Delta's Rare Birds: 757-300, 767-300 Domestic F
also including a segment on Delta's MD90


Background: A few years ago, I had planned to go to downtown Orlando, but that trip fell through. I had wanted to make it there ever since, and I was able to find a decent airfare on Delta. But even better than the price, were the aircraft: two rare birds which I don't often get a chance to fly on: Delta's 767-300 (domestic non-ER version) and 757-300. Not many airlines operate these birds, and I had never flown on either one before.


My journey began the previous week with my trip to Asheville, North Carolina (trip reports here: US Airways Domestic A330, plus US vs DL Regional F). The trip included my first flight on US Airways' A330 and a US Express CRJ-700. After AVL, I had flown a Delta Connection CRJ-900 to ATL on the first flight of the day. Waking up at 03:30 for that flight had enabled me to get to ATL in time for my flight on Delta's rare 767-300 (non-ER). This report will include my first-ever experiences on a Boeing 757-300 and 767-300 (non-ER), plus my flight home on an MD90. Please enjoy the reports, and I look forward to your comments.


Delta DL2118

Monday, April 13, 2015

Departure: 07:45 (actual 07:55)

Arrival: 09:05 (actual 09:12)

Seat: 4F First Class

Boeing 767-300


Delta Air Lines operates nearly every type of mainline equipment into MCO: B738, B739, B752, B753, B763, MD80, MD90, ... I took advantage of this to book my itinerary on Delta's two rare birds: the Boeing 757-300 and 767-300 (non-ER version). My flight today would be on the 767-300, and I was excited to try my first non-ER 767-300, and even more excited for a new domestic widebody segment.


I arrived to the gate at about 06:55 to find a large group of people waiting to board, with boarding set to begin in 15 minutes. Despite Delta sending a plane with one of the largest domestic F cabins (30 F seats) to Orlando today, there were 66 people on the upgrade list with only 3 seats remaining!


My 767-300 was N126DL. She had been built in 1988 and delivered to Delta Air Lines in 3/88, making this the oldest plane I've flown since Delta's DC9 retirement flight! Boarding began with those needing extra time, then families with children in strollers or car seats. Next Premium Cabin and Diamond Medallion members were invited to board. A lot of people qualified to board with this group! However, most people who had been crowding the gate area for the past 20 minutes did not board, and remained in everyone's way.


I walked down the jetway through Door L1, and found my seat on the second aisle, window seat 4F. A pillow, blanket and bottled water awaited me at my seat. Delta's domestic 767-300 non-ER is unique among 767s, as it is configured with a normal domestic F cabin, as opposed to the usual international configuration which might be expected. It has a large F cabin with 5 rows of domestic F seats, in 2-2-2 configuration. I settled into my seat and started checking out the cabin of this 27-year old plane. It was a tired interior. The seats, while newly upholstered with the new Delta design, were old-school thick seats. I had not seen seats this thick since my flight last year on US Airways 737-400, a plane which dated to 1990 and has since been retired (trip report here: US Airways' Forgotten Boeings: B734 & B762). Besides the thick seats, another old-school feature of this cabin was the tiny overhead compartments. Only the compartments above the windows could even accomodate rollaboard bags, but they had to be placed sideways, severely reducing the amount of room for other bags. The compartments above the center of the plane were smaller and could not fit rollaboard bags. This created a lot of problems as people boarded late with huge rollaboard bags, only to find there was nowhere to stow them. Finally, I also found small seatback IFE screens, which since booking, I had forgotten about - making them a pleasant surprise! Electrical outlets were also provided under the armrests.


767-300 Seats 4EF:








Flight attendants offered to hang coats and provided pre-departure beverages. I ordered an apple juice which was served in a plastic cup with a napkin advertising Seagrams. This was the first airplane napkin I've had which makes no mention of the airline! Flight attendants then came around with a tray of packs of earbuds for the IFE. As I enjoyed my apple juice, I tried to settle in to my first 767-300 seat. Unfortunately, I had now been onboard for about half an hour, and was finding the seat to be more and more uncomfortable. The seatbottom was too short, and did not adequarely support my thighs. This wasn't a problem I'd had in any other F seat before. Additionally, the legroom was pretty tight. It was much worse than my Delta Connection regional jet F seat this morning! (I'd also noticed the 767-300's bulkhead legroom was very poor, much less than on the regional jet - definitely avoid Row 1.) I attributed the poor legroom to the thick seatbacks which themselves take away precious inches of pitch. The US Airways 737-400 I mentioned earlier had the same issue - below-average legroom due to the thick seatbacks. These 767-300 seatbacks were really the thickest I'd ever seen.


Pre-departure beverage:




Safety Card:




Overhead Panel:




Overview of our Old-School cabin:




Limited legroom:




The door was closed at 07:50. The safety video was played on the seatback IFE screens. We were pushed back at 07:55, lights were shut off, and we began our taxi. Takeoff was on Runway 9L at 08:05. I was treated to a nice rolling takeoff, where the application of thrust began while we were still turning onto the runway! It was a decent takeoff, but the takeoff roll seemed very long.


As soon as the IFE was enabled, I immediately looked for something to watch, hoping to finish something in its entirety on this short flight. I found two episodes of Mad Men, perfect - one for the flight to MCO, and one for the flight back. The final season of Mad Men just started on TV, and these would help get me ready to watch it when I got home. I started the show and noticed the quality of these old screens wasn't very good. I could live with the small size - I'd prefer small IFE to no IFE at all - but the resolution was poor and the screens washed out due to the light coming in the windows. I shut my windows, as did everybody on the EF side of the plane, but the screen remained washed out until everyone on the AB side shut their windows too! If the screen washes out when windows on the other side of a widebody are open, then yeah, the screens could be better. But I'm not complaining because I love IFE on planes and I enjoyed watching Mad Men on my flight to Orlando today.


View from 4F:




The seatbelt sign remained on, and a flight attendant announced that it is still on for your safety - do not get up until the light is turned off. The seatbelt sign remained on for the whole flight, and flight attendants remained seated the whole time. The pilot announced our initial descent into Orlando with 20 minutes to go. A flight attendant made the welcome announcement and apologized for the lack of service in the Main Cabin due to the turbulent air in the area. I would say there was only an average amount of turbulence, though, so I was a little disappointed in the lack of service. I was additionally disappointed in the apology for lack of service in the Main Cabin. There hadn't been any service in the First Class cabin either, so why specify the cabin in your apology?


As Mad Men ended, it was gear down. We landed at 09:06, and flight attendants again apologized for no service in the Main Cabin. We had a lengthy taxi, and a baby chose to voice its displeasure with the length of the taxi by crying loudly the entire way to the gate. We got to the gate at 09:12.


Final Approach to MCO:




One last shot of the seats:




N126DL at the gate in MCO:






I was happy to have flown for the first time on Delta's 767-300 (domestic non-ER version), and I had enjoyed my short widebody segment, but I would avoid this type of plane in the future. The seat was very uncomfortable, and was a bit cramped, too. And if you aren't the first to board, your rollaboard won't have anywhere to go. I enjoyed the IFE but it wasn't enough to overcome the shortcomings of the outdated cabin, and I would not recommend a flight on Delta's domestic 767-300.


I decided to include a short photo tour of downtown Orlando, because who goes to Orlando to go downtown!? This guy.


Downtown Orlando & Lake Eola








Orlando's brand-new commuter train line, SunRail. It is great that they invested in a new train line. The train offered a great price and the cars still had new-train smell!




Downtown Orlando:






My Orlando rental car, the sexy red Dodge Challenger, beside the even-sexier Tesla Model S:




My next flight was on Delta's other rare bird - the Boeing 757-300. My journey continues in Post 2.


[Edited 2015-04-22 18:44:30]

Even though my flight today wasn't due to depart until 17:45, I arrived to MCO Aiport at 15:00. I checked in with an agent. I really like Delta's check-in. They've got all the options: mobile check-in, online check-in, self-service kiosk check-in, and agent check-in. I was given thin receipt paper boarding passes. After clearing TSA Precheck security, I rode the train to my departure concourse. MCO airport has a central terminal containing the check-in/security area, which is connected by trains to its four concourses. One of my memories from childhood is riding this train on my first trip to Disney World. Not many airports have trains like this, so I always find it fun to ride MCO's concourse trains.


Inside a MCO train:




Heading away from the central MCO terminal:




After dropping me off at my departure concourse, the train heads back to the central MCO terminal:




Upon arriving to my departure area, I spotted a Delta MD80 (N919DE) pushing back for flight DL407 to JFK:




Delta was also sending an MD80 as DL681 to LGA this afternoon, but that one (N977DL) was unfortunately experiencing mechanical delays. The reason I had arrived to the airport so early was to see the arrival of Virgin Atlantic's 747-400. I headed to that gate to wait for the Queen of the Skies to arrive.


Soon I saw the Queen taxiing towards the terminal. G-VROY "Pretty Woman," operating VS75 MAN-MCO, was about 1h15 late. G-VROY is a Boeing 747-400 which was built in 2001. I was thrilled to watch my favorite plane, the Boeing 747-400, pulling into the gate in MCO. I have the very same flight booked for this December, VS75 MAN-MCO; it is to be my first Virgin Atlantic flight, and it's one of my most anticipated flights right now, so watching her pull up to the gate today really made me excited for my flight this December! As G-VROY arrived, several other passengers joined me in photographing the arriving Queen.














G-VROY would now be operating VS28 MCO-LGW. I continued planespotting and saw a Thomas Cook Airbus A330-200 was boarding flight 418 to LGW. The gate agent was hands-down the most enthusiastic gate agent I've ever heard boarding a flight. I enjoyed just listening to him making the boarding announcements! Thomas Cook's A332 today was G-MLJL, built in 1999 and with the company since 11/2007.




Excited to have seen a few international airlines, I headed back to my gate to await the arrival of my first-ever Boeing 757-300. As I waited, I learned that DL2653 to JFK, a few gates away, was oversold, and the agent was asking for volunteers to give up their seats. A little while later, the gate agent offered $500 in travel vouchers to anyone willing to give up their seats. And a little while after that, the agent offered $1,000 - "a THOUSAND dollars" - to two volunteers willing to give up their seats. Wow, $1,000 is a lot! She must have found a few volunteers with that offer because there were no further announcements.


Delta DL897

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Departure: 17:45 (actual 17:45)

Arrival: 19:31 (actual 19:08)

Seat: 4D First Class

Boeing 757-300


At 16:46 my 757-300 arrived from ATL. She was N593NW, built in 1993, delivered to Northwest Airlines in 7/1993, and transferred to Delta Air Lines on 12/31/09 as a result of the merger.


N593NW arrives to MCO:








N593NW at the gate in MCO:






Boarding began at 17:10 with those needing extra time and families with infants and strollers - nobody boarded. Premium Zone, First Class and Diamond Medallions were up next, and I walked down the jetway through Door L2. I turned left and found my First Class window seat 4D. First impressions? Great! Huge IFE Screens, very clean and modern - with a "Wifi" light in the overhead panel. Pillows, blankets and bottled water were placed at each seat. I settled into my seat; coats were hung and a pre-departure beverage was offered. I chose Fresca as my seatmate chose vodka on the rocks.


757-300 Seats 4AB during boarding:




Pre-departure beverages:




Safety Card:




Overhead Panel:




Cabin Overview:




The best IFE I've had domestically: Wake up on the right side of the plane. Introducing Delta One, with flat bed seats and more.



If you're not comfortable, you must be on a different airline. The most First Class seats of any airline.




Great domestic First Class legroom, with 110V outlets visible at left:




This is really a great interior. It seems brand-new! There is good legroom, 110V outlets, USB ports, and newly upholstered seats with adjustable headrests. The huge seatback touchscreen IFE displays have great resolution and very good picture quality. There are large overhead bins - F is full today, but there were no problems with overhead space. There was very upbeat boarding music playing, and with boarding taking place through Door L2, there were no passengers passing through the cabin. With nobody walking through F during boarding, you can really lose track of time settling in. For that reason, I think Delta should consider enabling the IFE system on the ground. Why not watch the IFE while waiting to depart? Before I knew it, the pilot ws announcing an on-time departure, with a 1h05 flight time, and an arrival 10-15 minutes early. At 17:40 the door closed, and push back was on-time at 17:45. The safety video was played. We had a long taxi, and takeoff was at 18:00 on Runway 18L. The takeoff was very quiet. The 757-300 is very long, which means F is far way from the engines. Unfortunately the takeoff was not very fast and seemed to use almost the whole runway.


As soon as the IFE was enabled I looked for the second episode of Mad Men. This time I found four episodes of Mad Men, vs the two episodes I'd seen on the 767-300. I suppose the new IFE contains more programs! I began the show and immediately appreciated the huge screen. It was really a great IFE screen, probably the best I've had, with good picture quality. It looked like just slightly more than half of the passengers were using the IFE.


Starting Mad Men on the IFE:




Service began and a few minutes later the seatbelt sign was turned off. I ordered another Fresca. The snack basket was also offered, and contained a pretty good selection of items.


Inflight service:




As I enjoyed watching Mad Men on this excellent IFE, I realized that a good set of noise-cancelling headphones would really complete the picture. I was stuck using my earbuds, and I had to have the volume turned up nearly to the max. A screen this nice really deserves a nice headset. Delta should consider offering their noise-cancelling headphones in F on all domestic IFE-equipped flights! Now that would be perfect. Throughout the flight, cabin crew walked around offering attentive refills.


At 18:50 the pilot asked flight attendants to please prepare the cabin for an early arrival in 20 more minutes. Coats were returned and trash collected. Flight attendants then made their cabin preparation announcement. And only then Mad Men finished. Almost immediately, the IFE was shut off. I'm really glad I was able to finish my show on this short flight!


We landed at 19:04 and were at the gate by 19:08.


757-300 Seats 4CD after the flight:








Cabin shot:



This was a really great flight. There's nothing like a brand-new plane with all the bells and whistles! Wait a minute, this is a 22-year old plane? Well it is great to see Delta committed to the rare 757-300, refurbishing them with great new cabins. The seat was excellent, comfortable and spacious, with good legroom and an adjustable headrest. The IFE was second-to-none, definitely the best I've had domestically. Service had been attentive. And we'd arrived early. I would fully recommend flying on Delta's 757-300 - both for the novelty of flying on one of Boeing's rarest types, as well as for the excellent experience that awaits you onboard. This had been one of my best flights in standard domestic F. Delta sends these birds on long 6+ hour flights to Hawaii, and next time I head to the islands, the Delta 757-300 will definitely be one flight I look for. I hope to fly with this plane again soon!


My journey continues in Post 3 with one more flight aboard a Delta MD90.

I was glad to arrive more than 20 minutes early because during our taxi I had spotted an Air France 747-400! I was excited not only because I love the 747, but because the Air France 747 is very hard to find. Air France is rapidly retiring their 747 fleet, by this winter there will be just one route left, so I was thrilled to have the opportunity to see one while I still can. I wanted to go see it during my ATL layover, but of course its gate was at the farthest end of the farthest terminal! The increased layover due to my early arrival gave me enough time, though, so I rushed to Gate F1 to check out the AF B744.


I found F-GITI waiting at Gate F1 to operate Air France AF689 to CDG. I enjoyed seeing an Air France 747 for the first time. F-GITI was only built in 2003! I can't believe Air France is ditching their 747s when they aren't even old! I will likely never have the opportunity to fly on an Air France 747. I was surprised to learn how young their 747s are, a fact which made me all the more sad about their imminent retirement.






I can only imagine Air France refurbishing their 744s with F in the nose and their new flat-bed J upstairs in 1-1 configuration. Sadly it's not meant to be. I left the area to find my Delta flight to PHL as AF689 began boarding. On my way I saw Virgin Atlantic G-VUFO, an A330-300 built in 2012, pushing back as VS110 to LHR.





Delta DL1799

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Departure: 20:35 (actual 20:45)

Arrival: 22:40 (actual 22:48)

Seat: 4D First Class

McDonnell Douglas MD90



I got to Gate B1 for my flight, DL1799 to PHL, at 20:00. Just then, the agent announced that boarding would begin in 5 minutes. There was no mob around the boarding area. My plane this evening was N937DN, a McDonnell Douglas MD90 built in 1995. She was originally delivered to Japan Airlines and registered as JA8062. In 2012 she was transferred to Delta Air Lines.




Boarding began at 20:08 with those needing extra time. Then First Class was invited to board, and while boarding First Class, the agent invited the SKY Zone to board. I found my window seat 4D stocked with a bottle of water, but no pillow or blanket this time. The plane had a new interior; it was very bright with Delta's newly designed seats. The seat was comfortable with an adjustable headrest, and 120V outlets were available. The overhead bins were marked as reserved for First Class passengers.


MD90 Seats 4CD:






Boarding continued with a constant stream of passengers walking through the F cabin. Pre-departure beverages were offered and I selected a Fresca. I like Fresca but rarely buy it, so I was happy to find it on Delta.


Pre-departure beverage:




Safety Card:




Overhead Panel




Good legroom:




As I settled in, I could hear a lot of noise coming from the economy cabin. Delta's McDonnell Douglas jets do not have a bulkhead between F and Y. This was the first time I'd sat in the last row of F, with only a small curtain behind me before the Y seats. Actually, the curtain only goes from the overhead bins down to the top of my seat, leaving the rest of the area open to Y. As Seatguru would say, the noise from the more-crowded economy cabin may be bothersome! Additionally, the Y passengers kept kicking or bumping my seat. I noticed my seatmate in 4C had his seat bumped even more, not only by the people sitting behind us, but also by almost everybody passing by in the aisle.


Cabin overview:




There was a manual safety demo, and then the lights were shut off. Push back was 10 minutes late, at 20:45. The people behind me continued bumping my seat as we taxied to our takeoff. It was a silent taxi, and then we tookoff at 21:07. It was a very quiet takeoff. We entered a seemingly effortless, silent climb. I really heard no engine noise at all. That's something unique among mainline aircraft - McDonnell Douglas jets' engines, being mounted at the rear of the fuselage, are so far away from the F cabin that they can hardly be heard.


A welcome message advised a flight time of 1h35. Service began with the snack basket. I got peanuts this time. 4C was now being bumped by the service carts for Y. For my inflight beverage, I ordered water, and was served another mini bottled water. I reclined my seat and found a pretty good recline, and listened to music. It was about this time that I discovered another drawback of 4CD: the lavatory, located in front of 1AB, was directly in my line of sight. Every time the door opened, which happened frequently, a blinding light went right into my eyes. The cabin being dark made this blinding light much worse. I tried to capture it in the below photo.




As I relaxed listening to music, trying to avoid being blinded by the lav light, blocking out the noise from the people behind me, I realized a pillow would have been most welcome. Of course this was my one out of four Delta flights which hadn't provided pillows. Flight attendants continually walked through the cabin, but did not offer any refills, instead you had to request them. I requested another snack.


We flew right up the Delaware River, past the Delaware Memorial Bridge and then the Commodore Barry Bridge, directly in for our landing at 22:40. We arrived at the gate at 22:48, and then the cabin lights were turned back on.


This would have been a better flight if I had selected a different seat. I would advise staying away from 4ABCD due to the lack of a bulkhead between F and Y, due to being bumped frequently, and due to the blinding light from the lav. I'd probably choose some other AB seat, since most CD seats would be in the light of the lav.


I always enjoy flights on McDonnell Douglas equipment, and I hope Delta continues buying up everybody else's MD80s/MD90s/B717s. I also always seem to enjoy flights with Delta. I'd avoid the 767-300 in the future, but my 757-300 experience was among my best domestic flights. My MD90 experience was a normal Delta F flight, with the expected pre-departure service, inflight service, and comfortable seats, but my choice of seat definitely detracted from the flight. All in all though, I am definitely a fan of flying with Delta, and am quickly on my way of calling them my favorite domestic airline. I've recently flown with Delta Air Lines, US Airways and United Airlines, and after all those experiences, I definitely preferred Delta. But I haven't flown American Airlines in awhile. This July I have two AA flights booked, followed by another two DL flights. At that point perhaps I'll be ready to issue a verdict on which airline is my favorite domestically. For now I'll say that I like Delta very much, and I enthusiastically recommend flying with them.

Enjoyed reading the TR quite a bit, especially because:

Quoting Tesla (Thread starter): Downtown Orlando & Lake Eola

You came to my hood!

I'm glad someone was adventurous and actually came to Orlando and not the theme parks and tourist areas (not Orlando). I would have loved to give you a little tour and downtown and the nearby neighborhoods. Some say Orlando isn't a real city to visit, but I beg to differ.

Another good report, Tesla!

Quoting Tesla (Thread starter): Next Premium Cabin and Diamond Medallion members were invited to board. A lot of people qualified to board with this group!

This is the new boarding process for Delta. Diamond is now included in the call for Premium passengers and FC, and not Sky Priority.

Quoting Tesla (Thread starter): The seats, while newly upholstered with the new Delta design, were old-school thick seats.

Looks nice. I've seen all the photos of them on the website, but have yet to see a retrofitted cabin!

Best,

Matthew (767747)

Nice TR

Quoting Tesla (Reply 1): At 16:46 my 757-300 arrived from ATL. She was N593NW, built in 1993, delivered to Northwest Airlines in 7/1993, and transferred to Delta Air Lines on 12/31/09 as a result of the merger.

Quoting Tesla (Reply 1): Wait a minute, this is a 22-year old plane?

You are off a little here.

its 07/2003 not 1993. She is only 12 years old.

Quoting Tesla (Thread starter): I saw Virgin Atlantic G-VUFO, an A330-300 built in 2012, pushing back as VS110 to LHR

Great report Tesla, just one quick correction, G-VUFO was on flight VS110 but to MAN not LHR - I know because I flew G-VUFO on VS109 MAN-ATL the following day.

Regards,
Eurohub

Quoting tz757300 (Reply 3): You came to my hood! I'm glad someone was adventurous and actually came to Orlando and not the theme parks and tourist areas (not Orlando). I would have loved to give you a little tour and downtown and the nearby neighborhoods. Some say Orlando isn't a real city to visit, but I beg to differ.

Hi tz757300, thanks for the comment. I thought Orlando was very nice, certainly a real city to visit. It was compact and clean, and Lake Eola was a beautiful park with lots of people out enjoying the day. There seemed to be ample places to eat and drink downtown, and I also liked SunRail. Orlando seems to have a lot going on with downtown investment and improvements, which is great, too. I am someone who likes visiting center cities and was happy to visit Orlando.

Quoting 767747 (Reply 4): Another good report, Tesla!

Thanks for the comment!

Quoting Deltal1011man (Reply 5): You are off a little here. its 07/2003 not 1993. She is only 12 years old.

Thanks for the correction. The plane certainly didn't seem to date to 1993, so I appreciate this info.

Quoting Deltal1011man (Reply 5): Great report Tesla, just one quick correction, G-VUFO was on flight VS110 but to MAN not LHR - I know because I flew G-VUFO on VS109 MAN-ATL the following day.

Thanks for the correction. That's cool, I didn't know VS operates MAN/ATL, so I had assumed VS110 was going to London. I hope you enjoyed your flight on VS109! I've really wanted to try VS for a long time.

Great report and it's always nice to see trip reports on less frequent aircraft types.

The 767 seats look massive-- surprised with all that cushioning that you found them uncomfortable. The 767 cabin sure looks dated, esp. compared to the refurbished 767s used on international routes.

Great report. How lucky to fly on some rare aircraft! The new seats look really nice. Much better than just a plain blue seat, its nice to have the little bit of red and the widget detail on there.
Loved the pictures of the 747s too... sad to see the AF ones dwindling in number.

Great TR   . Thank you for posting.

What was the routing for the trip? I doubt you flew a 767-300 from PHL to MCO...I'm assuming the 767 was on the ATL-MCO leg? What was the origin city for your flights? New FC seats look good...although they make the A319/20 aircraft look like the most dated interiors in the fleet.

Regards!
-EWRkid1990

They remind me of an old quilted winter coat I had as a kid back in the 70s. Just sayin.

Quoting AT (Reply 8): The 767 seats look massive-- surprised with all that cushioning that you found them uncomfortable. The 767 cabin sure looks dated, esp. compared to the refurbished 767s used on international routes.

Thanks for the comment. I sure did find the 767 to be pretty dated.

Quoting ams747757 (Reply 9): Loved the pictures of the 747s too... sad to see the AF ones dwindling in number.

Thanks for the comment. I love the 747 and don't see them too often, so I'm always happy to get to spot them!

Quoting lesfalls (Reply 10): Great TR . Thank you for posting.

Thanks for reading!

Quoting EWRkid1990 (Reply 11): What was the routing for the trip? I doubt you flew a 767-300 from PHL to MCO...I'm assuming the 767 was on the ATL-MCO leg? What was the origin city for your flights? New FC seats look good...although they make the A319/20 aircraft look like the most dated interiors in the fleet.

I originated in AVL (on my other trip report), flew AVL-ATL on Delta Connection CRJ-900, then ATL-MCO on the 767-300. Then to get home I flew the 757-300 on MCO-ATL and the MD90 on ATL-PHL. Delta offers a lot of equipment on ATL/MCO, and a decent variety on ATL/PHL too. I haven't flown their A319/320 yet, but have a trip on the A319 in a few months.

Quoting cloudboy (Reply 12): They remind me of an old quilted winter coat I had as a kid back in the 70s. Just sayin.

I agree, I'm glad they have a new seat design, but it does appear a little old-fashioned.

Hey Tesla!

Thanks for another great afternoon read. I had a reply typed up yesterday, but my computer shut down and update itself mid-sentence seemingly out of nowhere, so I lost it. Now I am going to re-type it!  

Quoting Tesla (Thread starter): However, most people who had been crowding the gate area for the past 20 minutes did not board, and remained in everyone's way.

Welcome to Atlanta, we have gate lice, Coca-Cola, and Delta. Which would you like? I kid, I kid....All in jest. 

Quoting Tesla (Thread starter): Additionally, the legroom was pretty tight. It was much worse than my Delta Connection regional jet F seat this morning! (I'd also noticed the 767-300's bulkhead legroom was very poor, much less than on the regional jet - definitely avoid Row 1.) I attributed the poor legroom to the thick seatbacks which themselves take away precious inches of pitch.

Apparentelly this isn't unique to the 767-300. The small 737-700 fleet has similarly terrible legroom in first class.

Quoting Tesla (Thread starter): Limited legroom:

Are these widgets stitched? Exposed stitching seems to be Delta's cabin design element as of late.

Quoting Tesla (Thread starter): Final Approach to MCO:

I have always wanted to stand in that field and just spot the planes all day. I wonder if it is easily accessible.

Quoting Tesla (Thread starter): Orlando's brand-new commuter train line, SunRail. It is great that they invested in a new train line. The train offered a great price and the cars still had new-train smell!

I love that little cute station! It looks like you can just walk up and get on the train, so peaceful and serene, eh?

The locomotive is a Brookville BL36PH, pulling what appears to be Hyundai Rotem bi-level commuter cars.

Quoting Tesla (Reply 1): One of my memories from childhood is riding this train on my first trip to Disney World. Not many airports have trains like this, so I always find it fun to ride MCO's concourse trains.

That, my friend, is actually one of the most common IntraAiport tramsets--the Bombardier Innovia APM-100. ATL, IAH, MCO, TPA, and many others use it.

Quoting Tesla (Thread starter): After dropping me off at my departure concourse, the train heads back to the central MCO terminal:

For a second, I thought that was the Disney Contemporary Resort in the background:



I'm not really a hardcore Disney enthusiast, but I have stayed in the Garden Satellite Building in the Contemporary, and highly recommend you try a Disney hotel one day, Tesla.

Quoting Tesla (Thread starter): Safety Card:

Looks one step away from falling apart, hm?

Quoting Tesla (Reply 2): I found F-GITI waiting at Gate F1 to operate Air France AF689 to CDG. I enjoyed seeing an Air France 747 for the first time. F-GITI was only built in 2003! I can't believe Air France is ditching their 747s when they aren't even old! I will likely never have the opportunity to fly on an Air France 747.

If I ever flew FLL-ATL-CDG, I'd definitely fly on AF instead of DL on the ATL-CDG segment! As you say, it's so sad that they are such young girls yet still being thrown away by the wayside...

Quoting Tesla (Reply 1): As I settled in, I could hear a lot of noise coming from the economy cabin. Delta's McDonnell Douglas jets do not have a bulkhead between F and Y.

They used to have real bulkheads, but they were replaced by these curtains.

Thanks for being such a great friend, and for following my reports as well! I'm looking forward to your future writeups, Tesla! 

-LPDAL / Colby   

Quoting LPDAL (Reply 14): Are these widgets stitched? Exposed stitching seems to be Delta's cabin design element as of late.

Yes, they are exposed stitching.

Quoting LPDAL (Reply 14): The small 737-700 fleet has similarly terrible legroom in first class.

I haven't flown on a 737-700 yet, but that is disappointing news.

Quoting LPDAL (Reply 14): I love that little cute station! It looks like you can just walk up and get on the train, so peaceful and serene, eh?

The SunRail, being brand new, was very nice!

Quoting LPDAL (Reply 14): That, my friend, is actually one of the most common IntraAiport tramsets--the Bombardier Innovia APM-100. ATL, IAH, MCO, TPA, and many others use it.

I've ridden IntraAirport trains/trams in several airports, but for some reason I most associate that style with MCO, probably because it was my first. Like how I associate MD80s with AA. Quite soon, AA will be operating fewer MD80s than Delta, but I still think of MD80s & AA. Weird how that works lol

Quoting LPDAL (Reply 14): highly recommend you try a Disney hotel one day, Tesla.

I really like going to Disney World and have been several times. I stayed only once in a Disney hotel when I was about 5 years old, so I don't really remember that. I do really want to stay on property next time I go!!

Thanks for reading and for the comments! I appreciate it. Looking forward to your next report.

I was on this aircraft yesterday! The new cabin looks really nice and I'm glad you enjoyed your trip on the new 757-300!

Thought I'd post a couple of pictures of the back so folks can check it out.

From all the way in the back.


Mid-cabin Y. This thing is LONG.

Quoting cloudboy (Reply 12): They remind me of an old quilted winter coat I had as a kid back in the 70s. Just sayin.

Quoting Tesla (Reply 13): I agree, I'm glad they have a new seat design, but it does appear a little old-fashioned.

I think DL was going after this look:

Quoting Tesla (Reply 7): Thanks for the correction. That's cool, I didn't know VS operates MAN/ATL, so I had assumed VS110 was going to London. I hope you enjoyed your flight on VS109! I've really wanted to try VS for a long time.

VS109/110 MAN-ATL-MAN has operated since the start of the summer timetable replacing the long-standing DL64/65 rotation. So VS are now operating three rotations through ATL daily now, two ex-LHR and one ex-MAN; the aircraft from VS103 (LHR) tends to depart to MAN on VS110 so one aircraft isn't stuck on the MAN job all the time. I flew out in Upper Class and back in Premium Economy and really enjoyed both flights.

Quoting Tesla (Thread starter): It was a decent takeoff, but the takeoff roll seemed very long.

We never use full thrust unless we have to. Saving engine life is priority to giving you a fun ride.  

Your pictures of first class all seem to show the same leg room- and looking at the actual data confirms my suspicions... they are all identical seat pitch, with the 763domestic in some cases having more than the others. Perhaps some bias is incorporated in there on your part in regard to the 763?

Quoting XFSUgimpLB41X (Reply 19): We never use full thrust unless we have to. Saving engine life is priority to giving you a fun ride. Your pictures of first class all seem to show the same leg room- and looking at the actual data confirms my suspicions... they are all identical seat pitch, with the 763domestic in some cases having more than the others. Perhaps some bias is incorporated in there on your part in regard to the 763?

I've attended several training courses at Boeing and have learned all about derated and reduced thrust! It definitely makes sense to not use full thrust. My best takeoff was a few years ago on an Alaska Airlines B738 out of SAN - not sure why, but it seemed like much more thrust than normal.

As far as the legroom, I think the seatbacks have something to do with it. For example, if both aircraft have 37" of pitch, and the B763 has seatbacks 6" thick, but the B753 has seatbacks 4" thick, then the B753 would have 2" extra legroom, since the seatbacks are included in the measurement of pitch. (Just guessing on these numbers.) I enjoyed my flights on both aircraft, but truly felt the B753 was much more comfortable. I hadn't flown on either type before, and I'm always interested in domestic widebody segments in particular, but in this comparison I preferred the B753.

Nice TR,I'm supposed to fly on a 757-300 ATL-FLL-ATL in January . Never been on a -300 .

Thanks for the TR.

Concerning the bulkhead on the domestic 763, it's fine if you're not too tall. I'm a 5'7 slim guy and willingly flew an ATL-SAN leg in 1F after a SEA-ATL leg trip in 2F. While there may have been more leg/foot room in 2F (not that I needed it), the seat in front of me was reclined as far as it would go, (in addition to the guy being fairly good size, which seemed to push it a few more centimeters) and caused a fairly uncomfortable flight due to how close the upper-portion of the seatback was to me.

Quoting United_fan (Reply 21): Nice TR,I'm supposed to fly on a 757-300 ATL-FLL-ATL in January . Never been on a -300 .

I think you'll enjoy the -300. DL's -300s are in great shape.

Quoting jb1087xna (Reply 22): Thanks for the TR. Concerning the bulkhead on the domestic 763, it's fine if you're not too tall. I'm a 5'7 slim guy and willingly flew an ATL-SAN leg in 1F after a SEA-ATL leg trip in 2F. While there may have been more leg/foot room in 2F (not that I needed it), the seat in front of me was reclined as far as it would go, (in addition to the guy being fairly good size, which seemed to push it a few more centimeters) and caused a fairly uncomfortable flight due to how close the upper-portion of the seatback was to me.

Good point about the bulkhead. It is nice to not have anyone reclining into your space. For my ATL-MCO segment, only about 400-miles, it is not that important but DL uses these birds on much longer segments when space & recline become much more important.

The 753 is an amazing interior for domestic birds, although it takes forever to board an de-board. I got to experience my first one from DTW-MSP this past summer back in row 40 something and with a tight connection in MSP. Not fun! Great flight and hard product though.

Quoting tz757300 (Reply 3): I'm glad someone was adventurous and actually came to Orlando and not the theme parks and tourist areas (not Orlando). I would have loved to give you a little tour and downtown and the nearby neighborhoods. Some say Orlando isn't a real city to visit, but I beg to differ.

Downtown Orlando - nee Disney - can be quite a hopping place. It's not South Beach, but there are lots of restaurants and bars that stay open well after the 5PM business crowd has gone home.

Great TR!

The title says it all:

Quoting Tesla (Thread starter): Delta's Rare Birds: 757-300, 767-300 Domestic F

I also used DL to log my first 757-300 and 767-300 non ER.