I treated wakeup and stuff like a regular work day, but instead of arriving at work at 7, I parked at the airport at 7.
I plea the 5th on whether or not I snapped this while driving on 285. Not 100% where this A330 was going from, but I think it was Rio de Janeiro.
747-8F taking off from 27R. I think it was going to ANC
Was shaping up to be a beautiful day. This ATL Next project is finally taking shape. It’s going to be great once it’s all done.
There was actually a decent sized crowd around the airport this morning. I found that very heartwarming. My trips way back in June and July featured a ghost town of an airport.
Brand new south security checkpoint. I had no idea this was happening. Not sure if north is getting the same treatment, but it’s a big upgrade over the old one. I was leaving from E (not that it really mattered).
Needed to make up for lost time on my Priority Pass. A breakfast burrito and granola bar was the breakfast of champions.
N861DN was going to MBJ. N804NW in the background was going to MSP. This flight was an option, but I opted to go a little later to fly the A330-200 instead.
I worked my way back to concourse E. Today I was leaving from E18, all the way at the back of the concourse. Never have had a flight down that way before.
N854NW was my ride today. This would be my first flight on an A330-200
Delta Air Lines Flight 1047
ATL-MSP
Depart ATL - 9:30am (was actually 9:28)
Arrive MSP - 11:06am (was actually 10:57)
Airbus A330-200
N854NW
My window was scratched all to hell. The sun didn’t do it any favors either. I was in seat 25A.
Taxiing by arriving from CVG was N3742C, the first 737-800 I ever flew, and also the first flight I kept a written record of (Delta 523, ATL-SFO, June 9, 2004. Good times)
And there he was from the other side after we pushed back.
I can’t make out the tail number on this 737-700. It could have been going anywhere.
https://youtu.be/-c6zxFuTq68
Takeoff, and the video is in HDR
This aircraft got up and away quick.
It was a beautiful day in Atlanta.
Then we hit clouds for a long while.
Hooray snack bags?
And more clouds
Wifi wasn’t working for the first 30ish minutes, so I couldn’t see what this aircraft was or where it was going. I just know it was below us and traveling west.
And more clouds
I’m surprised this many people left their window shades up. Love it when natural light comes in to a cabin.
Quality entertainment, not as good as looking out the window, but again, clouds.
We finally got out of them when we got closer to Minneapolis.
I think this is MCW in Iowa.
Was turning in to a beautiful day up here too.
OWA (I think)
Frozen lakes. Don’t see that in Georgia. I like cold weather too much for my own good sometimes.
Hey look, a train!
Such a nice day. I probably would have had better landing views on the other side, but I didn’t want the sun in my eyes.
https://youtu.be/XkarfiaNcJQ
HDR video of landing. Greased the shit out of it.
N810NW just arrived from PHX, and was turning around to go right back. We pulled it in to gate G9. I want’t in a hurry, so I was one of the last ones off.
N854NW was going back to Atlanta.
In the meantime, I had about 5 hours on the ground.
I honestly had no idea this tram existed.
And to the train station.
And there were trains. Funny how that works.
I ended up at the Mall of America and a place called Burger Burger for lunch.
Did I mention there were fried mac and cheese bites? There were fried mac and cheese bites.
And some stuff from Baking Betty’s. Damn, these were the diabetes special. So good
My brother and I played mini golf here in 2009 and tied. We still have a score to settle all these years later.
Good to see stuff up and running.
About 1:40 I went back down and grabbed a train back to MSP. I probably should have explored the airport some in the time I had, but I didn’t really. I could tell things are getting back to normal, because there were a couple of clueless people in the Precheck line who had no business being there, and were being turned away.
I grabbed a spot at gate G4 where our aircraft was. I ended up moving because there was a pair of bratty children running around and making a whole lot of nose. Mom didn’t seem the slightest bit interested in stopping it.
That’s it, people. Crowd the boarding area so nobody knows who is going where (again, things getting back to normal). I will give all my business to the first airline that lets their gate agents tell the gate area to sit down and that everyone is going to get to Atlanta at the same time.
Delta Air Lines Flight 1064
MSP-ATL
Depart MSP - 4:25pm (was actually 4:23)
Arrive ATL - 7:45pm (was actually 7:23)
Airbus A330-300
N814NW
I was in 29J for the flight home. Damn, was the window scratched up.
N8618N taxiing out to MDW. I flew this guy OAK-ATL back in 2017.
I haven’t the foggiest idea where this 757 was going.
https://youtu.be/fi1Ko1NU3o4
HDR video of takeoff. This damn window
Beautiful evening, but again this window…
Quality entertainment while the sun was in my eyes.
Finally the sun was getting out of my eyes and looking a little more picturesque.
I managed to find a spot low on the window that was clear.
Beautiful end to a fantastic day
Hartsfield as we passed by to land from the east
Exposure was wacky, but it’s still sort of cool.
We landed on runway 26R, and taxied toward gate E12. Another heartwarming sign that things are getting closer to normal, we had to sit for about 20 minutes waiting for the ramp to clear of aircraft.
N814NW was going to CDG later that night. Beautiful aircraft. I didn’t have any luggage, so I grabbed a train to the main terminal and got a bus back to my car to go home.
What a fun day. It was great to fly again. I missed it. I got more wide body flights this day than I did in all of 2020. Hoping for a great rest of the year flying. I have more on the books already. I didn’t proofread this, so hopefully my errors are minimal. Thanks for reading
