Flight 4 of 4 - Delta 176 - Sunday August 8th 2010


Airline: Delta Air Lines
Flight: 176 (Sector 2: Atlanta - Dublin)
Aircraft: Boeing 767-332ER Winglets
Registration: N1610D new colours.
Statistics: 4th on this type, 1st on this aircraft.
Cabin Class: Economy - Y
Seat: 36G (Window, near the rear of the A/C)
Departs (Schd/Act): 7:25pm/7:55pm
Arrives (Schd/Act): 8:25am/8:10am
Flying time (Announced/Act): 7 hours 2 minutes / 7 hours 15 minutes

So as far as flights go, this was the one I was least looking forward to. I don't like 767s, ok maybe I have a soft spot for -400s but still. I don't like them. I don't like having no PTV either. I was expecting both on this flight. DL seems to have made a little error in judgement here. Their domestic 763s have all the bells and whistles, AVOD, poweports, new seats, etc.. Where their 76Gs, the international ETOPS ones have old seats, overhead monitors, and nothing else. This, on planes that operate flights 10+ hours in duration? They're renovating them by 2013, thank goodness but frankly it should have been done a loooong time ago. Another issue I have is their planes into Dublin. Their 76Ds which now do the JFK runs are great inside, and they did the ATL flights in Summer 2009 and the year before too. They're grand for 9 hour flights I think. Yet they send old 76Gs from Atlanta, which makes no sense from a service perspective. I've gone off on a tangent and ranting but still.

Anyway, I wasn't expecting great things from this flight aside from the crew. We got to E3 eventually and straight away, there were no windows. So I couldn't get a plane shot. I walked back to E5 and a LHR bound 764 was being readied. So all I could see of my plane was this: (it's the plane on the right, tail number 1610)


I had no idea what registration 1610 corresponds to, but I assumed it wasn't directly linked to the actual registration, a lot like the 76Ds. The gate agent was talking constantly, getting us organized so we can get on quicker and depart on time. All was done in a friendly manner. Soon enough at 6:45, boarding was called for passengers needing extra assistence and MQM members. At 6:55pm, general boarding was called. We got our passes scanned and headed into the jetway. There was no queue at the door and I was greeted by a familar face. A male flight attendant who worked my flight from ATL-DUB last year. His name is Tony and he was outstanding last year. Very attentive and the image of Sean Penn. I pointed it out to him and he said he thinks he remembers me, and asked was I the one who was asking about Delta's working conditions. I said yes and he shook my hand and welcomed me onboard.


Now, here's where I started to think. We passed through BusinessElite, which was normal, but thanks to people blocking the aisles to chat, I got stuck at the bulkhead. I immediately noticed the cabin was very fresh and new looking. It almost had a new-plane smell. I stayed facing forwards, and noticed that all the J seats were occupied. None for crew rest. I walked down the aisle, and crossed over at the galley and heard a FA talking to a ground agent saying “It's awesome, I've never been on one of the renovated ones yet. It's looking great!”. I immediately looked at the back of a random seat and there it was. AVOD. It hit me that there was a sub-in. There were no crew rest seats, and the new cabin, meaning it was a 76T, which is used for long flights, to AMM and TLV, and so on, not the usual DUB run. There were under-deck crew rests too. Another thought crossed my mind, while still in the aisle. Winglets. I took my seat, which was extremely comfortable and new, and opened the blind. There it was. A huge, HUGE looking blended winglet. I was in heaven. The seat pitch was great too, but then again I am only 5 foot 9.


I couldn't wait to get going. I noticed the crew were talking to passengers on the other side of the cabin. A couple weren't feeling well, and the heat of the plane wasn't helping (the sun was beaming in the side of the plane, hence why the blinds were shut, still made it warm though). The crew hurried off to the galley and returned with a 2 liter bottle of water, and 2 plastic cups. They gave them to the couple and an extra blanket each. They were told to ask if they needed anything during the flight, and just try to sleep as much as possible. The crew made periodic checks on this couple during the flight, making sure they were ok. Also, Tony and the rest of the crew were asking everyone how they were, if they were comfortable and so on. A nice touch. The cabin was very nice, and gave the sense of space.


At 7:55pm the plane pushed back, and Deltalina was displayed on the screens again. After, the pilot came over the PA, introduced the entire crew and apologised for the delay, as they had to find a substitute aircraft as the one we were supposed to be on was taken for maintainence. He said we'd still be early into Dublin and that we're heading for runway 8R. Our route would take us over Albany, NY, Canada, St. Johns, out over the ocean and over Mayo and into Dublin.


Never gets old that sign. We headed to 8R and were behind an MD88 heading for El Paso, TX. We turned onto the runway and were lined up at 8:05pm. I have no take off video, as my camera refused to work at the last minute. So I have some poor photos instead. We took off very powerfully, and didn't rotate until at the DL hangars near the ATC tower.





We headed up to FL320 and the cabin got dark. Dinner service began, same choice as before. A lot of drinks services were offered. Turbulence started to get heavier and we climbed up to FL360, as advised by a plane in front of us. I started playing with the AVOD (again, no dinner pictures, I was starving! It was delicious though.) and watched an episode of Cougar Town, and watched Date Night. I noticed in the cabin, that a lot of call lights were on, but no dings. There was a circuit problem in the plane (teething issues maybe??) and we were told that crew will be patroling the aisles if you need anything, and not to use the call lights. This was the case for the entire flight, and the crew never seemed to be without a tray of cups of cold water. A nice touch. I got a bit of sleep and with about 3 hours to go, I headed to look at the galley and restrooms. Tony and our other flight attendant for our area, Joyce, were eating dinner. They were both standing in such a way that they had a full view of the aisles, in case they were needed. I asked Tony if he knew the registration of the plane (I still had no clue) and he said he didn't know, but said that when getting off the plane, ask to see the cockpit, and ask then. He said the crew were very nice with this thing, and said there shouldn't be a problem. I went back to my seat for the rest of the flight, after thanking the crew for the great service. I settled in for another nap and woke up to daylight outside. The winglet still captivated me.




We were given breakfast, which (typical Delta) consisted of a banana and a egg and cheese biscuit, which was rather nice to be honest. Very filling. We began our decent over county Longford and didn't turn once until out over the Irish sea. We were told to do the usual pre-landing stuff, bags away, etc. Etc.. The crew were making final checks and were seated as we passed 5000ft. We headed out to the Irish Sea, the flaps were extended and we turned back in, making course for runway 28, either VOR DME or ILS approach. Not sure which. We came over Portmarnock beach and the gear was lowered and flaps fully extended. We came through the clouds and made our final decent. I didn't want it to end. We came to a hard landing on runway 28, and turned off at E6, the place I do all my spotting.





Landing video - 720p HD

The pursar made a warm announcement and apologised for the electrical problem. We pulled into gate 31...something and the doors were opened. I said goodbye to all the crew on the way out, and asked to go up to the cockpit. I was told no, as there were mechanics in there already sorting out the electrical problem. I was fine with that, as you'd expect, and headed off to collect our bags which were waiting for us. I never got an outside shot of our plane, which was a bummer, but the memory of it will stay on for a long time!
[SIZE=”2”]Conclusions and Rating[/SIZE]

Delta 165

Nothing to complain about as such. Cabin was nice and tidy, crew were superb and attentive. It was a great surprise to have a special paint do the flight too!

Crew: 9/10
Aircraft: 9/10
Seat: 8/10
Food: 7/10
IFE: 9/10
On time: 10/10
Level of service provided: 7/10
Comfort, including the atmosphere of the plane itself: 8/10

Delta 79

Same again, except the crew were fantastic and caring. Something Delta should take credit for!

Crew: 10/10
Aircraft: 9/10
Seat: 6/10
Food: what food?
IFE: what IFE?
On time: 3/10...not DL's fault though.
Level of service provided: 8/10
Comfort, including the atmosphere of the plane itself: 7/10

Delta 176, sector 1

Crew: 7/10
Aircraft: 5/10
Seat: 5/10
Food: n/a
IFE: n/a
On time: 7/10
Level of service provided: 7/10
Comfort, including the atmosphere of the plane itself: 5/10

Delta 165, sector 2

Crew: 10/10
Aircraft: 9/10 (I'm not giving 10, as DL should have included Boeing's Signature Interior as part of the revamp.)
Seat: 9/10
Food: 9/10
IFE: 10/10
On time: 8/10
Level of service provided: 10/10
Comfort, including the atmosphere of the plane itself: 10/10



All in all, would I fly Delta again? I think the answer is obvious.

Thanks for reading Comments/Questions greatly appreciated.