Croatia
Just over 8 hours later, UA 305 arrived in Split. Had to wolf down breakfast (fritta) as the crew started service just a bit too late, although that was also somewhat understandable as dinner service had taken ~2.5 hours from take-off to completion, so they wanted to maximize time for people to sleep. Landed under beautiful sunny skies and to a terrific water cannon salute, then down air stairs and to some lovely tarmac views, complete with waiting crowd of dignataries and media.
With so many frequent fliers/inaugural flight chasers onboard, didn't even try to get a photo with all of them. A few managed a photo in the cockpit, but most of us got kicked off the plane so the actual official festitivies could proceed, and I think about a third of us managed photos on the tarmac or in the arrival hall. There were definitely some official photos, but as ordinary passengers we weren't expected for those-- and with seven of us doing an immediate turn, we had to make tracks to get through immigration and security, and in a few cases, check-in.
Check-in in itself was a bit of a surprise. Split Airport has a beautiful check-in area which is either full or United is too cheap to pay for, because we ended up following signs to go to an entirely separate area outside. As usual, Warren got waylaid by local media before getting to United's odd little outdoor check-in area, while the those of the group staying in Croatia headed out of the airport. At least it wasn't too long a walk, and the journey back in to the airport, upstairs, and through security was easy. As an international flight, had to pass through passport control into a smaller area set aside for such flights, finding several members of our group already there.
Had just enough time to hit the restroom, enjoy the views, and wonder how people who needed assistance were going to get down the stairs from the gate to the bus/tarmac, but they obviously had a plan, even if United's operations were brand new (and a little rough) today. Wasn't too much longer before the first bus was loaded, finished with the short drive back to N674UA, and we were back on the tarmac to board. Return flight swag was also handed out at the gate-- just a simple card, but much appreciated.
With Split Airport being so small, it was a bit of a wait as departure procedures were sorted out. No delays per se, just a bit slow as everything got sorted, had a tiny audience as we taxiied to the end of the runway, turned around, and then took off for Newark on the return inaugural from SPU-EWR.
Much like the inaugural EWR-SPU just two hours (well, more like three hours) before, first meal service was slow. United runs this high-J 767-300ER with 46 Polaris seats all the time, not sure why service took so long on both flights; this was ~2.5 hours again, as the area codes in front... I'm not sure what happened. I do know it seems like the crew in the back could have come forward and helped as the load in the back was so light, but maybe they didn't? Not really sure. At least the fish was adequate (not great, not awful), and they were nice enough to do thank you notes as well, on brand-new 737 MAX themed cards (kinda cool).
UA 306 landed at Newark Airport not quite 9 hours after take-off, to a completely ordinary scene. The pre-arrival meal of beef arancini was pretty good, although it came out almost burned. Cleared immigration, customs, and security, just enough time to visit the Polaris Lounge for a quick shower, and was able to make it back to gate C121, where festivities for the EWR-BRI inaugural (UA 222) were underway. Managed to stay at that one for the ribbon cutting, say farewell to Warren and others doing both EWR-SPU and EWR-BRI inaugurals, hi to Ossi, Brion, and a few others who were only doing EWR-BRI, and then run from Terminal C to Terminal A to catch my flight home.
The final flight of a crazy three days was EWR-LAX onboard N226UA, an old 777-200ER. John, Bob, and myself from EWR-SPU inaugural and SPU-EWR return inaugural all were on it, and it was all routine til we realized an old friend, Captain Bacon, was piloting (!). Had a mostly smooth and uneventful flight back to Los Angeles, much better service with purser Sophia and her young crew than we had on SPU-EWR, and on arrival in Los Angeles, a great time catching up with Captain Bacon and First Officer Christine. Til the next inaugural...