I NOW know there’s something better than the new-car smell, and that’s the new-plane smell.
When my little band of VIP travellers climbed aboard Tamworth this morning, the newest 737-800 to join the Qantas fleet, we took a few deep breaths and filled our noses with the intoxicating smell of a brand new jet.
There are 13 of us today, a collection of Flying Kangaroo staffers accompanies by aviation and travel journalists, and we’re doing what’s known in the industry as a “ferry flight”.
It happens when a new aircraft has to be collected from a factory in a far-away land – on this occasion it’s the Boeing factory in Seattle on America’s north-west coast – and fly the shiny vehicle home to start carrying passengers around the friendly skies.
Normally it’s just a couple of pilots, with no paying customers occupying the seats in the back, but this is a special occasion so Qantas has invited a few folks from the media to make the trip and capture the golden years of flying by taking two days to get home with a couple of stops along the way.
Our journey, which will include stops in Hawaii and Fiji, started this morning at Boeing Field just south of Seattle city where a bit of a fuss was made as Tamworth was handed over to Qantas with documents signed and ribbons cut.
This delivery is special because it’s the 175th narrow-body or single-aisle jet to leave the Boeing Factory in Renton and join the Qantas fleet since the first 707 came across the Pacific to Australia in the 1970s.
Last night there was a celebration dinner, with peaches made and gifts exchanges, and this morning there were lots of photographs taken as Tamworth officially became Qantas property.
Then it was time for the ferry flight passengers to climb aboard and start the journey home.
Some travellers took a seat in business class, while others elected to occupy a row in economy and lift the armrest as soon as the seatbelt sign was switched off then stretch out after putting their feet up.
Boeing packed a feast for us and soon after our wheels left the tarmac our flight attendants Kath and Michelle started serving lunch – there was fresh seafood, crab chowder and steak – with the meal service taking a couple of hours.
Then some passengers retrieved laptops to work, others watched a movie on the personal seatback IFE systems that are now standard in the Qantas 737, or stretch out to enjoy a snooze with the sun streaming in the port windows.
I was tired from the night before, and with big plans to make the most of my short stay in Hawaii, so I stretched out for a sleep with three economy seats making a comfortable bed, and just as I was about to drift off to sleep I felt cotton brush against my face with Kath placing a first-class quilt over me.
I snoozed until the top of descent and woke just as our pilots Mark, Paul and Andrew pointed the nose gently towards the runway for our landing in Hawaii, with the approach taking us over the tourist strip at Waikiki Beach.
We’re here for the night – we had dinner with the crew at a beachside restaurant after hitting the ships at Ala Moana – and tomorrow we are up at sparrow’s for an early departure.
Then we have two legs to get home, with a stop in Fiji to top up the tanks, and this wonderful journey will be over by the time the sun is setting on Sydney tomorrow evening.
