I went early to beat Atlanta traffic, which probably turned out to be a good move, plus who would argue with more time in the airport?
One of my coworkers had just taken a red eye in from Phoenix on N119DN, but I was a bit too late to meet with them
My aircraft came in on an overnight from Los Angeles. Today was N514DN.
I was already over at concourse F, and we were departing from the back side of E, so I walked that short distance.
Didn’t realize United was flying the 737 MAX here now. I’m going to keep my comments about the MAX to myself.
N854NW across the way was going to PHX. At the moment, that’s the only A330-200 I’ve flown on (and coincidentally enough out of E18).
Delta Air Lines Flight 352
ATL-DTW
Depart ATL - 9:00am (was actually 9:09)
Arrive DTW - 11:00am (was actually 10:46)
Airbus A350-900
N514DN
Time to fly for the first time in 226 days.
Delta now informs you when your zone is being called. You hear that, everybody on the planet that crowds the boarding area? I hate these people. Sit and wait. We’re all getting to Detroit at the same time.
I took the savings of adding the Chicago segment and put myself in premium select to see what it was all about, very nice, although I will say, the floor storage sucks. I never have a problem getting my backpack under a regular peasant seat. I probably should have put it up in the overhead for this flight, but I didn’t want to disturb my neighbor to get to the aisle.
https://youtu.be/L7evBfb9uLg
4K HDR video of takeoff. Rainy morning in Atlanta. This thing is a majestic beast, and listen to those Trent XWBs roar
And then there were clouds. Unfortunately, it was nothing but clouds the whole way there.
But did that stop me from taking an absurd amount of photos? Nope.
There wasn’t a lot of air-to-air action to see, but this one did catch my eye. It’s N839MH, the 767-400 I flew last summer. I was feeling like a smart ass, so I texted my brother with that photo and just told him “you’ve flown this aircraft before.” It was flying JFK-LAX today.
Some spoiler love on the way down.
The A350 shadow on clouds down below looks pretty cool.
And some snow as we dip below clouds.
https://youtu.be/4Ic0PbpF-28
4K video of landing on runway 21L. There was a bit of snow in Detroit this morning.
Parked at gate A56.
N514DN was turning around back to Atlanta (and these stupid ass window dots).
I received a text before I even left my house that my ORD flight was delayed by 2 hours. This sets off a hell of an adventure (and another lady in the same boat as me as I would find out later). There was another flight to MDW that was scheduled to leave at roughly the same time as the originally scheduled ORD flight. I asked back in Atlanta about changing to that MDW flight, and they told me they couldn’t build an itinerary while keeping that A350 flight, which I wanted more than anything else on this trip, but they said to ask once I get to Detroit and the would be a shot. Fair enough.
So I head to one of the Delta help desks and the lady working it kindly put me on standby for the MDW flight. Conveniently enough, it was straight across the way from my arrival at gate A57.
N390CA was operating the flight today. The CRJ-700 would be a new aircraft type for me.
I’m sweating out the standby list. As it turned out, I would be the very last one cleared.
I was in seat 13D for this one. We’re delayed something small that wouldn’t strap down up front, but not very long. We’re more or less on time.
The airport had reversed since I landed. We headed out to runway 4R, but then we stopped, and sat, and sat, and sat…and sat. I dialed up ATC, and apparently our nose wheel steering was busted, and we needed a tow back to a gate. It ended up being close to an hour that we were on the plane before we got back to the gate and off. We ended up getting a new aircraft.
Now at this point, we are going to be delayed past the O’Hare flight, so I visit Delta again, and get switched back to the O’Hare flight. I was in Comfort Plus anyway, so this is a small plus. But then…the gate agent for O’Hare informed us that there still was no captain for this flight, there was no time table for departure, and canceling was a real possibility. Well, sh*t. So I hike myself all the way to the other end of the terminal to try and get back on the Midway flight, because they’re about to board.
…But then…
A lady in front of me is in the same boat, and when she and I are next in line to talk to the gate agent, our phones light up that the O’Hare flight is boarding. We assume they’re bluffing, but then they push notifications for our zone, so we leave the line and hurry back to the other end to get on the O’Hare flight. I like now that I can truthfully say that I hopped on an aircraft that I wasn’t scheduled to be on, taxied around the airport a bit, came back, and then got off before getting on my correct flight.
Delta Connection Flight 3872
DTW-ORD
Depart DTW - 12:35pm (was actually 3:17pm)
Arrive ORD - 1:11pm (was actually 3:20pm)
Bombardier CRJ-900
N803SK
N803SK had been sitting at gate B5 for hours before taking us.
My view from seat 6A. There are lot of misaligned windows on this aircraft, this being one o f them. I had to lean very far forward to see out. N825SK next to us was going to Richmond.
N655CA was the new aircraft for the Midway flight, and as you can see, we beat it out.
757s resting. I don’t quite understand why we taxied north around the terminal and back to runway 4R. It would seem to me we could just go south of it and pop out right at the end of it. There wasn’t a line.
N390CA hadn’t moved from where we parked it, and actually, it didn’t fly again until the next day.
https://outu.be/MLYFkNshEjM
Video of takeoff from runway 4R on the KAYLN2 departure.
For the first time all day I could see something out the window
DTW as we turn away.
Then we very quickly ended up over clouds again, which was a real shame since we only went to 18,000 feet. I was hoping for some good views. As short as this flight was, there was no cabin service. I ended up not doing a whole lot except goofing around on my phone since I couldn’t see anything.
https://youtu.be/EJBIUVrbVT4
Video of landing on runway 9L at O’Hare. I couldn’t see a thing until just a minute or two before we landed.
Couple of things I don’t see at home.
No longer in Delta land.
N842NN taxiing out to San Diego
And still some metal I don’t see at home. Shame the A220s will never make it to Atlanta. It’s a great product. N122DU was going to MSP
N306DN next to us was going back to Atlanta. Good to see some better aircraft flying that route after it being nothing but MD-80s and MD-90s for years and years. Heck, I’m old enough to have flown the route on a 757
We came in at E9, and N803SK was going back to DTW. I found my way to the train station to head to my hotel in town.
This was at Clark and Lake, but I promise there was a train ride in between with no pictures.
This is something I never see in Atlanta.
It was a nice enough night in Chicago. There was a light snow. I love cold weather to the point that I think I may be part penguin. But really, I was unbothered by the low temperatures.
And of course you got to get you some pizza. This was from Williams inn. Delicious :yum:
My stay was short, so after a good night of rest, I had to get up and head back home.
This was my view from the 13th floor looking down on Franklin Street.
And back to the train to go to MDW.
It was pretty empty this morning.
I saw every possible train come through before a Midway train came through. Actually, I figured that would happen. I just missed an Orange Line train when I got to the station.
Midway is always a breeze. I was airside in no time at all.
My aircraft today was N936AT, formerly the Indianapolis Colts aircraft arriving from ATL.
Delta Air Lines Flight 2483
MDW-ATL
Depart MDW - 11:16am (was actually 11:20)
Arrive ATL - 2:04pm (was actually 1:58)
Boeing 717-200
N936AT
This aircraft has quite a history for a 717. Besides being painted in Indianapolis Colts colors with AirTran, it also had Elton John’s face on it, and also flew for TWA. She’s been around the block
I put myself in seat 16E. If my record keeping is correct, I have never sat on the right side of a 717, despite me recording 18 segments (now 19) on them prior.
We pushed more or less on time and headed for runway 4R.
N7713A came right behind us, and was going to Miami.
Not exactly the most beautiful of days in Chicago.
737-800 was landing from somewhere. I was looking on FlightRadar24, but I can’t remember the tail number or origin.
https://youtu.be/uNCKPXbxNWU
4K video of takeoff. 717s are always fun little rocket ships, but they are even more on Midway’s short runways.
And just like the rest of the trip…clouds!
These are me getting all artsy with the camera.
Finally over Georgia I could see the ground again.
The I20-I285 interchange on the east side of Atlanta. Never realized how phallic it looked from above.
Turning in for runway 26R.
https://youtu.be/I0-duByaw5Q
Landing on runway 26R, pure butter.
Back to old familiar scenes.
And in to gate C40.
N936AT was going to CAE, and actually would land there before I even got home. I kind of took my time leaving.
Glad to get back in the air after so long, and always great to catch a domestic widebody. Looking forward to some more travel in the next few months. Thanks for reading
