On the day of my flight, I got to the airport around 11:45am for my 1:00pm flight. It was not that busy of an afternoon with only a few flights, so I was able to drop my bag and get through security pretty quickly.
Delta Connection “Endeavor” 4747
Syracuse, NY (SYR) – Detroit, MI (DTW)
Bombardier CRJ-900
N279PQ
Seat 18A
Scheduled Departure Time – 1:00pm
Actual Departure Time- 1:33pm
Scheduled Arrival Time – 2:39pm
Actual Arrival Time- 2:40pm
1 hour 7 minutes
N279PQ arriving from DTW. This would be my 2nd time on this plane. I had flown a little over a year ago at the end of 2019, from SYR-JFK. It was a cold and snowy day. The visibility was only 1/2 sm, with snow and freezing fog. The RVR was 2000, and the ceilings were at 600ft.
N11187 in the new colors. It spent the entire day in Syracuse. It had flown in the previous afternoon from Newark, and did not leave until the following afternoon to Dulles
Boarding started around 12:30pm. There were only a few people on this flight, so it did not take long to get everyone on board. The captain made an announcement. She said that they had just flown in from DTW and it was bumpy on the descent, and she was expecting the same thing on the way back. She also said that due to the snow we would need to be deiced. We pushed back at 12:57pm, 3 minutes early. Once the engines were started, we taxied around to the deice pad.
18A, next to N427ZW departing a few hours later to Dulles
Yet another empty flight
After about 20 minutes of getting sprayed, the engines were started. A few minutes later, we slowly taxied out to runway 10. We took off right into the low clouds, After a few thousand feet we were on top, and it was a sunny day
Climbing out of Syracuse
Cruising at 32,000ft
Once it was time to descend, it was back into the clouds
Final 3R
Pulling into gate C23, next to N931EV leaving later in the evening to Ft Wayne
N279PQ left to Dallas/Ft Worth the next afternoon
I had a little over an hour, until my next flight to Atlanta
Delta 2190
Detroit, MI (DTW) – Atlanta, GA (ATL)
Airbus A321
N364DX
Seat 14A
Scheduled Departure Time – 3:55pm
Actual Departure Time- 4:08pm
Scheduled Arrival Time – 6:02pm
Actual Arrival Time- 5:36pm
1 hour 28 minutes
N364DX at gate A54. It flew up earlier in the day from Atlanta
14A, next to N340DN going to Minneapolis.
Pushed back
It had been lightly snowing, so that meant a second trip to the deice pad for the day
The deicing process was really quick this time around. About 20 minutes after pushing back, we were in the air
We leveled off at 34,000ft for a few minutes, before climbing up to 35,000ft for the rest of the flight. A Spirit flight to Fort Meyers had taken off right before us, and we were a 1000ft below them, for the first half of the flight
Cruising
Starting down
Descending on the ONDRE1 arrival
Final 26R
Touchdown
Taxiing into the gate
N364DX spent the night in Atlanta, before flying to Indianapolis the next morning
After spending a few days in Atlanta, it was back to ATL for a flight to MCO
Delta 1555
Atlanta, GA (ATL) – Orlando, FL (MCO)
Boeing 757-200
N683DA
Seat 34A
Scheduled Departure Time – 8:05pm
Actual Departure Time- 8:16pm
Scheduled Arrival Time – 9:35pm
Actual Arrival Time- 9:12pm
56 minutes
N683DA at gate A4 after flying up from Orlando. The last time I flew a 757 without winglets was 4 years ago in 2017
We pushed back a few minutes early. The engines were quickly started, and a few minutes later we were taxiing towards 27R
One of my favorite planes, as always it did not disappoint. It was a powerful takeoff
We quickly climbed away from the ground
We climbed up to 33,000ft for the short flight down to Florida. As we were passing 24,000ft the captain made an announcement. He was very chatty. He said “We are currently passing 24,500ft, on our way up to 33,000ft. We are 95 nautical miles to the south of the airport in Atlanta, and are just to the west of Macon, GA. Off to our left side is the airport in Macon. We expect to be averaging a groundspeed of 530 knots on this flight. For those of you familiar with the airport in Orlando, we plan on joining our arrival procedure to the North of the airport. We will fly past the airport, before turning around and landing to the North on runway 36L.” After his long drawn out announcement, he turned off the seatbelt sign. It was a smooth flight down to MCO
Descending into MCO on the PIGLT6 arrival
On a left downwind
Final 36L
Pulling into the gate next to N586NW, it had flown down an hour before us from Atlanta
After the flight I went up to talk to the pilots, and check out the 75 cockpit
N683DA spent the night at gate 73, before flying back to Atlanta the next morning
After a few days in Florida, it was time to go back home. For the flight back I was on another 757 to ATL, and then a 717 up to Syracuse. This would be my first time on a 717 in 4 years.
Delta 1107
Orlando, FL (MCO) – Atlanta, GA (ATL)
Boeing 757-200
N681DA
Seat 24A
Scheduled Departure Time – 4:55pm
Actual Departure Time- 5:26pm
Scheduled Arrival Time – 6:33pm
Actual Arrival Time- 6:29pm
1 hour 3 minutes
N681DA at gate 82, after arriving from Atlanta
Boarding
24A, with an Alaska 737-900 taking off to Portland
We taxied slowly towards the runway, before coming to a stop. We sat for about 10 minutes, because the captain said we had a wheels up time to Atlanta
We had to wait for two planes taking off from the other runway, before we received our takeoff clearence
“Delta 1107 fly heading 025, runway 35L cleared for takeoff”
It was bumpy as we climbed through the cloud layer, but it smoothed out once we were on top
I watched the sun set, as we flew up to Georgia
Heading back down into the clouds
Final 27L
N681DA spent the night at gate A3, before flying to Fort Lauderdale the next morning
I had a little over an hour until my last flight up to Syracuse. I have flown Atlanta-Syracuse or the other way around many times. It was always on an MD-88/90. This would be my first time flying this route, since they were retired last June. I definitely preferred the MD-88/90, but the 717 would still be cool to fly on. I would just have to pretend it was an 88
Delta 1251
Atlanta, GA (ATL) – Syracuse, NY (SYR)
Boeing 717
N997AT
Seat 26A
Scheduled Departure Time – 7:55pm
Actual Departure Time- 8:10pm
Scheduled Arrival Time – 10:04pm
Actual Arrival Time- 9:59pm
1 hour 49 minutes
N997AT gate B24, after arriving earlier in the evening from Charlotte
Boarding
It looks like the MD-90
26A, next to N995AT going to Pittsburgh the following morning
We pushed back from the gate a few minutes early. The flight attendants performed the safety demo, as the engines were started. A few minutes we began the taxi out to 26L. There were a few planes ahead of us, and after a few minutes it was our turn
It was a pretty short takeoff roll. Not quite like the MD-88, but oh well. Anyway, as we were taking off, an A330 going to Santiago, Chile was also taking off from 27R. There were low clouds, and it was a pretty bumpy for the first few minutes. I watched the A330 climb, as we entered the cloud layer. A few seconds after we broke out, I saw the A330 climb on top of the clouds as well.
Climbing out of ATL, on the SMKEY2 departure
Once we were through the clouds, it smoothed out as we climbed up to flight level 350. Shortly after we leveled off, the flight attendants handed out the pre packaged bags with snacks and a bottle of water. I spent the flight watching a movie on my phone. All of a sudden we were already over Pennsylvania, and starting our descent
Descending
Final runway 28
Pulling into the gate
N997AT flew back down to Atlanta early the next morning
It was a nice variety of planes on this trip. I got two flights on the 757, which is my favorite. I also got to fly on the 717 for the first time in a few years. Originally when Delta retired the MD-88/90s, they were going to replace SYR-ATL with the 737-800. The 737-800 only flew it a few times over the summer, before it was switched to the 717. It looks like it will continue to be on the 717, at least for a while.
