AirTran Business Class and Delta First Class FLL-ATL-CLE-ATL-FLL
Mar 14, 2014, 8:21 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Programs: IAMAW Local 368/HAL 2 Star Mariner
Posts: 740
AirTran Business Class and Delta First Class FLL-ATL-CLE-ATL-FLL
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Notice the vastly different advertising styles between FL and DAL.
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Goodbye, AirTran: AirTran Business Class and Delta Domestic First Class FLL-ATL-CLE-ATL-FLL
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FOREWORD
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September 27, 2010. On that day, Southwest Airlines (WN, NYSE: LUV) announced their buyout of rival low-cost-carrier AirTran Airways (FL, NYSE: AAI), who operates a fleet of B737-700 and B717-200 aircraft. This was significant as it added several international destinations in the Caribbean and Mexico, two largely popular markets for American tourists. WN predicted the merger would be completed by 2012. According to the airline, their 73Gs would be painted in the Southwest house livery and removing the premium AirTran Business Class Cabin, while wet-leasing the 712s to Delta Air Lines (DL, NYSE: DAL).
Fast forward to mid 2013, when Delta received their first 712 from WN. Some time later, Southwest and AirTran announced codesharing, allowing customers to book itineraries that involved both airlines in the routing.
Now we will time travel back to January 2014. Delta now has several 712s, flying domestic routes around the US. AirTran is shrinking rapidly as the months pass by, with AirTran ticket counters replaced by maroon and navy Southwest checkin desks, with makeshift signs directing FL passengers to check in at their stations. Even some gate desks have been replaced with WN interfaces. This worried me dearly......
Why?
In my day I have missed several airlines, including, but not limited to:
-Northwest Airlines
-Midwest Airlines
-Trans World Airlines
-Eastern Airlines
-Pan Am Airlines
-Comair
and possibly many more.
Apparently, the AirTran A/Cs and branding will be nonexistent by June 1st, 2015. I was NOT going to miss another airline. I would not let it happen under my watch. I would get a ride on AirTran before they were gone for good.
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-BOOKING-
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From my home airport of Fort Lauderdale International Airport (FLL), Airtran flies to Atlanta, Baltimore,Chicago Midway, Pittsburgh, Columbus (OH), Philadelphia, and Raleigh/Durham.
For an airline that focuses a good portion of their advertising to their "affordable" Business Class, ticket prices were astronomically high, more or less $25 to $75 more than Delta. I decided on a roundtrip daytrip of FLL-ATL-FLL in Business Class for $359.
But then a lightbulb lit atop my head. Wait, Atlanta? If that is Delta's largest hub, they should at least have a handful of their newly acquired B717-200s there. Wouldn't it be awesome if I could get both airlines' 717s in the same routing.... Yes! I'll do that! (Now if I was really, really crazy, I'd try to include Hawaiian's 717s as well-but I wouldn't have the nerve to do that....
)Instantly, I headed over to Delta's website and started looking for 717 flights. Aiding me in quest was my Platinum Medallion status, although I wanted to buy a revenue First Class ticket as I didn't want to gamble on any upgrades. I entered a routing of ATL-EWR-ATL-FLL on two B712s and a single 757-200 with no IFE. But the total cost was over $1,500 USD...not happening. A fellow A.netter informed me that the DTW-ORD-DTW route is operated by a 717 as well, but the connection times would be impossible with the AirTran, so that was a no-go as well. Searching through FlightAware, I yielded a route that involved going to the capital of Florida, Tallahassee ( TLH ) daily from ATL, which looked quite attractive as I had previously desired to add TLH to my " Florida Airport Hopping Adventures " (FAHF) series. But the mainline flights all started at $1,400 for a day trip.
All throughout this process I was almost constantly required to clean out my Mozilla FireFox web browser with CCleaner as I kept getting hit with a "There are no flights available on your chosen dates" error messages and rising ticket prices because of my acts of visiting and revisiting Delta.com.
At this point I was becoming desperate. I had been searching through A.net, FlightAware, Flyertalk, and Delta for over 5 hours very late in the night. I was tired, hungry, and exasperated. I gripped my laptop, ready to close the lid and be done with this effort....
But I thought to myself, Am I really going to give up on my dream and miss ANOTHER airline? No...I couldn't...I had to do this....
I noticed that DL flies to Cleveland, Ohio ( CLE ) on a 717. I put in my desired Delta Domestic First Class routing and found the perfect times that would coincide harmoniously with my AirTran flight, with three legs in domestic first class on two 712s and a 752, with a routing of ATL-CLE-ATL-FLL. I pressed pay now and got an error message three times...Finally I gave up on the website and called the 24-hour customer service booking agency. The female agent was understandably apologetic about the website, but warned me that there was a $25 USD booking fee. Yes...$25 is definitely better than me smashing and incinerating my laptop in anger, I thought. She booked my flights and bid a kind farewell.
My final routing would be FLL-ATL-CLE-ATL-FLL, all on March 8th, 2014:
> FLL-ATL in AirTran Business Class on a Boeing 717-200.
> ATL-CLE-ATL in Delta Domestic First Class on a Boeing 717-200.
> ATL-FLL on a PMDL 757-200 with overhead screens and no individual IFE in Delta Domestic First Class.
Total for this day trip was a few hairs shy of $1,000 USD., with all fees and taxes paid, in AirTran Business Class and Delta Domestic First Class. But at that point, I was so tired that I didn't even bother to look at either airlines' email receipts. I closed my laptop and went to bed, secure in the knowledge that I would have a flight on AirTran FL before they were gone for eternity....
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PRE-TRIP
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Quite humorously, I had to buy a coat and some other winter wear in the middle of February in sunny Fort Lauderdale, Florida. We have had a few instances of cold fronts sweeping through for a few days, but not much longer than a week. However, I was astonished to find out that Cleveland would but under 30 degrees Fahrenheit on March 8th, the date of my day trip, with previous temperatures dropping as low as -3!! I was able to locate a nice Abercrombie and Fitch windbreaker for only $90, and a pair of gloves for $20 at the Fort Lauderdale Galleria. (Side note to my FLL travelers here on ANET: The Galleria doesn't contain much in the way of interesting stores. I would recommend Aventura Mall north of MIA, Boca Raton Mall, or Sawgrass Mills mall.)
Much to the chagrin of my friends from the snow-riddled midwest and northern regions of the United States, I was actually looking forward to the snow, as I had not touched it since February 2008! Buying "winter warrior" gear was very strange to think about as well. Luckily my friends from the snowy regions told me exactly what I needed, with a laugh at the "goofy Floridians who dress like they are going to Greenland." I'll admit I had quite at that as well, because I had ended up fufulling that "overpacking syndrome" quite well in the past.
Looking at the AirTran seat map, it pretty much leveled out right up until the day of departure. I was the only one marked in Business Class, with the Y class being similarly empty, with a seat or two booked every now and then. Delta's seat maps, however, were filling up by the second as each day passed. Economy Class and Economy Comfort were nearly full from the start, and F class went from about a 40% load factor to nearly 100% by departure. I would hazard a guess that the seats in First Class were upgrades from Y+ and Y by medallions or paid upgrades. As I said before, the Delta Domestic First Class legs on this trip, ATL-CLE-ATL-FLL, cost $675 for four flights in First. By Wednesday night, the price for ATL-CLE only was $1,700!!
Speaking of price, I find AirTran's "Affordable Business Class" to be a bit of a fallacy. Delta, AirTran, and Spirit all serve the FLL-ATL-FLL route. Delta costs $400 R/T, while AirTran's Business Class on the same route about $600 at the minimum. Keep in mind that on Delta, although no airline that serves this FLL-ATL segment gives you a full meal service, will have your inflight beverages in real glasses (with coffee and tea in porcelain mugs), you have a good chance at getting a PTV IFE-equipped 752 or 739, and the Delta Sky Club (granted you can access it, of course), for around $200 less. Now I see why the J class cabin was pretty much empty on this 6AM flight, while Delta's First Class load factors are regularly skyrocketing (no pun intended....). However, I will not be passing any judgement on AirTran until I actually experienced both their hard and soft products. Was it worth the extra cash? Read on!
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KFLL (Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport) - KATL (Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Interntional Airport)
- Airline: Southwest Airlines DBA AirTran Airways
- Airline IATA Code: IATA Code # FL
- Airline IACO Code: IACO Code # TRS
- Airline Callsign: Radio Callsign CITRUS
- Airline Flight Number: # TRS 49
- Aircraft / Equipment Used for Flight : Boeing 717-2BD
- Aircraft / Equipment Registration: Registration # N965AT
- Aircraft / Equipment Nationality: United States of America-FAA-Registered A/C / Equipment
- Aircraft Manufacturer: The Boeing Company
- Aircraft Sub - Manufacturer: Boeing Commercial Airplanes
- Aircraft's First Flight: July 9th, 2001
- Aircraft Test Registration: Test Registration N965AT
- Aircraft Config: C12Y105
- Aircraft C/N: 555026
- Total Number of Passenger Seats: 117 Seats
- Aircraft Construction Number (MSN) : # 5076
- Aircraft Delivery Date: September 9th, 2001
- Aircraft Powerplant (s) : 2x BMW RR BR715
- Aircraft Owned by / Leased from: WELLS FARGO BANK NORTHWEST NA TRUSTEE
- Cabin: AirTran Business Class
- Seat Assignment: Seat # Business Class 1A, Bulkhead and Window seat
- Row Assignment: Business Class Row # 1, Bulkhead Row
- Airline Flight Date: March 8, 2014
- Boarding Call Time: 5:30 AM
- Boarding Zone: Boarding Zone # 1
- Departure Time: 6:10 AM EST, March 8th, 2014
- Arrival Time: 7:38 AM EST, March 8th, 2014
- Time Aloft: 1 hour 28 minutes (88 minutes)
- Filed Speed: 320 KIAS
- Filed Cruising Altitude: 33,000 feet
- Flight Distance: Direct: 582 SM | Planned: 680 SM | Flown: 605 SM
- Routing Waypoint (s) : ARKES2 ARKES ORL CHESN BAXLY DBN ONYON1
- Average Fare: $123.52 USD (Economy Class)
FLIGHT DATA SOURCE (S) :
1. PlaneSpotter.Net Data
2. FlightAware Live Flight Tracking Data
AirTran Flight 49 FLL-ATL with continuing service to OKL Copyright 2014 FlightAware
On the day of the trip it was quite chilly in Fort Lauderdale, with a low of 55. Certainly not low to the likes of the rest of the country, but still. My friend kindly agreed to give me a ride to the airport.
My ride to the airport, a new-generation Ford Mustang.
Driving to the airport.
Arriving at Terminal 1.
As was a few weeks ago, the terminal was very quiet inside, with many people scrawled out on the benches snoozing away, and others milling around. I went up to the Business Class checkin, which had no line. It had a roped-off entrance with a small podium, and the agent would check your boarding pass to make sure you were really a J class passenger. After which point the agent shouted at the top of her lungs "BUSINESS CLASS!" The economy class checker immediately halted the tense coach line and let me infront of the multitude of Y Class passengers standing and glaring straight at me, quite embarrassingly. I can't help but think that this setup would be more efficient if there was a Business Class checkin like AirTran had instead of holding up the Y Class line.
Terminal 1.
Business Class Checkin.
Southwest has completely removed the AirTran checkin and has replaced it with makeshift AirTran signs pasted between the giant WN logos.
Looks like my flight is right on time. Though, it would be cool if it was on a 707.
I sauntered on up to the kiosk, and scanned my ABYEPASS barcode. However, the machine just gave me an error message several times before finally alerting an agent. The young hispanic chap told me "You're already in business class, sir?" with a confused look. After I explained to him that I only wanted an extra boarding pass, he printed one for me on CARDSTOCK! I asked about the business class checkin which I was told didn't exist the last time I was here. While waiting for the security checkpoint to open, I pondered whether I could use the Delta kiosks in the next terminal over--the "Delta Terminal"-to print out my Delta boarding passes. Since I had about thirty minutes to spare and the Delta terminal was a few steps away, I made my way over there. FLL's terminals are juxtaposed with overpasses between the terminals to allow spotting.
The statement at the top is an oxymoron on of the statement on the bottom.
Strolling over to the Delta Terminal.
United's medium presence at FLL.
Delta Terminal.
The Sky Priority line was empty.
Sky Priority Kiosk.
Well, I guess Delta was wrong when they said I could print my boarding pass at "any" DL kiosk-the machine just spat out an error message that claimed that since FLL was not my departure airport, that it could not be done--all the while, the DL Y passengers were either sleeping or looking dreary. I wasn't aware, however, that a large portion of the waiting pax were actually on a GoJet DBA Delta Connection to Tallahassee, Florida. This flight, a CR2, almost always goes out full. I suspect the demand for this flight comes from Spring Breakers coming down to Fort Lauderdale from FSU, and other unis in the area. I headed back to the security checkpoint and discovered there was a J-class checkin-so it did exist. It was roped off by a WN agent and she only let the aforementioned pax in. Halfway through the checkin my backpack was selected for random screening, but the TSA didn't find anything wrong. Thank goodness that the TSA agent was quite friendly.
Back to Terminal 1.
Escalators and stairs down to security.
Business Class Security Line.
Once the nudoscope and complimentary bag check were finished, I was free to explore Terminal 1. Looking out the windows you could clearly see that the airport authories had ran out of parking space. Every gate had an aircraft hooked up, and various planes were parked up and down the satellite ramps. Gate B7 would be my gate for today, the only gate left with AirTran branding--quite sad as now FLL is only served by a few FL 712s but used to have many 73Gs and 712s just a year ago here. The pickings for spotting were pretty nice, with a handful of airlines to choose from.
B Concourse.
Gate B7, serving AirTran flight 49 to Atlanta with continuing service to Atlanta.
My ride to Atlanta, AirTran B717-2B7 N965AT.
And at the next gate over, B9, we have AirTran B717-2B7 N923AT.
The terminal was very empty up until about 30 minutes before. A young man came to the podium and announced that boarding had begun, with passengers in AirTran Business Class to board first. Ahead of me was an AirTran pilot who was quite experienced, had flown 727's according to the sticker on his rollaboard!
Boarding.
Gangway into the ship.
At last, the AirTran Business Class! These seats are quite old (see the pictures under the AC sec/s above-they had been reskinned in black leather.)
The AirTran Business Class seats were quickly showing their age. The two headrests were held on by zipties and there were multiple cracks in the seat. I guess the thinking is that since these AC are going to be gone soon, that there is no use trying to fix them up. To my surprise, a pre departure beverage was offered. I asked for a coffee, but was told there wasn't any ready yet and there wouldn't be unti we were airborne. Certainly strange, so I elected my choice to be a tonic water. It was delivered in a plastic cup with an AirTran napkin.
PDB of Tonic Water.
Cabin during boarding.
Obligatory legroom shot.
Sirius XM which had been removed prior to this flight and did not work.
Once the Y class passengers finally sat down we pushed back late at about 6:10 AM, making a brisk taxi down taxiway bravo. Today's takeoff, as opposed to the many others before it, would be be from runway 27R, which hadn't happened in a while. Strong storms off the Florida coast prevented us from taking off from the token runway 9R. The takeoff was not unlike the MD-88s I have previously rode with Delta, however due to the 717's shorter fuselage length the front of the plane was a tad less quiet, but still much more quiet than the 752 I would be riding at the conclusion of this report. The immediate ascent out of FLL was chracterized by large gusts of prevailing winds buffeting us as we rocketed away and a baby crying way back in the Y cabin, with the pilots using very little runway and shooting almost straight up.
Pushback beside sister ship AirTran 717 N923AT.
Taxi to the runway.
Taxiing past the Embraer MRO.
I have a strange fascination with these flashing nougat hold short lights--also notice the taxiway has been modified for two aircraft to be able to line up and wait simalteneously due to the other two runways being closed (one of which is closed and will become a diagonal taxiway).
Turning onto the runway.
Rocketing away.
Whisking through the cloud layer and several turbulance-induced bumps later, the cabin anunciation system beeped and the F/A came onto the intercom, announcing the service in economy consisting of "peanuts and pretzels plus complimentary Coca-Cola products" along with credit card ads. I tried to use the XM, which was lit up but did not seem to work. I inquired to a male FA who gruffly said that "the XM has been removed, sir." According to him it had been atleast a year since the XM had been removed from the aircraft, quite disapointingly. Next, the snack-"basket" or what was really a cardboard box cut in half lined up with Nabisco snacks, was passed around by the female Business Class FA, with me taking one of each of the four offered snacks. She also came around throughout the flight, refilling drinks and making sure our experience was as good as could be. I also noticed another peculiar point of interest-the curtain that would normally seperate the J and Y cabins was gone, but the attachment rack was still there. Halfway through the flight, the sun began to rose and an outright amazing sunrise followed--with the horizon being frosted by specks of clouds and rainbow light soaking the cabin, with most of the pax just snoozing away. I guess I was an anamoly just snapping away. Luckily I had figured out how to turn off the obnoxiously loud shutter beep on my camera so I wouldn't bother any of the other passengers.
Freshly brewed Arabica coffee in a styrofoam cup.
Snack box/basket.
Coffee and premium Nabisco snacks.
Cabin during cruise.
[img]
Amazing rainbow spectrum as the sun rises.
Cruise, I could see a bit of the wing from row 1.
Barely audibly, the captain announced through the PA that he was descending into Atlanta. For a while, he skimmed the cloud layer providing some ineteresting photo opportunities, before slowly making a graceful ascent into ATL. This was opposed to my experience on Spirit where the captain held out until the last minute before nosediving the poor A320 into MCO. Anyhow, the approach was pretty nondescript. As being one of the first early morning arrivals, we didn't have any SODROPS going on in the nearby runways. Once on the ground, however, the amount of aircraft taxiing, taking off, and basically even going anywhere was astounding. Every other minute another aircraft roared or taxied by. In addition, the diversity of airliners at ATL was amazing. Prior to Delta's retiring of the NWA-inherited DC-9-50 fleet, if you could somehow get to ATL, you could try out any narrow body, rear-engined MD series aircraft you wanted: 717 (FL and DL), DC-9-50 (DL inherited from NWA), MD-83 (Allegiant), MD-88 (Delta), and MD-90 (Delta). In addition, there are a bunch of interesting widebodies: Delta uses the 744 for ATL-NRT, a 77L for Delta Flight 8 to Dubai, and a lot more. AirTran's gates are spread out throughout ATL, weaving in and out of DL's operations. The farthest-fetched gate had to be a 73G heading to LAS in Concourse E, the international terminal.
Taxiing was quick and painless with (surprisingly) no hiccups. We didn't even stop or hold short once. We pulled right up to gate B1 at Concourse B, and all the passengers deplaned. Before I stepped out, I asked the F/A about the possibility of a cockpit photo--the pilots seemed quite grumpy but obliged anyway. I took two pictures and was told by the F/O to "Take care", and I left the plane.
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Descent into ATL.
Short final.
Touchdown, wheels rolling, spoilers deployed.
Taxi.
A Delta MD-90 juxtaposed next to another AirTran 717-200.
Ah, the -other- AirTran AC, the 73Gs! These are certainly going to be extinct soon--will have to catch one before *they* are all gone. Currently they run ATL-DEN, ATL-LAS, and ATL-MCO.
Pulling into the gate.
[img][/img]
Parked.
Depaning.
Forward Galley of this AirTran 717-200 N965AT.
AirTran B717-200 Cockpit.
Looking at AirTran 717-200 N965AT one last time. She would fly to Oklahoma City and then flown back to Atlanta and enter TechOps to become a Delta 717.
Walking off the aircraft, I couldn't help sensing a feeling of severe melancholy. What used to be a great airline, is winding down by the minute and is quickly declining in terms of the hard product--what with the seats being makeshiftingly held together and the wicker snack basket being replaced with a cardboard box, along with Nabisco snacks instead of the previously offered fresh bananas, TGI Friday's Potato Skins, and Ms Field's Cookies. It seems that WN has taken the passive agressive approach with the mindset that since the planes will be completely overhauled by Delta, that it isn't worth it to try and fix them up-which is very, very sad. The culmination of this occurred when I saw another FL 712 with her nose all scratched and paint sheared off. It just was so forlorn to see AirTran in that sort of state of affairs.
Sad 712
Mar 14, 2014, 8:29 pm
#2
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Programs: IAMAW Local 368/HAL 2 Star Mariner
Posts: 740
KATL (Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Interntional Airport) - KCLE (Cleveland Hopkins International Airport)
1. PlaneSpotter.Net Data
2. FlightAware Live Flight Tracking Data
Delta Flight 1474 ATL-CLE Copyright 2014 FlightAware
I decided to rest and catch a light snack in the SkyClub nearest to my departure gate, which would be gate A26. This particular Sky Club is one of the larger ones at Atlanta, with views onto both the B and C Concourses. It is also located quite high off the ground, making spotting easy. I settled in for the short hour I had before my next 717 ride, this time on Delta.
Delta Sky Clubs, and to a larger extent, many American airline clubs, are often known for their lousy food selections. In addition, Medallions and premium class pax alike were outraged when Delta changed their policy from unlimited complimentrary alcohol to slicing the free booze to two cheap beers, including Bud Lite. Premium hard liquor, wine, and spirits now all have a surcharge. On the food selection, you have the typical Biscoff and snack mixes, fresh snack vegetables (seed-in olives, celery and carrots with ranch dipping sauce), fresh cheese, hummus and crackers, bagels, pastries, and oatmeal. Not bad, but it would be better if Delta could bring their food system from JFK (where you can buy actual meals and have them delivered to you) down to ATL. They don't let you bring in food from the various establishments located throughout the airport due to health code regulations. Not even the international Sky Club has this, but that is further on in the report.
Riding the plane train to Concourse B, as in Bravo.
Concourse A Connector.
A confident 752 outside the Sky Club Entrance.
Sky Club Entrance.
Sky Club Checkin.
Sky Club.
Sky Club Food offerings: typical Biscoff and snack mixes, fresh snack vegetables (seed-in olives, celery and carrots with ranch dipping sauce), fresh cheese, hummus and crackers, bagels, pastries, and oatmeal.
Sky Club Bar
Free unlimited food, soda, and hot beverages, along with large windows to spot from. Life doesn't get better (for me) than this.
N554NW, a former Northwest 757.
And on the other side, we have a DL MD-88.
3 MD-88's in the same image!
Another Delta MD-88 Taking off.
FL 717 Taking off....might be mine from earlier in the day?
With the end of the hour came the call for boarding for Delta Flight 1474 with nonstop service to Cleveland, Ohio. Gate A26 was just a quick shuffle from the Sky Club, and by the time I had arrived, the pre-boarding process was already completed and zone 1 was called. Today's flight would be completely full in all classes, and the gate agent quickly informed everybody that all standbys were bumped.
Gate A26.
The gate podium had no windows, so I snapped a pic of N935AT to give you an idea of what my actual ride, N990AT, would look like.
Walking down the jetway.
Boarding.
Wow! These First Class seats are very nice. eMPower ports, winged headrests, and superb recline. Mini Dasani water bottles, and standard Delta bedding consisting of a white mini-pillow and a Delta-logo-embossed red blanket.
More pictures of the seat.
First Class Legroom, notice the new Delta Diamond pattern on the walls.
First Class Cabin during boarding.
A female flight attendant asked, "Would you like something to drink?" and I told her a piping hot cup of coffee. "I just brewed it!", she replied with a pearly white smile. Delta always allows a few minutes between boarding zones 1 and 2 to allow the F/A to serve PDBs without too much difficulty. Meanwhile, the captain came out and admired the "new" airplane, claiming you could see where they took out the old AirTran cabin. He then dissapeared again into the cockpit.
PDB of freshly brewed Arabica Coffee with cream and sugar.
eMPower ports. Includes standard plug and USB port.
Shortly therein, the Y+ and Y class passengers began boarding. One difference between this flight and the preceding journey was a very high amount of children, none were seated in the first class cabin however. There is a bulkhead seperating the F and Y cabin, but the curtain remained oper throughout the flight (does this have to do with FAR?). Soon enough we were out on our way for an on time departure from runway 26L, a runway near TechOps with a slight downhill slope. We lined up and waited while several aircraft landed and took off infront of us, before making a very slow takeoff roll in our heavily laden 717, ascending over the nearby Atlanta highway system. The weather was clear with light clouds meaning there was almost little to no turbulance while we climbed to our assigned altitude of 15,000 feet. We would remain at that altitude for the duration of this 83-minute jaunt.
Pushback
Taxi.
Activity on the runway.
Turning onto runway 26L.
Liftoff.
Many, many aircraft at the various terminals.
SODROPS with a Delta MD-88.
A farm airfrield, even with it's own barn
Cruise altitude of 15,000 feet
Upon reaching 15,000 feet the dreaded (to other Delta F class flyers) snack basket service started. On this flight, the big wicker-weaved basket contained fresh bananas, Nature Valley Strawberry-yogurt-covered Granola Bars, Lemon Pound cakem pound cake, mini pretzels, and salted peanuts. I asked if I could sample everything, and was happily given one of each. Everything was very decent except for the peanuts, which didn't have any salt on them and were void of any real flavor. The best was probably the yogurt bar and the pound cake, which was surprisingly airy for being on an airplane.
Snack basket, first pass.
A filling smorgasboard of snacks.
Coffee, now served in a porcailain mug and with cream and sugar.
Later, a coke and a second coffee.
Second pass of the snack basket.
Second "in flight meal".
Cruise over the mountains
Around 75 NM out of Cleveland conditions became totally IFR with a ceiling lower than 2,000' AGL. I never saw the ground again until final approach, when I later found out that due to it snowing and the percipitation, that the approach was very turbulent. However, the scenery was beautiful as well to a Floridian who hadn't seen snow in many years.
IFR.
Winter wonderland on final
Final.
Touchdown.
Terminal B.
All the medians between the taxiways were covered in snow piles, with taxiway signs outcropping out of the fallen prepcipitation. The taxiways were filled with United Aircraft, although at the time of writing CLE is a mini hub for United, it is soon to be downsized heavily, along with-much to my dissapointment-the complete discontinutaion of the UA Express operated by Silver Airways Beechcraft 1900(D)s. We pulled into gate B1, a gate near the small shopping arcade and security checkpoint near the airport. As soon as the jetway attached a ground team member rushed aboard, grabbed the PA, and wholeheartedly thanked us for flying to CLE "because there are so many other places [you] could fly to." I didn't realize that Cleveland was such an undesirable place to vacation to...Anyway, I asked the FA on the way out if I could get a cockpit shot, I guess this is a new tradition for me. She knocked on the swing-out cockpit door and told the pilots, "You have a visitor!" The pilots were two pleasant American men who perform this route daily. They asked about my Olloclip and comlplimented my Nikon. What a great flight crew!
Delta 717-200 N990AT Cockpit.
Cleveland - Hopkins International Airport Concourse B.
N990AT parked and being serviced by the ground crew.
-CLEVELAND-
Exiting the aircraft however, I noticed that CLE had a similar structure system to ATL with landside terminals and under-apron walkways. I like the airport, but higher ceilings would be nice. The signs were clear though, and soon I was dropped into the shopping plaza just past security. I didn't find any interesting airline merchandise, so I passed. Next stop was the baggage claim and that was not crowded at all, despite the full flight. Thereafter I headed to the taxi stand and inquired to the supervisor about a cab cost into downtown Cleveland, and the total cost was $35. Cleveland's city center is called Tower City and houses a large mall, a casino, and a load of unique and interesting restuarants of various cuisines. The mall was interesting, but I didn't buy anything. I was more interested in the snow which in certain places was dirty and dark-I definately prefer white snow. After taking a stroll through the mall and the city center, I decided to call a cab and go back to Cleveland Hopkins airport, where my flight would be departing in a few hours.
Welcome to Cleveland on the escalator that leads down to the Cleveland Hopkins International Airport baggage claim.
Taxi to Tower City (Downtown Cleveland)
The Tower City Mall. The town seems to be a epitome of Rock and Roll, as seen with the guitar structures seen in and around the city.
Downtown Cleveland, Ohio City Center.
- Airline: Delta Air Lines (DAL)
- Airline IATA Code: IATA Code # DAL
- Airline IACO Code: IACO Code # DAL
- Airline Callsign: Radio Callsign DELTA
- Airline Flight Number: # DL 1474
- Aircraft / Equipment Used for Flight : Boeing 717-23S
- Aircraft / Equipment Registration: Registration # N990AT , formely EI-CWM (Mexican Reg)
- Aircraft / Equipment Nationality: United States of America-FAA-Registered A/C / Equipment, Previously Mexico-registered equipment as EI-CWM
- Aircraft Manufacturer: The Boeing Company
- Aircraft Sub - Manufacturer: Boeing Commercial Airplanes
- Aircraft's First Flight: October 10th, 2001
- Aircraft Test Registration: Test Registration N990AT
- Aircraft Config: C12W15Y83
- Aircraft C/N: 55134
- Total Number of Passenger Seats: 117 Seats
- Aircraft Construction Number (MSN) : # 5076
- Aircraft Delivery Date: September 9th, 2001
- Aircraft Powerplant (s) : 2x BMW RR BR715
- Aircraft Owned by / Leased from: WELLS FARGO BANK NORTHWEST NA TRUSTEE
- Cabin: Delta First Class
- Seat Assignment: Seat # First Class 1A, Bulkhead and Window seat
- Row Assignment: First Class Row # 1, Bulkhead Row
- Airline Flight Date: March 8, 2014
- Boarding Call Time: 9:20 AM
- Boarding Zone: Boarding Zone # 1
- Departure Time: 9:56 AM EST, March 8th, 2014
- Arrival Time: 11:11 AM EST, March 8th, 2014
- Time Aloft: 1 hour 23 minutes (83 minutes)
- Filed Speed: 446 KIAS
- Filed Cruising Altitude: 15,000 feet
- Flight Distance: Direct: 556 SM | Planned: 584 SM | Flown: 715 SM
- Routing Waypoint (s) : SUMMT7 VXV J91 BULEY J91 HNN TVT KEATN6
- Average Fare: $167.99 USD (Economy Class)
1. PlaneSpotter.Net Data
2. FlightAware Live Flight Tracking Data
Delta Flight 1474 ATL-CLE Copyright 2014 FlightAware
I decided to rest and catch a light snack in the SkyClub nearest to my departure gate, which would be gate A26. This particular Sky Club is one of the larger ones at Atlanta, with views onto both the B and C Concourses. It is also located quite high off the ground, making spotting easy. I settled in for the short hour I had before my next 717 ride, this time on Delta.
Delta Sky Clubs, and to a larger extent, many American airline clubs, are often known for their lousy food selections. In addition, Medallions and premium class pax alike were outraged when Delta changed their policy from unlimited complimentrary alcohol to slicing the free booze to two cheap beers, including Bud Lite. Premium hard liquor, wine, and spirits now all have a surcharge. On the food selection, you have the typical Biscoff and snack mixes, fresh snack vegetables (seed-in olives, celery and carrots with ranch dipping sauce), fresh cheese, hummus and crackers, bagels, pastries, and oatmeal. Not bad, but it would be better if Delta could bring their food system from JFK (where you can buy actual meals and have them delivered to you) down to ATL. They don't let you bring in food from the various establishments located throughout the airport due to health code regulations. Not even the international Sky Club has this, but that is further on in the report.
Riding the plane train to Concourse B, as in Bravo.
Concourse A Connector.
A confident 752 outside the Sky Club Entrance.
Sky Club Entrance.
Sky Club Checkin.
Sky Club.
Sky Club Food offerings: typical Biscoff and snack mixes, fresh snack vegetables (seed-in olives, celery and carrots with ranch dipping sauce), fresh cheese, hummus and crackers, bagels, pastries, and oatmeal.
Sky Club Bar
Free unlimited food, soda, and hot beverages, along with large windows to spot from. Life doesn't get better (for me) than this.
N554NW, a former Northwest 757.
And on the other side, we have a DL MD-88.
3 MD-88's in the same image!
Another Delta MD-88 Taking off.
FL 717 Taking off....might be mine from earlier in the day?
With the end of the hour came the call for boarding for Delta Flight 1474 with nonstop service to Cleveland, Ohio. Gate A26 was just a quick shuffle from the Sky Club, and by the time I had arrived, the pre-boarding process was already completed and zone 1 was called. Today's flight would be completely full in all classes, and the gate agent quickly informed everybody that all standbys were bumped.
Gate A26.
The gate podium had no windows, so I snapped a pic of N935AT to give you an idea of what my actual ride, N990AT, would look like.
Walking down the jetway.
Boarding.
Wow! These First Class seats are very nice. eMPower ports, winged headrests, and superb recline. Mini Dasani water bottles, and standard Delta bedding consisting of a white mini-pillow and a Delta-logo-embossed red blanket.
More pictures of the seat.
First Class Legroom, notice the new Delta Diamond pattern on the walls.
First Class Cabin during boarding.
A female flight attendant asked, "Would you like something to drink?" and I told her a piping hot cup of coffee. "I just brewed it!", she replied with a pearly white smile.
Delta always allows a few minutes between boarding zones 1 and 2 to allow the F/A to serve PDBs without too much difficulty. Meanwhile, the captain came out and admired the "new" airplane, claiming you could see where they took out the old AirTran cabin. He then dissapeared again into the cockpit.PDB of freshly brewed Arabica Coffee with cream and sugar.
eMPower ports. Includes standard plug and USB port.
Shortly therein, the Y+ and Y class passengers began boarding. One difference between this flight and the preceding journey was a very high amount of children, none were seated in the first class cabin however. There is a bulkhead seperating the F and Y cabin, but the curtain remained oper throughout the flight (does this have to do with FAR?). Soon enough we were out on our way for an on time departure from runway 26L, a runway near TechOps with a slight downhill slope. We lined up and waited while several aircraft landed and took off infront of us, before making a very slow takeoff roll in our heavily laden 717, ascending over the nearby Atlanta highway system. The weather was clear with light clouds meaning there was almost little to no turbulance while we climbed to our assigned altitude of 15,000 feet. We would remain at that altitude for the duration of this 83-minute jaunt.
Pushback
Taxi.
Activity on the runway.
Turning onto runway 26L.
Liftoff.
Many, many aircraft at the various terminals.
SODROPS with a Delta MD-88.
A farm airfrield, even with it's own barn
Cruise altitude of 15,000 feet
Upon reaching 15,000 feet the dreaded (to other Delta F class flyers) snack basket service started. On this flight, the big wicker-weaved basket contained fresh bananas, Nature Valley Strawberry-yogurt-covered Granola Bars, Lemon Pound cakem pound cake, mini pretzels, and salted peanuts. I asked if I could sample everything, and was happily given one of each. Everything was very decent except for the peanuts, which didn't have any salt on them and were void of any real flavor. The best was probably the yogurt bar and the pound cake, which was surprisingly airy for being on an airplane.
Snack basket, first pass.
A filling smorgasboard of snacks.
Coffee, now served in a porcailain mug and with cream and sugar.
Later, a coke and a second coffee.
Second pass of the snack basket.
Second "in flight meal".
Cruise over the mountains
Around 75 NM out of Cleveland conditions became totally IFR with a ceiling lower than 2,000' AGL. I never saw the ground again until final approach, when I later found out that due to it snowing and the percipitation, that the approach was very turbulent. However, the scenery was beautiful as well to a Floridian who hadn't seen snow in many years.
IFR.
Winter wonderland on final
Final.
Touchdown.
Terminal B.
All the medians between the taxiways were covered in snow piles, with taxiway signs outcropping out of the fallen prepcipitation. The taxiways were filled with United Aircraft, although at the time of writing CLE is a mini hub for United, it is soon to be downsized heavily, along with-much to my dissapointment-the complete discontinutaion of the UA Express operated by Silver Airways Beechcraft 1900(D)s. We pulled into gate B1, a gate near the small shopping arcade and security checkpoint near the airport. As soon as the jetway attached a ground team member rushed aboard, grabbed the PA, and wholeheartedly thanked us for flying to CLE "because there are so many other places [you] could fly to." I didn't realize that Cleveland was such an undesirable place to vacation to...Anyway, I asked the FA on the way out if I could get a cockpit shot, I guess this is a new tradition for me. She knocked on the swing-out cockpit door and told the pilots, "You have a visitor!" The pilots were two pleasant American men who perform this route daily. They asked about my Olloclip and comlplimented my Nikon. What a great flight crew!
Delta 717-200 N990AT Cockpit.
Cleveland - Hopkins International Airport Concourse B.
N990AT parked and being serviced by the ground crew.
-CLEVELAND-
Exiting the aircraft however, I noticed that CLE had a similar structure system to ATL with landside terminals and under-apron walkways. I like the airport, but higher ceilings would be nice. The signs were clear though, and soon I was dropped into the shopping plaza just past security. I didn't find any interesting airline merchandise, so I passed. Next stop was the baggage claim and that was not crowded at all, despite the full flight. Thereafter I headed to the taxi stand and inquired to the supervisor about a cab cost into downtown Cleveland, and the total cost was $35. Cleveland's city center is called Tower City and houses a large mall, a casino, and a load of unique and interesting restuarants of various cuisines. The mall was interesting, but I didn't buy anything. I was more interested in the snow which in certain places was dirty and dark-I definately prefer white snow. After taking a stroll through the mall and the city center, I decided to call a cab and go back to Cleveland Hopkins airport, where my flight would be departing in a few hours.
Welcome to Cleveland on the escalator that leads down to the Cleveland Hopkins International Airport baggage claim.
Taxi to Tower City (Downtown Cleveland)
The Tower City Mall. The town seems to be a epitome of Rock and Roll, as seen with the guitar structures seen in and around the city.
Downtown Cleveland, Ohio City Center.
Mar 14, 2014, 8:37 pm
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Programs: IAMAW Local 368/HAL 2 Star Mariner
Posts: 740
KCLE (Cleveland Hopkins International Airport) - KATL (Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Interntional Airport)
FLIGHT DATA SOURCE (S):
1. PlaneSpotter.Net Data
2. FlightAware Live Flight Tracking Data
Delta Flight 1732 CLE-ATL Copyright 2014 FlightAware
I bid a kind farewell and started my almost 7-hour journey back to Fort Lauderdale. Walking into the ticketing hall, I walked over to a Delta Kiosk in the Sky Priority lane. The Delta rep in charge informed me that both CLE-ATL and ATL-FLL were oversolf, and asked me to put in a bid for "Delta Dollars". I bid $700 for each flight, grabbed my two boarding passes and went over to the Sky Priority checkin, which was also used by US Airways Preferred Upgrades and United Premiere.
Apparentelly I didn't look like too much of a risk as I was motioned over to the TSA Pre line with no TSE Pre "membership" and just walked through the X-Ray (no nudoscope! Yay?) after sliding my bag down the conveyer belt. Once out of security, I...headed back to the same gate I used on ATL-CLE. Yes, for all intents and purposes, DL's presence at Cleveland CLE is very scant. United Aircraft, however, were everywhere. Speaking of that, I had seen two Silver Airways B1900D's on my way out of the airport into the city in the D concourse, and I had to know if I could see them. I followed the signs to the D concourse, which is connected by escalators to moving walkways with atriums at the base of the escalators on their respective concourses, with massive paper planes hanging from the ceiling. What I saw next made me do a spit take.....
CLE B Terminal.
Looking at the distant D Concourse which is used primarily by regional turboprops, a paradise for A.netters...
Snowy Dash-8s.
Escalators to CLE Concourse D, as in "David".
Massive paper planes.
Cleveland Hopkins Concourse D
Wait...is that a CONTINENTAL AC!?!?!?
CO Express, but better than nothing! This must be the last Continental AC left! :O
United Express ERJ-145 N285SK is still painted in CO/CO Express Colors.
B1900Ds operated by Silver Airways DBA United Express, which will sadly be retired next month (April 2014).
A Dash 8 and a smaller (fleet) sibling not too far behind.
Once I had finished gawking at all the interesting regional A/Cs at the D Concourse, I headed back to the four B gates that Delta operates at CLE. There are no SkyClubs at CLE and I didn't feel like ponying up $50 for a United Red Carpet Club pass, so I took a nap near the gate. All throughout this process, a TV near the gate kept playing interesting programs that kept waking me up--one was about pee-wee American Football clubs and how badly they push these kids to be good at football-with the kids sounding miserable.
Thankfully that program ended soon enough and I was able to get a good hour of rest. Luckily no one tampered with my baggage, thank goodness for that. At about 3:30 the gate agent came on and kept pleading people to check their bags because overhead space would be limited due to the full flight. Then another rep came on and insisted that nonrevs will be required to take their original seats in coach as the flight would be full. Luckily, I already had a revenue F class ticket for seat 1A. However, they didn't take me up on that $600 offer I discussed earlier or even mention it. Boarding was delayed about ten minutes because a woman was making a scene about wanting to sit with her children, which confused me as I thought DL does not charge to select seats, so why wouldn't you just select the seats with your family all together? The supervisor agent finally came out and the woman calmed down.
Preboarding began a 4:30 and at 4:40 First Class passengers were called to board. As I sat down in seat 1A, my seatmate was an interesting man who acts as a Natural Gas Consultant. He asked me if I had ever been in First Class before to which I had to avoid burst out laughing, but only let out a mature chuckle. (If I had to give a rough estimate, I would say I've done about 20-30 legs in First Class and two flights in BusinessElite to AMS) We started talking about Delta, and it turned out he was a Plat as well. Not only that, but he had booked a rev FC ticket just like myself!
This time a clear-English-speaking F/A came around and took pre-departure beverage drink orders, with my seatmate ordering an ice-cold fresh beer and me ordering a freshly-brewed Arabica-roasted coffee. The F/A pre stirred the cream and sugar in. I have to say, after a Jack Frost-style day in Cleveland, a hot cup of coffee really hit the spot. She must have been quite experienced at flavoring the coffee, not too much sugar making it too sweet, and not too much cream making it diluted.
Gate B2 on the B Concourse.
N981AT, a 2002-built 717, my ride today to Atlanta.
CR2 arriving from MSP or DTW, perhaps.
My first AA Airbus.
First class seats.
First Class cabin.
Obligatory legroom shot, with the new Delta Diamond bulkhead wall pattern. This pattern is also present behind the desks at most Delta Sky Clubs.
PDB's of my coffee and the seatmate's beer.
Once again the chipper ground crew agent thanked us for flying to Cleveland and was off like a shot. The jetbridge pulled back, and we were pushed back by 5:16. We taxiied to the end of the ramp and stopped for awhile, with nothing of note really happening. My seatmate must have sensed my confusion, telling me "Deicing. Gotta get all that snow and ice off the aircraft." Ah, yes. I had never seen deicing before as I usually fly around in the summer and generally when it's not snowing. The truck sprayed orange goop all over the plane and the liquid oozed down the side of the AC, taking all of the ice and snow with it. This went on for 15 minutes when finally the truck pulled away and we were free to make an IFR departure to ATL.
Pushback, with a new American Eagle RJ-145 freshly painted in the merger livery nearby.
Ooh, a Tulip livery! CLE does have a dabble of some interesting aircraft.
Cabin during taxi.
Deicing truck spraying our plane.
Orange liquid streaming down my window.
Taxi.
Liftoff.
Cruise.
Takeoff was very choppy as we sliced our way out of the snowstorm that engulfed the Cleveland, Ohio area, but we eventually found smooth air and stayed around the woods of 30,000 feet for the rest of the flight, with snack basket and complimentary premium drinks being passed out as usual, pretty nondescript. Nearly 70 minutes later we were back in 40-degree-"Hotlanta" weather.
Throughout the flight, I kept mentally running through what I would do when we deplaned. First, I would go to the Concourse T Skyclub and have a shower/shave, maybe having a quick bite. Then, I would go to the food court and have a small meal. Next, I would visit the International Concourse E and spot some international aircraft. Finally, I would head back to the B Concourse Sky Club and remain there until my flight back to my home city of Fort Lauderdale.
Beverages in real glass, Coca-Cola classic and my seatmate had a Miller Lite.
Later, a coffee in Styrofoam because all the porcelain mugs had been used already, on the inbound flight.
Snack Basket, First pass.
Snack basket, second pass.
Cruise, with the deep blue glow seeping into the cabin as we soar through the sky.
Descent into Atlanta again.
Another instance of SODROPS, this time with a Delta 752 Winglet.
What is this strange aqua blue pool near the quarries?
Final.
Touchdown.
The captain kindly let me into the cockpit to take a few shots. Delta Air Lines Boeing 717-200 N981AT Cockpit.
As soon as I had left the jetway, I made a beeline to the Plane Train as I wanted as much time as possible to explore the "International SkyClub" (whose only difference as far as I can see are the inclusion of shower suites) in concourses E and T. The plane train was constantly delayed by moronic people trying to board it at the last minuute--and then there was an awkward moment when it stopped at a station, filled to the brim with travelers staring right at you. Thankfully the next PT that arrived was nearly empty, and after a few stops I was at Concourse T and headed to the Sky Club.
Once inside, a friendly Chinese bloke checked me in and printed my boarding pass for my ATL-FLL segment, served on a 752 with no individual IFE but with overhead flatscreens. I inquired to him about the shower suites, he replied to go around the buffet and bar and "head straight back". His directions were confusing, but decipherable and I found the shower reception desk. I was asked which shower suite I would like by the professional receptionist, and got Shower Suite 6A on the right side of the hallway. Each shower suite at this club has two latches for extra privacy, a feature that really makes sense in this setting. I was given shampoo, body wash, conditioner, a hairbrush, a shaving kit, and tooth brushing kit with mouthwash.
Delta's shower suites are red-and-white brick rooms with glass covering the actual blocks, which gives the suite a classy look but not too snobby. In addition to the shower, you also get a toilet, sink, and large mirror for shaving. The water temperature on the shower wasn't bad, but it could have been a bit hotter (maybe I'm just used to taking hot showers in the tropical climate of Fort Lauderdale.) In less than 45 minutes I had showered, shaved, and generally felt much better. I tipped both receptionists on my way out.
Next stop: Concourse E! Concourse E handles the "big boys" at ATL, like A340s, 777s, 744s, A330s, etc. It also has many shops and points of interest along the way-for example, the "other" airline club in a place that is dominated by SkyTeam and it's partners-the Star Alliance lounge, "The Club at ATL." A day pass was $50, but I didn't know what was inside, so I passed on it. Instead, I ambled around and spotted a bunch of long haul aircraft from the likes of KLM, AF, IB, and even Delta whose flight nr 8 is the longest-14 hours to DXB. Will have to try that out one day in BusinessElite if I win the Florida Lottery. I also made a quick pitstop in the Delta Sky Club in the area, which seemed to have extra food (or maybe it was because the bar reeked of wine).
After my concourse E spotting and "Sky-clubbing" adventure, I slowly came to the realization that my day of flying was almost over and I needed to eat soon or I wouldn't be able to until I landed in FLL. Not wanting to have to gamble or survive on snack basket offerings, I stopped by Arby's and got a roast beef sandwich combo, snorked it down and then headed to the plane train. I arrived in the B concourse minutes later at about 8:30 EST and stayed there until I heard the following announcement: "Boarding has begun for Delta flight 1427, Nonstop service to Fort Lauderdale."
I was pretty stoked about this flight because after three flights on 717s, I missed the feelings of the 757, and especailly the roar of those PW2000's on takeoff. Another reason
- Airline: Delta Air Lines (DAL)
- Airline IATA Code: IATA Code # DAL
- Airline IACO Code: IACO Code # DAL
- Airline Callsign: Radio Callsign DELTA
- Airline Flight Number: # DL 1732
- Aircraft / Equipment Used for Flight : Boeing 717-23S
- Aircraft / Equipment Registration: Registration # N990AT , formely EI-CWM (Mexican Reg)
- Aircraft / Equipment Nationality: United States of America-FAA-Registered A/C / Equipment, Previously Mexico-registered equipment as EI-CWM
- Aircraft Manufacturer: The Boeing Company
- Aircraft Sub - Manufacturer: Boeing Commercial Airplanes
- Aircraft's First Flight: October 10th, 2002
- Aircraft Test Registration: Test Registration N990AT
- Aircraft Config: C12W15Y83
- Aircraft C/N: 55040
- Total Number of Passenger Seats: 117 Seats
- Aircraft Construction Number (MSN) : # 5076
- Aircraft Delivery Date: November 25th, 2002
- Aircraft Powerplant (s) : 2x BMW RR BR715
- Aircraft Owned by / Leased from: WELLS FARGO BANK NORTHWEST NA TRUSTEE
- Cabin: Delta First Class
- Seat Assignment: Seat # First Class 1A, Bulkhead and Window seat
- Row Assignment: First Class Row # 1, Bulkhead Row
- Airline Flight Date: March 8, 2014
- Boarding Call Time: 4:46 AM EST, March 8th, 2014
- Boarding Zone: Boarding Zone # 1
- Departure Time: 5:16 PM EST, March 8th, 2014
- Arrival Time: 6:35 PM EST, March 8th, 2014
- Time Aloft: 1 hour 19 minutes (79 minutes)
- Filed Speed: 445 KIAS
- Filed Cruising Altitude: 32,000 feet
- Flight Distance: Direct: 556 SM | Planned: 631 SM | Flown: 589 SM
- Routing Waypoint (s) : SUMMT7 VXV J91 BULEY J91 HNN TVT KEATN6
- Average Fare: $164.47 USD (Economy Class)
FLIGHT DATA SOURCE (S):
1. PlaneSpotter.Net Data
2. FlightAware Live Flight Tracking Data
Delta Flight 1732 CLE-ATL Copyright 2014 FlightAware
I bid a kind farewell and started my almost 7-hour journey back to Fort Lauderdale. Walking into the ticketing hall, I walked over to a Delta Kiosk in the Sky Priority lane. The Delta rep in charge informed me that both CLE-ATL and ATL-FLL were oversolf, and asked me to put in a bid for "Delta Dollars". I bid $700 for each flight, grabbed my two boarding passes and went over to the Sky Priority checkin, which was also used by US Airways Preferred Upgrades and United Premiere.
Apparentelly I didn't look like too much of a risk as I was motioned over to the TSA Pre line with no TSE Pre "membership" and just walked through the X-Ray (no nudoscope! Yay?) after sliding my bag down the conveyer belt. Once out of security, I...headed back to the same gate I used on ATL-CLE. Yes, for all intents and purposes, DL's presence at Cleveland CLE is very scant. United Aircraft, however, were everywhere. Speaking of that, I had seen two Silver Airways B1900D's on my way out of the airport into the city in the D concourse, and I had to know if I could see them. I followed the signs to the D concourse, which is connected by escalators to moving walkways with atriums at the base of the escalators on their respective concourses, with massive paper planes hanging from the ceiling. What I saw next made me do a spit take.....
CLE B Terminal.
Looking at the distant D Concourse which is used primarily by regional turboprops, a paradise for A.netters...
Snowy Dash-8s.
Escalators to CLE Concourse D, as in "David".
Massive paper planes.
Cleveland Hopkins Concourse D
Wait...is that a CONTINENTAL AC!?!?!?
CO Express, but better than nothing! This must be the last Continental AC left! :O
United Express ERJ-145 N285SK is still painted in CO/CO Express Colors.
B1900Ds operated by Silver Airways DBA United Express, which will sadly be retired next month (April 2014).
A Dash 8 and a smaller (fleet) sibling not too far behind.
Once I had finished gawking at all the interesting regional A/Cs at the D Concourse, I headed back to the four B gates that Delta operates at CLE. There are no SkyClubs at CLE and I didn't feel like ponying up $50 for a United Red Carpet Club pass, so I took a nap near the gate. All throughout this process, a TV near the gate kept playing interesting programs that kept waking me up--one was about pee-wee American Football clubs and how badly they push these kids to be good at football-with the kids sounding miserable.
Thankfully that program ended soon enough and I was able to get a good hour of rest. Luckily no one tampered with my baggage, thank goodness for that. At about 3:30 the gate agent came on and kept pleading people to check their bags because overhead space would be limited due to the full flight. Then another rep came on and insisted that nonrevs will be required to take their original seats in coach as the flight would be full. Luckily, I already had a revenue F class ticket for seat 1A. However, they didn't take me up on that $600 offer I discussed earlier or even mention it. Boarding was delayed about ten minutes because a woman was making a scene about wanting to sit with her children, which confused me as I thought DL does not charge to select seats, so why wouldn't you just select the seats with your family all together? The supervisor agent finally came out and the woman calmed down.
Preboarding began a 4:30 and at 4:40 First Class passengers were called to board. As I sat down in seat 1A, my seatmate was an interesting man who acts as a Natural Gas Consultant. He asked me if I had ever been in First Class before to which I had to avoid burst out laughing, but only let out a mature chuckle. (If I had to give a rough estimate, I would say I've done about 20-30 legs in First Class and two flights in BusinessElite to AMS) We started talking about Delta, and it turned out he was a Plat as well. Not only that, but he had booked a rev FC ticket just like myself!
This time a clear-English-speaking F/A came around and took pre-departure beverage drink orders, with my seatmate ordering an ice-cold fresh beer and me ordering a freshly-brewed Arabica-roasted coffee. The F/A pre stirred the cream and sugar in. I have to say, after a Jack Frost-style day in Cleveland, a hot cup of coffee really hit the spot. She must have been quite experienced at flavoring the coffee, not too much sugar making it too sweet, and not too much cream making it diluted.
Gate B2 on the B Concourse.
N981AT, a 2002-built 717, my ride today to Atlanta.
CR2 arriving from MSP or DTW, perhaps.
My first AA Airbus.
First class seats.
First Class cabin.
Obligatory legroom shot, with the new Delta Diamond bulkhead wall pattern. This pattern is also present behind the desks at most Delta Sky Clubs.
PDB's of my coffee and the seatmate's beer.
Once again the chipper ground crew agent thanked us for flying to Cleveland and was off like a shot. The jetbridge pulled back, and we were pushed back by 5:16. We taxiied to the end of the ramp and stopped for awhile, with nothing of note really happening. My seatmate must have sensed my confusion, telling me "Deicing. Gotta get all that snow and ice off the aircraft." Ah, yes. I had never seen deicing before as I usually fly around in the summer and generally when it's not snowing. The truck sprayed orange goop all over the plane and the liquid oozed down the side of the AC, taking all of the ice and snow with it. This went on for 15 minutes when finally the truck pulled away and we were free to make an IFR departure to ATL.
Pushback, with a new American Eagle RJ-145 freshly painted in the merger livery nearby.
Ooh, a Tulip livery! CLE does have a dabble of some interesting aircraft.
Cabin during taxi.
Deicing truck spraying our plane.
Orange liquid streaming down my window.
Taxi.
Liftoff.
Cruise.
Takeoff was very choppy as we sliced our way out of the snowstorm that engulfed the Cleveland, Ohio area, but we eventually found smooth air and stayed around the woods of 30,000 feet for the rest of the flight, with snack basket and complimentary premium drinks being passed out as usual, pretty nondescript. Nearly 70 minutes later we were back in 40-degree-"Hotlanta" weather.
Throughout the flight, I kept mentally running through what I would do when we deplaned. First, I would go to the Concourse T Skyclub and have a shower/shave, maybe having a quick bite. Then, I would go to the food court and have a small meal. Next, I would visit the International Concourse E and spot some international aircraft. Finally, I would head back to the B Concourse Sky Club and remain there until my flight back to my home city of Fort Lauderdale.
Beverages in real glass, Coca-Cola classic and my seatmate had a Miller Lite.
Later, a coffee in Styrofoam because all the porcelain mugs had been used already, on the inbound flight.
Snack Basket, First pass.
Snack basket, second pass.
Cruise, with the deep blue glow seeping into the cabin as we soar through the sky.
Descent into Atlanta again.
Another instance of SODROPS, this time with a Delta 752 Winglet.
What is this strange aqua blue pool near the quarries?
Final.
Touchdown.
The captain kindly let me into the cockpit to take a few shots. Delta Air Lines Boeing 717-200 N981AT Cockpit.
As soon as I had left the jetway, I made a beeline to the Plane Train as I wanted as much time as possible to explore the "International SkyClub" (whose only difference as far as I can see are the inclusion of shower suites) in concourses E and T. The plane train was constantly delayed by moronic people trying to board it at the last minuute--and then there was an awkward moment when it stopped at a station, filled to the brim with travelers staring right at you. Thankfully the next PT that arrived was nearly empty, and after a few stops I was at Concourse T and headed to the Sky Club.
Once inside, a friendly Chinese bloke checked me in and printed my boarding pass for my ATL-FLL segment, served on a 752 with no individual IFE but with overhead flatscreens. I inquired to him about the shower suites, he replied to go around the buffet and bar and "head straight back". His directions were confusing, but decipherable and I found the shower reception desk. I was asked which shower suite I would like by the professional receptionist, and got Shower Suite 6A on the right side of the hallway. Each shower suite at this club has two latches for extra privacy, a feature that really makes sense in this setting.
I was given shampoo, body wash, conditioner, a hairbrush, a shaving kit, and tooth brushing kit with mouthwash.Delta's shower suites are red-and-white brick rooms with glass covering the actual blocks, which gives the suite a classy look but not too snobby. In addition to the shower, you also get a toilet, sink, and large mirror for shaving. The water temperature on the shower wasn't bad, but it could have been a bit hotter (maybe I'm just used to taking hot showers in the tropical climate of Fort Lauderdale.) In less than 45 minutes I had showered, shaved, and generally felt much better. I tipped both receptionists on my way out.
Next stop: Concourse E! Concourse E handles the "big boys" at ATL, like A340s, 777s, 744s, A330s, etc. It also has many shops and points of interest along the way-for example, the "other" airline club in a place that is dominated by SkyTeam and it's partners-the Star Alliance lounge, "The Club at ATL." A day pass was $50, but I didn't know what was inside, so I passed on it. Instead, I ambled around and spotted a bunch of long haul aircraft from the likes of KLM, AF, IB, and even Delta whose flight nr 8 is the longest-14 hours to DXB. Will have to try that out one day in BusinessElite if I win the Florida Lottery.
I also made a quick pitstop in the Delta Sky Club in the area, which seemed to have extra food (or maybe it was because the bar reeked of wine).After my concourse E spotting and "Sky-clubbing" adventure, I slowly came to the realization that my day of flying was almost over and I needed to eat soon or I wouldn't be able to until I landed in FLL. Not wanting to have to gamble or survive on snack basket offerings, I stopped by Arby's and got a roast beef sandwich combo, snorked it down and then headed to the plane train. I arrived in the B concourse minutes later at about 8:30 EST and stayed there until I heard the following announcement: "Boarding has begun for Delta flight 1427, Nonstop service to Fort Lauderdale."
I was pretty stoked about this flight because after three flights on 717s, I missed the feelings of the 757, and especailly the roar of those PW2000's on takeoff. Another reason
Mar 14, 2014, 9:06 pm
#4
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Programs: IAMAW Local 368/HAL 2 Star Mariner
Posts: 740
(cut-off)
Another reason I love the 757 is the customary "turn left" once you board, allowing easy photo opportunities without the Economy and Delta Economy Comfort passengers breathing down your neck, hurrying for no apparent reason to claim their seats. When I got to gate B22, First Class pax were already boarding while the Y pax held short of the jetway. Very exciting to get 3 717s and a 757 on a single trip report.
KATL (Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Interntional Airport) - KFLL (Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport
FLIGHT DATA SOURCE (S):
1.PlaneSpotter.Net Data
2. FlightAware Live Flight Tracking Data
Delta Flight 1427 ATL-FLL Copyright 2014 FlightAware
Gate B22.
Boarding
Y apparently has it's own coffee supply (don't you just hate it when you unintentionally rhyme...)
After turning left into the First Class cabin, I was amazed to see that pretty much the whole cabin was girls around my age, with a few adults upfront. Apparently they were all a cheerleading squad going to a match, with the girl in 6B being one of the captains. We didn't converse a lot, but I learned some basic information about her (no, unfortunately I did not get her number.)
The giganticly-wide FC seats on this 752.
Superb legroom.
Delta 757-200 Cabin while boarding.
"Delta Radio" as well as audio for the overhead TV programming. Complimentrary Delta earbuds were passed out, although they were of a very low quality and I elected to use my own instead.
Snapping out of the girl phase and remembering the real reason for this trip, I quickly started snapping away at this 22-year-old 757s cabin-she was built strong to last long. AFAIK Delta seems to have two main types of domestic 757s-One is this type with no IFE and overhead screens but extra large seats, and the other has two more seats in the front, creating a seventh half-row of seats on the left side, PTVS, and less padding. This 757 was the former.
The girl seated next to me was quite cold and so was her friend across the aisle, to which they told the purser. To be honest, it was a bit chilly, so I gave the girl the complimentary blanket and she took it without saying anything. I took some pictures of the engine cowl and when i looked back she was asleep.
The F/A seemed extra enthusiatic about his crew, introducing everyone to each F/A by their names, and stating how glad he was to have us on Delta. I always notice the FLL flight attendants give excellent customer service before, during, and even after the flight, with pride in their work and employer.
As we pushed back at about 10:10 Delta's new 1980's themed safety video began playing, which was really directed great. The whole video flowed well, just like the "Deltalina" video. Katherine Lee even shows up in the middle of the new film which is a great thing for Delta to do.
The Delta 1980's Safety Video can be watched here:[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eduNjwNvcH4]Delta's 80's In-Flight Safety Video
Listening to the video, pushback commenced and we made our way down to runway 26R for an on time departure. I really have to expand upon the excellently gregarious engine noise of the two Pratt and Whitney 2000 turbofans hanging under the wings, is matched by no other engine. No other powerplant roars by except for the equivalent RB.211. We flew down the taxiway before completely jumping off the runway and ascending due south. The girl next to me woke up again-guess she wasn't used to the pushing-you-back-in your seat feeling that the 757 gives..
Pushback from Gate Bravo 22 at ATL.
Taxiing
Turning onto the runway.
Takeoff.
Nearing cruise altitude.
As always with First Class....you get...yep, a snack basket! However this time it had some different choices in it, most notably almonds, Twix Candy, and Goldfish snack crackers. I had the last few coffees and cokes for the night.
Starting up with a late night coffee.
Snack basket, first pass.
What I like to call a "continental snack".
Snack basket, second pass.
First Class cabin snoozing away while TV reruns play overhead.
And in the blink of an eye, the captain announced we were on approach to FLL, ending The Tale of Two 717s. We flew the normal way in from the Everglades into a straight-in westerly approach on runway 9L.
Our heavily laden, full aircraft had an extremely long slow down time, but we were off like a shot into the gate. When we deplaned, the entire concourse was empty, everything was shut down or closed.
After we parked I asked the F/A to get a picture of the cockpit of this 22 year old 752, and he complimented me on my plans to become an airline pilot-how nice.
Everglades sliding on under us as we fly westward.
FLL from the air at night.
Short final.
Touchdown on runway 26R.
Taxiing on in.
Parked.
Grand finale of this trip report: The B752 Cockpit.
Continuing the tradition of Airworthiness certificates.
Delta Boeing 757-200 First Class Cabin.
Grabbing the registration number of this 752, N676DLm as I left.
My friend picked me up, drove me home, and I got some much needed rest after that much flying.
---
Please read my other trip reports and leave a nice comment if you will
---
AirTran Business Class Delta F FLL-ATL-CLE-ATL-FLL (Airliners.net)
---
Banyan Air FBO@FXE+Bombardier Global Express 5000 (Airliners.net)
---
Spirit Airlines New First Class FLL-MCO-FLL (Pics) (Airliners.net)
---
Fahf 2: Southwest Business Class R/T FLL-TPA-FLL (Airliners.net)
---
7 Hours On A Silver Saab 340B+! FLL-EYW-TPA-FLL (Airliners.net)
---
Goodyear Blimp/Airship/Dirigible Ride PMP-PMP(Pics (Airliners.net)
---
DL EconomyComfort-Better Than Economy? FLL-JFK-FLL (Airliners.net)
---
Delta First/BusinessElite FLL-ATL-BOS-AMS (Long) (Airliners.net)
---
Delta F Class FLL-LGA/JFK-FLL (Airliners.net)
---
Spirit Airlines Big Front Seat First Class FLL-MCO-FLL (FlyerTalk.com)
---
Delta First Class FLL-LGA/JFK-FLL (FlyerTalk.com)
---
Thanks in advance for all responses! Comments are very welcome.
---
-LPDAL
Another reason I love the 757 is the customary "turn left" once you board, allowing easy photo opportunities without the Economy and Delta Economy Comfort passengers breathing down your neck, hurrying for no apparent reason to claim their seats. When I got to gate B22, First Class pax were already boarding while the Y pax held short of the jetway. Very exciting to get 3 717s and a 757 on a single trip report.
KATL (Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Interntional Airport) - KFLL (Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport
- Airline: Delta Air Lines (DAL)
- Airline IATA Code: IATA Code # DAL
- Airline IACO Code: IACO Code # DAL
- Airline Callsign: Radio Callsign DELTA
- Airline Flight Number: # DL 1427
- Aircraft / Equipment Used for Flight : Boeing 757-232
- Aircraft / Equipment Registration: Registration # N676DL
- Aircraft / Equipment Nationality: United States of America-FAA-Registered A/C / Equipment,
- Aircraft Manufacturer: The Boeing Company
- Aircraft Sub - Manufacturer: Boeing Commercial Airplanes
- Aircraft's First Flight: May 8th, 1992
- Aircraft Test Registration: Test Registration N676DL
- Aircraft Config: F24W28Y131
- Aircraft C/N: 25981
- Total Number of Passenger Seats: 173 Seats
- Aircraft Construction Number (MSN) : # 455
- Aircraft Delivery Date: May 28th, 1992
- Aircraft Powerplant (s) : 2x PW PW2037
- Aircraft Owned by / Leased from: WELLS FARGO BANK NORTHWEST NA TRUSTEE
- Cabin: Delta First Class
- Seat Assignment: Seat # First Class 6A
- Row Assignment: First Class Row # 6
- Airline Flight Date: March 8, 2014
- Boarding Call Time: 4:46 AM EST, March 8th, 2014
- Boarding Zone: Boarding Zone # 1
- Departure Time: 10:20 PM EST, March 8th, 2014
- Arrival Time: 11:44 PM EST, March 8th, 2014
- Time Aloft: 1 hour 24 minutes (84 minutes)
- Filed Speed: 464 KIAS
- Filed Cruising Altitude: 37,000 feet
- Flight Distance: Direct: 582 SM | Planned: 642 SM | Flown: 646 SM
- Routing Waypoint (s) : BRAVS7 WALET OTK JINGL4
- Average Fare: $123.52 USD (Economy Class)
FLIGHT DATA SOURCE (S):
1.PlaneSpotter.Net Data
2. FlightAware Live Flight Tracking Data
Delta Flight 1427 ATL-FLL Copyright 2014 FlightAware
Gate B22.
Boarding
Y apparently has it's own coffee supply (don't you just hate it when you unintentionally rhyme...)
After turning left into the First Class cabin, I was amazed to see that pretty much the whole cabin was girls around my age, with a few adults upfront. Apparently they were all a cheerleading squad going to a match, with the girl in 6B being one of the captains. We didn't converse a lot, but I learned some basic information about her (no, unfortunately I did not get her number.)
The giganticly-wide FC seats on this 752.
Superb legroom.
Delta 757-200 Cabin while boarding.
"Delta Radio" as well as audio for the overhead TV programming. Complimentrary Delta earbuds were passed out, although they were of a very low quality and I elected to use my own instead.
Snapping out of the girl phase and remembering the real reason for this trip, I quickly started snapping away at this 22-year-old 757s cabin-she was built strong to last long. AFAIK Delta seems to have two main types of domestic 757s-One is this type with no IFE and overhead screens but extra large seats, and the other has two more seats in the front, creating a seventh half-row of seats on the left side, PTVS, and less padding. This 757 was the former.
The girl seated next to me was quite cold and so was her friend across the aisle, to which they told the purser. To be honest, it was a bit chilly, so I gave the girl the complimentary blanket and she took it without saying anything. I took some pictures of the engine cowl and when i looked back she was asleep.
The F/A seemed extra enthusiatic about his crew, introducing everyone to each F/A by their names, and stating how glad he was to have us on Delta. I always notice the FLL flight attendants give excellent customer service before, during, and even after the flight, with pride in their work and employer.
As we pushed back at about 10:10 Delta's new 1980's themed safety video began playing, which was really directed great. The whole video flowed well, just like the "Deltalina" video. Katherine Lee even shows up in the middle of the new film which is a great thing for Delta to do.
The Delta 1980's Safety Video can be watched here:[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eduNjwNvcH4]Delta's 80's In-Flight Safety Video
Listening to the video, pushback commenced and we made our way down to runway 26R for an on time departure. I really have to expand upon the excellently gregarious engine noise of the two Pratt and Whitney 2000 turbofans hanging under the wings, is matched by no other engine. No other powerplant roars by except for the equivalent RB.211. We flew down the taxiway before completely jumping off the runway and ascending due south. The girl next to me woke up again-guess she wasn't used to the pushing-you-back-in your seat feeling that the 757 gives..
Pushback from Gate Bravo 22 at ATL.
Taxiing
Turning onto the runway.
Takeoff.
Nearing cruise altitude.
As always with First Class....you get...yep, a snack basket! However this time it had some different choices in it, most notably almonds, Twix Candy, and Goldfish snack crackers. I had the last few coffees and cokes for the night.
Starting up with a late night coffee.
Snack basket, first pass.
What I like to call a "continental snack".
Snack basket, second pass.
First Class cabin snoozing away while TV reruns play overhead.
And in the blink of an eye, the captain announced we were on approach to FLL, ending The Tale of Two 717s. We flew the normal way in from the Everglades into a straight-in westerly approach on runway 9L.
Our heavily laden, full aircraft had an extremely long slow down time, but we were off like a shot into the gate. When we deplaned, the entire concourse was empty, everything was shut down or closed.
After we parked I asked the F/A to get a picture of the cockpit of this 22 year old 752, and he complimented me on my plans to become an airline pilot-how nice.
Everglades sliding on under us as we fly westward.
FLL from the air at night.
Short final.
Touchdown on runway 26R.
Taxiing on in.
Parked.
Grand finale of this trip report: The B752 Cockpit.
Continuing the tradition of Airworthiness certificates.
Delta Boeing 757-200 First Class Cabin.
Grabbing the registration number of this 752, N676DLm as I left.
My friend picked me up, drove me home, and I got some much needed rest after that much flying.
---
Please read my other trip reports
and leave a nice comment if you will ---
AirTran Business Class Delta F FLL-ATL-CLE-ATL-FLL (Airliners.net)
---
Banyan Air FBO@FXE+Bombardier Global Express 5000 (Airliners.net)
---
Spirit Airlines New First Class FLL-MCO-FLL (Pics) (Airliners.net)
---
Fahf 2: Southwest Business Class R/T FLL-TPA-FLL (Airliners.net)
---
7 Hours On A Silver Saab 340B+! FLL-EYW-TPA-FLL (Airliners.net)
---
Goodyear Blimp/Airship/Dirigible Ride PMP-PMP(Pics (Airliners.net)
---
DL EconomyComfort-Better Than Economy? FLL-JFK-FLL (Airliners.net)
---
Delta First/BusinessElite FLL-ATL-BOS-AMS (Long) (Airliners.net)
---
Delta F Class FLL-LGA/JFK-FLL (Airliners.net)
---
Spirit Airlines Big Front Seat First Class FLL-MCO-FLL (FlyerTalk.com)
---
Delta First Class FLL-LGA/JFK-FLL (FlyerTalk.com)
---
Thanks in advance for all responses! Comments are very welcome.
---
-LPDAL
Last edited by LPDAL; Mar 14, 2014 at 9:14 pm
Mar 14, 2014, 10:56 pm
#5
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: IAH
Programs: DL DM, Hyatt Ist-iest, Stariott Platinum, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 12,816
Enjoyed it! I have to say, despite IAH being my home airport, I don't think I've seen a pmCO express plane in at least a couple of years. Usually see one or two pmUA livery express planes wondering around Terminal B though.
You also brought back memories of my one flight on a Dash 8 - it was TPA-MIA a few years ago, I believe COx operated - was the longest hour flight I've ever been on!
Also you hit upon my biggest gripe with WN... they aren't cheap! People think of them as a discount carrier, but in my experience of the past 12-24 months, they have been more expensive than UA even after accounting for a $25 bag fee.
You also brought back memories of my one flight on a Dash 8 - it was TPA-MIA a few years ago, I believe COx operated - was the longest hour flight I've ever been on!
Also you hit upon my biggest gripe with WN... they aren't cheap! People think of them as a discount carrier, but in my experience of the past 12-24 months, they have been more expensive than UA even after accounting for a $25 bag fee.
Mar 20, 2014, 12:11 pm
#6
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Programs: AA Gold AAdvantage Elite, Rapids Reward
Posts: 38,357
Wow! What a fabulous trip report!! I'm glad you had a great flight. I always like to read your trip report from entire a.net. I see the picture of T4 is underway renovated and south runway, as well. Please keep updated it for me. I miss FLL lots. Why I haven't visit FLL for a long time. No Florida trip at this time.