Delta Update

[Philip Glass]

Thanks y’all. The triangle route was never approved by RSA but there keeps being rumors of it.
I am glad they are flying ATL-CPT for the simple fact that it is more competition. I avoid flights that are not flown daily. Been burned there before.
Delta is still waiting on the A350-1000 which will solve its weight and fuel problems JNB-ATL. Who know when they will get the new plane.

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

A fairly recent and very detailed article on Delta's fleet and possible future aircraft.

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seekingalpha.com

one final note... as winds shift w/ the change of seasons, aircraft tracking data shows Delta is using its 2 highest performance A350-900s heavily to/from S. Africa where its flights to Atlanta are sometimes exceeding 17 hours and are always over 16 hours - very long for any current widebody but even more so considering the altitude at Johannesburg and the relatively short runway at Cape Town. Flight times to Sydney are getting shorter so Delta is using some of the six less capable 280 tonne aircraft but they appear to be more than capable given the shorter range while even the flights from Atlanta to Seoul are now falling below 15 hours on some days.


Delta appears to be making the best use it can of its A350 fleet but the relatively low engine thrust to aircraft weight ratio of the A350-900 weight ratio appears to be a contributor to Delta's performance issues from S. Africa; again, the B777-200LR was the only aircraft that could consistently overcome those limitations and the A350-900 will be pushed to its limits during the winter on other routes, but newer, more capable aircraft will have much less limitations on most other routes.

 

[RLL]

I’ll be on the DL200 flight to JNB come Wednesday, any recent experience with Wi-Fi access? And highlights on in-flight entertainment?

 

[RLL]

I’ll be on the DL200 flight to JNB come Wednesday, any recent experience with Wi-Fi access? And highlights on in-flight entertainment?

I’ll be on the DL200 flight to JNB come Wednesday, any recent experience with Wi-Fi access? And highlights on in-flight entertainment?

This particular flight tonight will have no Wi-Fi…plenty of onboard movies though. Pilot said it will be upgraded in a few months.

 

[RLL]

This particular flight tonight will have no Wi-Fi…plenty of onboard movies though. Pilot said it will be upgraded in a few months.

The flight back home this week had Wi-Fi equipped but did not work…Delta should get it together for these ultra long haul flights.

 

[Philip Glass]

The flight back home this week had Wi-Fi equipped but did not work…Delta should get it together for these ultra long haul flights.

Especially since they are bragging about free Wi-Fi on all flights now!

 

[MTA]

The wifi on my outbound flight (05/08/23) was awful. I should have demanded a refund to be honest. The wifi on the return flight (05/16/23) was very good though.

One trick I learned from other frequent flyers on this particular flight (on the return flight unfortunately) is to not join the wifi as a guest, setup and login to an account for the wifi service. I was able to use my delta login and the service was way better with far less disconnects from the service.

 

[Doubleplay]

My wife works for a major US airline and we fly 100K+ miles every year for the last 25 years with her employer and also different airlines. Most of it is long haul international on paid tickets and some of it stand-by basis as an employee.
I'm also very familiar with Delta ATL-JNB because our son flies at least once in every three months round trip on that route.
As a government employee they are not allowed to use non US carriers if there's a US carrier flying in and out of the country.
Having said that I would highly suggest to look at other options like Qatar, THY, Emirates specially if you're not flying with firearms. Yes it might take you a little longer but you'll be stretching your legs in between flights, you'll pay less and more than likely you'll get a lot better service.
And for future reference buy separate tickets. One to JFK from wherever you are and then search for JFK-JNB on Google flights. It's the most competitive international market in US and the cheapest to fly in and out.
Most expensive places to fly out of are the hubs of airlines and in this case Delta's Atlanta.

 

[mdwest]

My wife works for a major US airline and we fly 100K+ miles every year for the last 25 years with her employer and also different airlines. Most of it is long haul international on paid tickets and some of it stand-by basis as an employee.
I'm also very familiar with Delta ATL-JNB because our son flies at least once in every three months round trip on that route.
As a government employee they are not allowed to use non US carriers if there's a US carrier flying in and out of the country.
Having said that I would highly suggest to look at other options like Qatar, THY, Emirates specially if you're not flying with firearms. Yes it might take you a little longer but you'll be stretching your legs in between flights, you'll pay less and more than likely you'll get a lot better service.
And for future reference buy separate tickets. One to JFK from wherever you are and then search for JFK-JNB on Google flights. It's the most competitive international market in US and the cheapest to fly in and out.
Most expensive places to fly out of are the hubs of airlines and in this case Delta's Atlanta.

An option for your son is to book on American, but select the code shared flights that are actually on Qatar birds… that meets the requirements of the Fly America Act… (my firm flies US Govt contractors all over the globe… a lot to central and east Africa… we’re bound to the requirements of the Fly America Act as well)…

As long as you are booking with a US carrier and your tickets say “American” (or United or Delta, etc…) what actual bird you are on doesn’t matter…

 

[Doubleplay]

An option for your son is to book on American, but select the code shared flights that are actually on Qatar birds… that meets the requirements of the Fly America Act… (my firm flies US Govt contractors all over the globe… a lot to central and east Africa… we’re bound to the requirements of the Fly America Act as well)…

As long as you are booking with a US carrier and your tickets say “American” (or United or Delta, etc…) what actual bird you are on doesn’t matter…

I'll tell him to look into it.Thanks.