, even wooed his wife, Sherry, watching airplanes come and go.

As the senior-most captain at United's largest hub, O'Hare, Russo had the pick of the carrier's aircraft. He passed over marquee planes like the Boeing 747 and 777, which journey across the globe, to remain in the 737.

That's because he loved taking short trips. "Landing and taking off. That's what being a pilot is all about," Russo said.

When United decided to ground its 737 fleet last year, Russo knew it was his time to go and he selected the final 737 trip for his final bow.

His trip ended as the sun dipped below the hills overshadowing San Francisco International Airport. He pulled the aircraft to a stop in front of the airport's new international terminal, then waited as four firetrucks doused it -- and ground workers who had accidentally strayed too close. It's a traditional send-off for maritime and airline pilots.