Originally Posted by
timf
On Northwest, rows 13-15 were always blocked off until the day before departure due to frequent changes between 5500 and 5600 series aircraft. The 5500 map would always show by default, but only the seats that were in common between both types would be available. It appears this is just Delta's method of blocking off the seats, only instead of showing them as reserved they don't show them at all.
Despite flying on this aircraft several times (usually MSP-LAS-MSP) I never knew that. Thanks for the heads up!
I actually really like 15D and 15E in particular. They have a lot of legroom, are nice '2' seats, and 15E has the big empty space next to it without the jostling of pax in the aisle waiting for the lav. I was always unable to get these til check-in. Your post explains why!