Some stats:

Airline: Delta Air Lines
FL# 439
dept city ATL
arrival city SXM
aircraft 757-232 N635DL
cabin/seat 1st class/ seat 1A
flight time 4 hrs 5 minutes
Dept. gate E7
dept time 10:05
arrival time 2:10

I arrived at ATL at approximately 8 am from a Delta 757 flight out of LGA the same morning so I had plenty of time to walk through the terminal and 'plane watch'. Those of you who dont know what terminal E is like at ATL, its got just about every type of boeing plane to look at while your waiting for your flight. You can easily kill a few hours walking through the terminal looking at planes. Not a bad place to be while waiting for your connection, even if its a few hours. I snapped lots of pictures of Delta planes, some 777's, a 764 and my 757 to sxm.

Terminal E at ATL is very spacious with tons of shopping and food choices. It is Delta's international terminal so as I stated above you get lots of spotting opportunities.

The boarding process was seamless and smooth. As is Delta's policy, zone 1 was called 1st to board so I was the 4th or 5th person to board the plane through Delta's dedicated breezeway line. A small pillow and standard coach style blanket awaited me in my 1st class seat. An attendant immediately offered me a drink and in no time at all I was enjoying a vodka on ice. From this moment forward, a Delta attendant was always nearby owith a smile and an offer for superior service that Delta has been known for. Sitting next to me was a Delta pilot (Bob) in seat 1B who was dead heading to fly the plane back from SXM to ATL. He was genuinely nice and we chatted most of the way there while he updated his pilot manual. I got some pictures of Bob taxiing the plane to the runway at SXM and if you look close enough you can see him waiving, the trademark wave that most pilots do while taxiing to runway 9 at SXM.

Seat comort was more then expected for this B757. I had a bulk head seat so pitch was not as much of a factor. The seat width is listed as 20.75 inches which is plenty of room. You also get a nice wide arm rest so your not fighting for space for arm room with your seat mate. Im not sure about the seat recline but again, it was sufficient for a 3 hr and 45 minute flight.

The flight was slow going at first. With an ontime pushback, it took nearly 45 minutes to taxi out and take-off. The weather was clear with low humidity. The time was about 10:10 in the AM so maybe that is part of the ATL rush hour? The DL pilot sitting next to me even commented that there must have been an air traffic control snafu because it should really not take so long to take off this time of the morning from ATL. A delicious meal was served and was actually very filling. No menus were handed out and the in flight entertainment consisted of overhead monitors and free headphones were handed out to all passengers as this is considered an international flight. Drinks were plentiful. The attendants did a fantastic job of taking good care of all the passengers.

Our arrival on runway 9 was nearly 20 minutes late due to our delayed taxi time at ATL. As is standard at SXM, the plane turned around on the runway and swiftly head towards Princess Juilana's new terminal and we docked at gate A3. I must be honest with you, I like and prefer the old terminal at SXM as you get to walk down the air stairs and on the tarmac to the customs area. You get a great view of airport operations this way. Oh well, what can you do? Since I didn't check any luggage I was quickly on my way to the Sonesta Maho Beach hotel where i dropped my things, put on my bathing suit, grabbed my Nikon D70 and headed for the beach for an assortment of pictures over the next few days. I hope you enjoy them. The best shot I got was the Corsair 744. I took the shot from a different perspective. It came in very low and turned the most heads.

My overall opinion was of a very gracious staff who seemed to make me feel like I was there #1 priority. They did the little things to satisfy me like remembering what I was drinking and topping it off without having to ask, and with a smile. I would like to thank Delta for making this flight as enjoyable as a vacation at SXM is. Also, I would like to thank Bob the pilot and some other wonderful Delta employees, (who even though they werent working wanted to ensure my flight was enjoyable) that we wound up hanging out with during our stay at SXM, thanks Lori and Dick!

waiting at gate E-7 for my flight to Paradise



my aircraft to SXM. Clearly visible is the log book to ship # 635 and the catering truck





the middle galley of the 757. 1st class is off to the left while coach is off to the right



The next several photos are of various Delta planes throughout terminal E. The 1st one is a B777. You can see two Delta pilots doing a walk around with one of the pilots training the other in certain aspects of the B777











During our taxi out, you can see the line of planes waiting to take-off. In this line are just about every type of boeing plane including a 777.



At this point, we had landed and I made my way to the beach to get N635DL heading back to Atlanta. Here you can see the pilot Bob, waiving to the crowd at maho beach.





The next several shots are of N635DL on her taxi,take-off roll and getting airborn









The next day, N635DL taxied out to runway 9 but instead of taking off, she slowly made her way back down the runway in what looked like a slow ride back to the terminal. WRONG! She taxied to the end of 27 and made a marvelous take-off over Maho beach. Unfortunately my camera wasnt ready for this as I had on my 70X300 MM lens.











And finally I uploaded 4 of my favorite shots. Even though I got hundreds of planes landing and taking off at SXM over my 3 day stay, I only included my 4 favs. The many others I uploaded to the sister site, myaviation.net.









[Edited 2008-06-28 11:19:50]