int'l 7670300ER in domestic service?
 

Even if it's old news, pardon the question as I no longer fly DL much, in part because of it's worsening FF plan.

Today, I flew ATL-SFO and it was a 767-300ER with half of the plane 1st Class and tons of legroom. It looked like the int'l configuration. Is this routine because of transatlantic cuts or an oddity? First Class ran the length of the plane up to, but not including the 4 overwing hatches.

Looks like it had the same passenger capacity (total, not F seats) as a 757

You were on a domestic biz elite flight. A number of transcontinentals. In addition, those planes are sometimes on the Florida runs. Great plane, just that seats are narrower than MD11 or 777.

marc

There are now several routes using Business Elite configuration to extend service beyond the hubs for international travel. The service is listed as BE rather than F on the schedule, e.g. 143 ATL-SFO.

This has been routine for a couple years now. It is indeed an international configured aircraft. It sure is nice to get business elite seats even if the service isn't business elite.

A quick search in the forum will show you what flight numbers have business elite seating in them.

It may be a BE configured aircraft, but it is not considered a Business Elite flight on domestic routes with the sole exception of LAX-JFK flights.

FYI...Delta also uses this configuration on some flights from CVG and JFK to ATL, no doubt following an international leg.

I was regularly on DL47 (ARN-JFK) before it was suspended, connecting to SFO. JKF-SFO was always on the very same 763ER a few hours later!

The late SLC-SEA flight is also on an intl configured plane - I got op-upgraded just as a general SkyMiles member with no seat assignment.

When I flew SEA-JFK in October it was the 767-300ER, I am flying ATL-SEA next month and, from what I can tell, it is the ordinary 763.

One of the main reasons that I fly on DL is because they use the 763ER with B/E seating on the JFK-LAX route. If they were to switch to a 757 or 764 which has an F cabin, I would switch to AA or B6.

This will probably be the last domestic route to lose BE equipped aircraft. But with the retirement of the MD11 fleet, and no significant wide-bodies on order, the plan is to use the 767-300 ERs to replace the current MD11 routes, so much less domestic flying will occur. Haven't a clue what they plan to do with the one and only NRT flight.

I wish this flight would return. Then, maybe, I would fly DL again...

I wonder who will pick up the SAS partnership if UA goes under

This product on domestic routes is a real differentiator for DL - and just about the only service offically marketed as B/E-US. I'm surprised that the yields work for DL with this eqp on this route - but I presume it must.

This service definitely beats UAs 762s in J.

JFK-SEA seems to move back and forth between 763ER and 757. I've been flying this route 2x per year since 2000, and it's flipped back and forth on just about every trip.

I can't imagine the economics work with the 763ER on this route.