Boarding AC97 from the patio @ GRU (bonus: Delta A330 DL-104 parked right next to it)
Posted by n134177@reddit | aviation | View on Reddit | 40 comments
Boeing 787-9 (859), AC97 GRU-YUL.
My first time boarding a big plane from the patio, it was quite something seeing the actual size of it up close. Those engines are really huge. Boarding from the finger is not nearly as fun.
Bonus: once I was in, I found the Delta parked right next to it when looking out the window!
rapzeh@reddit
You should go to Europe and fly on a low cost. Most do it this way. Usually you get bussed to the plane, then go up stairs like this.
However, I think somewhere in Poland I've seen people pass the boarding point and then wait outside for the plane to be unloaded. Which is not fun at all during the winter months.
viccityguy2k@reddit
Many flag carriers have to use bus gates at FRA, MUC and AMS as well
OmegaPoint6@reddit
I was once on a BA 747 that was given a bus gate after at LHR. Not what you want after a 11 hour flight
k_dubious@reddit
Air France also love using remote stands at CDG.
whatmichaelsays@reddit
Very common with Ryanair to be "boarded" (as in, have you pass scanned and through the gate) before the aircraft has finished pulling up on stand. You'll then queue on some stairs or in a holding area outside whilst the plane is disembarked. All part of their 20 minute turnaround.
zerbey@reddit
One of the coolest experiences I've ever had was leaving a 747 via the jet stairs. There was some issue with the bridge so we had to deplane onto the apron and walk to the terminal.
orcajet11@reddit
Fun fact pretty sure that’s the delta a330 that had the engine fire a few days ago.
buldozr@reddit
They should have towed it away to some service apron or something. The sight of the destroyed engine must be unnerving to many passengers.
fly_awayyy@reddit
Hardly that severe compared to other incidents. The Air Canada CRJ was out there in LGA for 2+ days in plain view of the terminal for everyone to see. This “engine failure” is more routine of anything on the scale of things.
buldozr@reddit
Yeah, but this plane is not totaled unlike the CRJ, and the failure occurred in the air, so there are no concerns about preserving the scene of the accident.
fly_awayyy@reddit
Your just reinforcing it by saying it’s not totaled. Engine changed and maintenance issues are normally taken care of on remote stands anyways for aircraft at an outstation for periods of time. Now if the time comes for the engine change and weather conditions are severe enough to warrant a hangar that’ll be consider but even then they have inflatable tents. But to put it in a hangar and pay those parking fees just cause isnt common.
buldozr@reddit
Yes, I was asking about towing it out to a remote stand, but now I realize that it may already on a remote stand, it's just where they also decided to service that Air Canada flight.
BackgroundGrade@reddit
They left the wreckage of Saudia 163 along the runway for 10ish years:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saudia_Flight_163
Also visible from the road that ran along the airport at the time.
n134177@reddit (OP)
Yes, it is. :)
theawkwardpadawan@reddit
Friend, I flew this route on a weekly basis for over 9 months of my miserable life. Alternating occasionally with AC91.
Air Canada has the worst possible deal with GRU because 95% of those flights would either depart remotely from T3 (likely your case) or from T2 (which is one of the worst intl terminal in Brazil).
And the cherry on top is that whenever they are taking of from T2, ground crew literally runs from T3 checkin to man the post in T2 boarding, sometimes leaving T3 unattended ahead of close (like 5’) causing to the occasional traveler to potentially miss a flight 😵😵
HiddenXS@reddit
Hmm, I'm taking this flight (AC 90+91)to Buenos Aires this summer, stopping in GRU. Don't think I need to disembark though, so probably no problems?
n134177@reddit (OP)
People going to Argentina always have to disembark in Brazil before continuing the trip. Make sure you have your visa.
-SpruceMoose@reddit
Oof. Makes me worry for when WJ starts going there this fall, I'm sure it won't be much better
Noofnoof@reddit
My mum says she boarded a 747 by stairs at Hong Kong Kai Tak back in the day.
Meng_Fei@reddit
Pretty common in those days. I’ve boarded 747s, A-300/310s and DC-10s via stairs
xdr567@reddit
Patio ? Tarmac, maybe ?
n134177@reddit (OP)
Probably?
Sorry, English not my first language.
stewieatb@reddit
Patio sounds great. Like you're gonna take some deck chairs and a gas barbecue, drink some caipirinhas, then board the plane.
buldozr@reddit
OK. Also, the "finger" is called a jet bridge.
neverbadnews@reddit
At YYZ, it feels like we deplane on the patio at times, so far away from the far end of terminal 3, like you've gone beyond the ramp or tarmac, into another part of the airport completely. I am stealing that word to identify it from now on. Thank you OP. Patio is the perfect description!
xdr567@reddit
Sorry, I shouldn't have been an ass. Its all good.
Stahi@reddit
...I'd love to have a view of the tarmac from my patio.
n134177@reddit (OP)
Many of us would hahaha
n134177@reddit (OP)
Wikipedia tells me it should've been apron or ramp.
Can't change the title now, oops.
The_32@reddit
It's okay, we like patio better
DwightsShirtGuy@reddit
No, patio is an infinitely better word to choose and more accurate than tarmac
glumanda12@reddit
We had fun deplaning A380 onto buses in 02/23 in Doha took almost an hour, we barely made our connection
OneT_Mat@reddit
Took a cheap frontier flight (lol) from Denver to Phoenix this past weekend and was shocked at how far away and on the edge of the universe the frontier gates are. Then you walk outside and take the air stairs up.
I’ve been flying out of DIA for a while I knew it was big and kind of a pain in the ass when you’re trying to get home I had no idea this corner of the world existed
adrenaline_X@reddit
Flying BA from Heathrow to Manchester and I was shocked by being able to get off the plain at the front or off via stairs at the back.
I was also shocked at how polite and informational the captains were during announcements about landing slots at Heathrow on the way back so they were going to stay at the Manchester gate for a bit so they wouldn’t have to circle around Heathrow.
The concept of having to watch the boards to find out what gate you would be boarding at just minutes before boarding seemed insane to me.
I live in Canada and my boarding pass always has the gate number on it 24 hrs before and it seldom changes on me. Though I’m in central Canada at a smaller airport, I haven’t had gate changes at Pearson very often.
MikeW226@reddit
Flying to Entebbe, Uganda (EBB) on KLM A330's, and back, we unloaded and loaded via jet stairs like these. Going home we loaded into the back door, and I was just impressed at how large an A330 is from tarmac level. The landing gear and all that is just quite large.
DwightsShirtGuy@reddit
Patio is the best word I’ve heard for this. Definitely not tarmac.
princekolt@reddit
And I thought that flight couldn't depart from a worse location (every time I've taken that flight it was on the last gate in the terminal hall).
n134177@reddit (OP)
Nope, now we have to climb down the stairs and wait on the hall where there is absolutely nothing nearby.
The Toronto flight remains upstairs it seems.
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