Departure Time: 2:13 PM EST
Arrival Time: 3:45 PM PST
SID: CUTTN2
ARRIVAL: HLYWD1
FL: 36,000ft
AIRLINE: DELTA AIRLINES
AIRCAFT: AIRBUS 767-400
SEAT: 8D
FLIGHT PLAN: CUTTN2 HANKO GAD SMITZ RZC TUL BGD J8 FTI ZUN J6 DRK GABBL HLYWD1
DEPARTURE VIDEOS
SHORT: OSMO POCKET 2: https://youtu.be/fE85fRNulxQ
LONG: GOPRO HERO 9: https://youtu.be/N_aVFKdmyC4
ARRIVAL VIDEOS
SHORT: OSMO POCKET 2: https://youtu.be/pGQV2V5Fivk
LONG:GOPRO HERO9: https://youtu.be/FO0l0XNknMU
It’s time to recap the return leg of my trip from LAX to ATL!
After a wonderful 22ish hours in great Southern city of Atlanta Georgia it was time to return home. If you had a chance to review my inbound trip report you’ll know that I flew on the Delta Flagship aircraft the A350-900. The return trip brought me aboard one Delta’s more classic aircrafts, the Boeing 767-400. I have flown aboard the 767-400 a couple times and absolutely loved the experience! This trip was no different.
On the morning of February 12th 2022 I woke up early to do some last minute plane spotting from hotel room at the Renaissance Concourse Atlanta Airport Hotel. If you like planespotting this hotel is the perfect place for you! Below are a couple of the pictures I took from my balcony overlooking Runway 26R and 26L at KATL.
After planespotting I packed my bags and loaded the rental car before heading just a couple blocks over to the Delta Flight Museum. I arrived at the museum shortly after it opened at 10AM EST and pretty much had the place the myself. The museum costs $15 USD for adults. Arriving early provided a great opportunity to freely explore all of the exhibits. The highlight of the museum was of course the Delta 747 experience which allows you to explore the inner workings of the first passenger 747 built by Boeing. Below are some of the photos from trip to the museum.
I spent about 1 hour and 45 minutes exploring the museum. I would have stayed longer but my departed at 2:13PM EST and I wanted to have some time at the Atlanta International Airport to explore the terminals and visit as many Delta Skyclubs as I possibly could.
I returned the rental car (which was surprisingly fast!) and hoped aboard the train to the airport. The train to the airport took about 5-10 minutes from the rental car facility to the entrance of the airport.
I was worried that TSA would take a while given that KATL is one of the busiest airports in the world; however, their process was incredibly fast and the staff at the airport were very friendly and helpful in guiding me in the correct direction. All-in-all TSA took about 15 minutes from getting in line to clearing the scanners.
My plane departed from the T Terminal (Gate T02) so first elected to find my gate and check out the Skyclub in the T Terminal. In retrospect I probably should have tried to see another club first before settling in to the T Terminal before my flight. The Skyclub was not crowded when I arrived and the food selection was still in pretty good shape. Below are some photos from the Skyclub in the T Terminal
After a quick snack and drink I caught the Plane Train and headed for the furthest terminal, Terminal F. The ride from the T Terminal to the F Terminal took about 10-15 minutes.
The F Terminal at KATL is the International Terminal for the Airport. The Terminal is spacious and has one of the better Skyclubs at the airpot. It has an outdoor viewing area and plenty of seating.
After another quick snack and drink I headed back down to the Plane Train with only about 35 minutes to spare before boarding began for my flight home.
Instead of heading to another Skyclub and risking being late for boarding I elected to head back to the T Terminal Skyclub for a couple minutes. This time the T Terminal Skyclub was actually pretty busy! There were very seats available but given that I was only there to relax for a couple minutes it really was not that big of a deal.
After a snack and drink I headed down to my gate and noticed a crowd had already formed in the boarding area. There was not a lot of seating at the gate so most people were standing. Unfortunately, as is typical in US, passengers in the later boarding groups were blocking access to the gate for preboards and First Class passengers. It’s a minor inconvenience but it bothers me nonetheless.
Despite the lack of access to the boarding doors I still found myself within the first 20 people to board the plane (most of which were accessible passengers and passengers traveling with families).
I entered the plane and made my favorite left turn toward the first class cabin where my Delta One Suite awaiting me at seat 8D.
Having flown on a non-retrofitted 767 last year to New York I can tell you that absolutely love the retrofitted cabin on the 767. You would never know the plane is as old as it is (21 years)!
After we pushed back we made our way to the opposite side of the airport for a departure from Runway 27R. The taxi to the runway was quick and there were surprisingly few flights ahead of us. I think I counted about 4 departures on the runway as we made our way to 27R.
I was listening to ATC on my headphones and heard them give us the “Line Up and Wait Runway 27R” call which was almost immediately followed up “Cleared for Takeoff” call. We went around a 717 (which I have previously flown on with Hawaiian) that was holding short. The departure was fairly smooth but there were definitely bumps along the way. Nothing too intense but definitely noticeable.
We reached our initial cruising altitude of 36,000 feet about 25 minutes after departure. The flight it self was mostly smooth but there was pretty consistent light chop throughout periods of the flight.
The flight attendants began drink and meal service shortly after hitting our cruising altitude. I elected to take the Teriyaki Grain bowl and another of my favorite Delta exclusive Elevated H.A.Z.Y. IPAs by Sweet Water. I do not recall what the other meal option was but I know that it did not sound as appealing as the bowl did. I was not hungry when I ordered because I definitely filled up on snacks in the Skyclubs before departure so stowed the meal next to my seat until I was ready to eat. The bowl was tofu (I was expecting chicken) but was not disappointed. I absolutely love love love spicy food so I pleasantly surprised to find that the bowl was actually pretty spicy.
As is typical for my flights I had the window shade open but once we hit a mostly white sky I closed it to catch some rest and download my flight videos to my computer.
After a quick nap I did my usual stroll through the rest of the seating areas on the plane and again found the flight to be mostly full. There appeared to be a good amount of Cincinnati Bengals fans on the plane headed to LA for the Super Bowl.
I periodically checked the window to see if we had cleared the white clouds but it took quite some time. I think we finally came out of the cloud cover somewhere over Texas or New Mexico so my shade remained open thereafter.
Not particularly important to the trip overall but as a (roughly) Sacramento, California native I was amused to see the City listed alongside Kabul and New York City on the World Clock list. I imagine most people are not very familiar with Sacramento so I found it funny.
Shortly after passing over Sedona, Arizona that crew began preparing the cabin for arrival. It did not take long for me to see some of the familiar sights for me on the arrival into LAX. It was another beautifully clear day in LA so the Skyline was a prominent feature. We then passed over the famous planespotting location IN-n-Out Burger that sits adjacent to Runway 24R and 24L at LAX.
The flight itself was another great trip with Delta on their 767-400. In total we flew for 4 hours and 32 minutes. We descended via the HLYWD1 arrival into LAX and landed on the usual Runway 24R at LAX.
Overall, the trip was absolutely outstanding! I loved visiting the various Skyclubs in that Atlanta had to offer (still missed about 6-8 other Skyclubs), the Terminals were cleans and welcoming, the aircraft and crew were outstanding, The Delta One Suite was cozy, the flight itself was smooth and fast, and the arrival into Los Angeles was scenic.
