Azores
Mild delays on way to Newark were compounded by another 30 or 40 minutes on the ground, waiting for a gate after arrival. Ended up missing the official inaugural pre-flight speeches and performances, although I still caught bits of the celebration at the gate. Pineapple cakes were a bit messy to eat, but the musicians were still playing and some of the higher-ups and media were still there.
The flight itself was just under 5 hours, and being a leisure destination, a lot of upgrades went through-- including mine-- so I was able to experience United's Premium Plus (premium economy) product on their shiny new 737 MAX 8 across. Just under 5 hours of flight time, plus the meal services and whatnot, meant sleep deprevation was all but certain. Have to say that the food appeared to be cribbed from a very limited cross-section of the international Polaris or domestic first class product, it looked terrible but tasted okay. Finally, Senior Vice President, Network and Alliances, Patrick Quayle, was on board this inaugural just as he was for the Jordan (Amman) inaugural a week ago, although he stuck to handing out t-shirts and did not help with drinks this time around.