767-400 Delta One Review - Like Sleeping in Your Own Coffin
 

Had the pleasure of clearing at the gate for a battlefield upgrade (using Global Upgrade Cert) on Saturday for the Atlanta to Frankfurt flight on Delta 14 which was a 767-400. I've always ended up flying 6+ hour flights in Delta One on 777s and 747s, so I was interested to see what the 767-400 experience was going to be like on a non-domestic non-LAX-ATL red-eye trans-con.

The verdict? I HATE IT!

I'm not a small guy, clocking in at 6ft and 240lbs (yeah, I should lay off the biscoffs) and I was pretty miserable when trying to sleep on the flight. The seat width and slight slant made me feel like I was sleeping in my own coffin, except had I actually been dead I'm sure the mortician would have had the courtesy to wake me up for the per-landing breakfast.

Anyone else hate the 767-400 Delta One seats?

Other observations:

(1) IFE was small and hard to see in terms of resolution, screen brightness was fine but I couldn't even read the movie subtitles because the movie's resolution was so terrible. Kicking myself for not downloading fun stuff from iTunes before take off for viewing pleasure on my iPad. Maybe I'm just jaded here from my Emirates A380 and 777-300LR experience in May 2016 to the Maldives in First and Business Class?

(2) Ended up getting assigned seat 10A, and quickly I figured out why nobody wanted it - misaligned window meant I had a non-window window seat. The guy in 9A was a relief pilot getting his crew rest, why he needed a functioning window (and cool locking overhead bin) I'll never know. Seems like Delta should make 10A a crew rest seat instead of 9A, but that's probably because they don't want him to have to deal with #3...

(3) Seats in row 10 are frequently subjected to funky bathroom smells from the lavatory and surprisingly loud and frequent flight attendant banter (which can still be heard if god forbid you leave your Bose QC25s at home and use the Delta provided "noise canceling" headsets).

(4) Delta noise canceling headsets are anything but useful - these are no replacements for QC25s or QC20i earbuds.

(5) 2 bathrooms behind row 10 in Delta One for 40 Business Class passengers. Sure, seems like plenty of bathrooms until half the cabin gets up after the dinner meal service and a 15 minute wait arises.

Agree with your assessment. I'm 6'2" and the only good seats for me on D1 767s are the first row, which have much bigger footwells. They still feel somewhat coffin-like, but I'm able to fully stretch out.

I can't wait for them to retire the 767s completely. They are nice in economy, but the business class product is severely lacking.

Fly on an unreconfigured AA 767 with slanted seats in Business and no AVOD in coach. Perspective (and command of fact on competitive configurations) is a wonderful thing.

How many MQMs will I earn for flying American? :cool:

Or the old non-refurb 772s with that seat, no AVOD, AND middle seats in J... :eek:

There is nothing wrong with the Boeing 767. It is wonderful airplane. You can blame Delta for the choice of seats.

I agree, it's a nice plane, but I don't see DL reconfiguring them at this point.

The relative narrowness of the 767 makes it difficult to have good business class seats though (except for AC, which went with 1x1x1).

curious which seat on the market you would have gone with that fits in the 767 in 1-2-1 configuration?

I don't find them uncomfortable. But the new AA seat that they out on some of their 767's looks nice.

I tend to agree with the OP here, however I find them to be quite comfortable for daytime flights where I only want to lounge or work and not sleep. They are, however, still better than Y and miles ahead of the old narrow recliners so I don't complain TOO much about them :cool:

The bathroom situation is definitely problematic though. There are not nearly enough lavs on the 764. Consider it in comparison the 777 which has 37 seats in J and 3 lavs or the 744 which has 48 seats in J and 4 lavs.

I much prefer the 763/764 to the 772s but I'm small so that may be it. The lack of privacy on the 772s is a big deterrent. I agree the small IFE screens on the 767s are pathetic but IMO the cocoon effect of the seat outweighs that minus (in the odd-numbered row window seats). The A332/3 are definitely the best (privacy, angle to window, big screen, spacious cabin) (I haven't had the pleasure of experiencing the 747s).

I flew the 767-300 Delta One seat, which is the same as the 767-400. I had a window seat with the table on the aisle side - felt like a suite. I had no issues napping and was comfortable. Then again, I'm skinny and I usually fly Y so almost any J seat is luxurious to me.

Better yet - fly the AA non-refurb 772 in Y and sit in the middle seat of the 5-seat section. Or fly any 10-across 777 in a middle seat.

I also have to disagree with the OP and I am not a tiny person either. I like the feel of these seats and they feel PVT-ish to me.

What I really hate is the 777. They, IMO, are the worst. Give me the 767 any day.

Seats 7A/7D are nice. For tall people, they are the best in the fleet.

You mean the one that is the same basic seat DL has?