Although my flight to Providence wasn’t
scheduled until just after 9:30am EST, I foolishly waited until 7am before
leaving for the airport. Getting some
extra sleep took priority on this sunny June morning. However, as soon as my cab driver merged on
Highway 401, my heart sank. We were stuck
in Rush Hour. For the next 30 minutes,
we were moving at a snail pace crawl with some occasional “stop and go”
segments. Externally, I kept my
composure, but internally, I was quite nervous.
I am not sure why, but traffic suddenly cleaned up and we were at
Pearson International Airport within the next 10 minutes. Forty minutes for the complete journey wasn’t
too bad – average really – but given that it was a Monday, I knew this was just
the first of my worries.
 |
| AC 7378 - YYZ to PVD |
Security and check-in took less than 10
minutes, so that helped me a lot. But
given that it was Monday morning and a popular travel time during the week,
Customs was busy, but swift taking about 30 minutes to get through. Gate F86 was actually in an odd spot of
Pearson International Airport. Not only
did it take about 15 minutes or so to walk to after passing through Customs,
but there were a lot of renovations going on in this section of the
airport. After finding my gate, I
noticed that there weren’t any restaurants nearby for me to grab a proper
breakfast. So I went to Great Canadian
Bagel instead.
 |
| Boarding Air Canada Flight #7378 |
After eating my breakfast sandwich and drinking
my freshly brewed coffee, I went back to Gate F86 to wait for boarding. I noticed that this section of Pearson is
where some of the shortest flights depart from with routes to Detroit,
Cleveland, and Dulles (Washington, D.C.) listed on the itinerary schedule along
with Providence. With it being in a
really small section of Pearson, Gate F86 reminded me of Yellowknife
International Airport – small, yet quick and efficient with a handful of people
sitting quietly nearby awaiting for boarding.
We also had to walk out onto the Pearson tarmac to board our flight much
like I had to in Yellowknife for my flight to Calgary. The flight was delayed for a few minutes due
to some maintenance issues they needed to deal with before we could board.
 |
| Toronto Pearson International Airport |
Once we were given the go ahead to take our
seats, I was shocked by the size of the plane – a 2 x 2 formation. I can’t remember the last time I sat in such
a small plane, but this was a definite “puddle jumper” for the expected 57
minute flight from gate to gate. The
downside to this was that there was no in-flight entertainment system due to
the length of the flight. But the upside
was that this was a really quick flight.
I passed the time by reading the June 2018 Air Canada enRoute
magazine. Ironically, they just released
an interview they did with world renowned Chef and Traveler, Anthony Bourdain,
three days after his suicide. What was
particularly creepy about this interview was his last comments when asked who he
would like to invite to dinner next – Keith Richards – and what does he think that they
have in common: “We’re both still alive
– against all odds.” Yikes.
 |
| A sadly ironic Anthony Bourdain interview in the June 2018 enRoute Magazine |
The flight attendants came by to offer us
complimentary snacks and drinks.
Pretzels and tomato juice for me, of course. All-in-all, it was a very smooth flight no turbulence. Upon descent on T.F. Green International
Airport, I noticed we were flying over a lot of forested land with pockets of lakes and swamps. It reminded me of the approach
to Orlando International Airport, but with a lot more trees. A loud boom scared the bejesus out me when the
wheels opened up for landing. When you mainly
fly much larger airplanes, these little differences are certainly noticeable. We finally landed at 10:47am EST. Within 20 minutes, we grabbed our luggage and
I was on my way to Gillette Stadium for my next work trip.
 |
| T.F. Green International Airport |
Operated by: Air Georgian (Air Canada)
Aircraft:
Canadair Regional Jet CRJ-200 (twin-jet); Seat:
Cabin:
Snacks & Complimentary Drinks
Depart: 09:34AM EST – Toronto Pearson
International Airport (YYZ) – Terminal 1, Gate F86
Arrive:
10:51AM EST – T.F. Green International Airport (PVD) – Gate 14
Flight
Time: 1:17; Non Stop Flight – 463 Miles/745 Kilometers; Date: June 11, 2018
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