Delta takes delivery on AB350--first for a N. American airline

Sidebar
It'll be great to see the A350 in DTW.

I don't know if any US carrier will order the B777-9. It seems to be too big - seating over 400.
The B777-8 is supposed to be a smaller with better range, but I again don't know if any U.S. carrier will order it (i.e. what market from the USA can the B777-8 serve that a B77W or 787-9 can't?).
 
However, a caveat posted on FlyerTalk about Delta's new airplane...

"Has anyone noticed that there are only 4 lavatories for all of economy-class on Delta's new A350? Here's the aircraft map: https://www.delta.com/content/www/en...rbus-a350.html.

There are 226 passengers in economy-class, assuming all of the seats are occupied. That means there are 4 lavatories for 274 passengers, unless flight attendants allow the 48 premium-economy passengers to use the 4 lavatories designated for the 32 business-class passengers.

By comparison, there are 10 lavatories for the 328 economy-class and comfort-plus passengers in the Boeing 747. That's 1 lavatory for every 32.8 passengers on the 747 compared to 1 lavatory for every 68.5 passengers on the A350."

When I looked at the aircraft map link, I noticed that there are not 4 lavs for business class. There are 2 lavs for Delta One (first class) and 2 for Premium Select (business class). I doubt the flight attendants even allow the Premium Select passengers to use the Delta One lavs. For one thing, two of the lavs (the ones I think are restricted to first class) have only 3 galleys and the forward entry doors between the lavs and the cockpit. An economy-class passenger would have to trek the entire length of Premium Select AND Delta One classes to get to those lavs. And, the other two "upscale" lavs are at the front of the Premium Select cabin rather than at the Premium Select/Economy class boundary.

This all seems to suggest that one should not wait until things are desperate before getting in line for the lav.
 
Last edited:
Interesting seating configuration. Economy is 3-3-3 across. Business class appears (can't see whole row in pictures) to be 2-4-2. 4 across in the center seems a bit crowded to me.
 
Ok, so now that we have the terminology straightened out, does anyone know Delta's policy regarding passengers using an "out of cabin" lav. I know that on flights inbound to the U.S. from other countries passengers are not supposed to cross cabin boundaries, but I don't think that applies outbound from the U.S. On the seat map, there are still only 4 lavs for a whole bunch of folks.
 
FrugalFlyerv2.0 said:
It'll be great to see the A350 in DTW.

I don't know if any US carrier will order the B777-9. It seems to be too big - seating over 400.
The B777-8 is supposed to be a smaller with better range, but I again don't know if any U.S. carrier will order it (i.e. what market from the USA can the B777-8 serve that a B77W or 787-9 can't?).
Click to expand...
I get the impression that the 777X was designed with mid east carriers in mind. Not so much US.
 
jimntx said:
And with the Mideast up to its sand filters with A350's and A380's there probably aren't many opening for the 777X.
Click to expand...

Qatar, Ethihad and Emirates have ordered them already. A380 is pretty much DOA at this point.
 
Jim a question for you. I just read this morning where Delta is replacing 50 seat and 76 seat regionals with this new Canadian C series jet with approx. 100 seats. The article stated that Delta will focus on New York, LA, and Dallas for these new C series jets putting pressure on Southwest and American. Do really see any pressure at all on either of the 2 Dallas airliners? I mean Delta only has 5 flights out of LF and I have no clue how many out of DFW but no where near where I would think they could even put a dent on American. Especially when Delta has basically vacated DFW back in the 2000's by pulling 219 flights or more from there. And according to this article below, Boeing is a little but hurt from the Canadian deal huh?

Delta May Take On Southwest and American With New Bombardier ...
 
Swamt haven't a clue. Though my guess would be not very much at all for AA or WN. Even our flights DFW to ATL are generally full to the overhead bins. I get the impression from managers that they are more concerned about price pressure from Spirit, et al. Filling seats is not our problem. Doing so at a profit is more problematic. In that arena DL has same challenges as AA--higher labor costs primarily.
 
I guess we will see at some point. Just didn't know if you had a little more info. Time will tell...
 
swamt said:
Jim a question for you. I just read this morning where Delta is replacing 50 seat and 76 seat regionals with this new Canadian C series jet with approx. 100 seats. The article stated that Delta will focus on New York, LA, and Dallas for these new C series jets putting pressure on Southwest and American. Do really see any pressure at all on either of the 2 Dallas airliners? I mean Delta only has 5 flights out of LF and I have no clue how many out of DFW but no where near where I would think they could even put a dent on American. Especially when Delta has basically vacated DFW back in the 2000's by pulling 219 flights or more from there. And according to this article below, Boeing is a little but hurt from the Canadian deal huh?

Delta May Take On Southwest and American With New Bombardier ...
Click to expand...

Crap article.

The idea is for DFW to become a virtual pilot base for the CS (and assuming the FA's will also get and AFP). Having said that it's not like Delta is going to come in with a bunch of flying. What you are going to see is less 76 seaters, more CS. DFW is going to be used as a bridge between the west coast bases and the east coast bases.

The reason for the virtual base is because Dallas is still one of the largest city bases for Delta employees. So instead of having the pilots commute to whatever base, they will just be DFW based. A virtual base is a lot like a satellite FA base. A lot less overhead etc.

The only destination that is coming to DFW in the near future is SEA. But expect to see operations like LAX (3 out of 4 flights on DCI), LGA (all 7 flights on DCI), SLC (2 out of 5 on DCI), JFK (1 out of 2 flights on DCI) etc. convert to the CS. This will give the company the volume for a virtual base and a AFP for the FAs, while upgrading the product to mainline and something better than DCI.

But Delta is going all gang busters in DFW adding all kinds of flying/capacity.


and yes, Boeing is butt hurt about the deal. I'm not sure if they are in the wrong or right. Sounds like BBD is selling the planes well below cost, which, if true, Boeing has a legitimate complaint. They also aren't happy that Delta is able to use the Canadian version of ExIm financing. I don't have an issue with it, Delta has been trying to change the system on that and Boeing has been against it. Now when Delta is able to benefit Boeing gets all butt hurt.....
(note, US airlines can't use the EU's version of ExIm and EU airlines can't use the US version of ExIm. Brazil (EMB) and Canada(BBD) however are free game. Now that BBD has the CS, Boeing doesn't like it. )
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

J
What do Donald Trump and Richard Anderson have in common?
Replies
3
Views
2K
Delta Air Lines
Kev3188
Kev3188
J
Delta swaps gates with AA to begin LAX upgrade
Replies
0
Views
2K
Delta Air Lines
jimntx
J
J
1st Quarter Profit up while Revenue Down!
Replies
0
Views
1K
Delta Air Lines
jimntx
J
J
Delta to launch 4th U.S.-Shanghai route
Replies
0
Views
2K
Delta Air Lines
jimntx
J
J
DOT Tentatively Approves Delta/Aeromexico Joint Venture
Replies
18
Views
3K
Delta Air Lines
jimntx
J

Latest posts

Top Bottom