Review of Air France flight Paris → Detroit in Business

Welcome all to a new series of Flight Reports, this time in english as I will be reporting Air France (in-between boring on the french section of the site) and 3 different US airlines American, United and Delta.
I have to go for work to Detroit, to South Texas, to Sioux Falls and I'll combine the whole with a stop in New Orleans where I have a good friend living there. The long-haul flights are in business class, the intra-US flights all in economy. I've been looking for tickets not too expensive and had this time to go back over FRA to avoid a 500€ supplement. I really hate FRA but at least Delta is in the better T2 terminal together with almost all Skyteam and Oneworld airlines. I was happy to get Skyteam flights to continue my journey towards the Platinum for Life status of Flying Blue (Air France / KLM) that is the best for life status in the industry I would say. 2 more flights, no change in the programme for 5 years and I will be there :))))) Also the outbound flight was on Air France which I find the best among DL, AF and KL. The drawback of my booking, the return leg was planned on a A330-200 DL which is their worst Delta One product… well I should be already happy enough to get business flights paid in BC - that's not the case in any corporate. 

The first leg has been already published and can be read using the below link. 

The connections between Terminal 2G (regional HOP flights) and the long-haul concourses K/L/M used to be much better before Covid. You had a direct passport control in 2G and then a direct bus to your final concourse. Transfer time below 20 minutes. Now you have to take the general bus for ALL connections in Europe or long-haul which takes you to the 2F terminal and then to go through the general line for passport control. Transfer time more in the 45min - if you're lucky. Hopefully the good all times will be back with the summer schedule starting right now. I have a flight to Sao Paulo in 3 weeks. Will keep you posted :)

So into the bus… 

CDG advices a waiting time below 5min… Well this was a joke. I have to wait for 20min. But still feels lucky enough. The organization could have been better. They were 3 lines: one for EU passport automatic control, one for US/CA passport automatic control and one for all others with manual control. The US lane was closed but still announced. The automatic machines were the same as for the EU line but no one there. People were wondering and therefore changing lanes. Well typical french this is true but also the result of a completely unclear structure. One guy responsible for info was mad at all people… I get that being in the front line is not easy but first this is your job and secondly then make sure that you have a clear signage of where to go. 
To summarize: a typical CDG merry mess. 

The rest was easy and done in 5min.

If immigration is always a question mark at CDG, the airport is beautiful. Especially that L concourse, the one I prefer in the central area (the M has the best waiting area close to the gates).

I made a short stop at the Air France lounge to sit down, download a few work documents and arrange something before leaving as there is always a risk to have no WIFI on board.
I went to L44 door about 10-15min after boarding started. As there is a passport control with some questions at the door, there was a bit of wait (less than 5min). The Sky Priority lane is a joke as you have about 50% of the aircraft having access to it. Flying Blue provides access to its Sliver members, very easy to obtain with just a few flights per year. 

I always like this moment. Greeting at the door provides normally a true picture of what your flight will be. The Business puser was greeting the BC passenger at the front door reserved for business class. He was very engaged and remained like this all the flight.

My seat with a health kit on top. The coat hanger is becoming rare nowadays. I love it personally. The seat is a Cirrus with Air France customizations as for the sanity door. 

Welcome drink - I took both Champagne and water.

The headset and flight entertainment system. I love the french selection of movies available I must say. Of course you'll find all US blockbusters as well.

Today's menu. I'm sorry and missed that I will be doing this report in English so the meal section is in French.We had the choice between a beef filet, a duck lasagne and prawns. I could have taken everything but had read excellent reviews of the duck - so wanted to try it out.

The second meal is always what I don't like on AF. Long flights are better but these east costs flights only receive a cold meal that is not sufficient in my opinion. Pure costs cutting action.

The cave

And other drinks

Soon we were in the air. Take-off to the West. You may have a very nice view of Paris if you're on the left side but of course…. when the sky is clear which was definitely not the case this time!

Bourget airport, the business jet airport of Paris. Very close to CDG.

What if the best place on earth was in the sky?

I connected to the WIFI and was glad to have downloaded the most important things before. It took me already half an hours to be able to buy the suf pass for 18€ which is a competitive price and sufficient for emails and network working (files opening and saving takes some time though) - messaging is free on AF. However after having paid the WIFI was not working, I was continuously disconnected and was really able to use the service only once over the NA continent. I emailed though AF and was reimbursed within 24h. Their customer service is always brilliant.

The purser came briefly to present herself. She did that to each BC passenger, that's a nice touch. The Business Class purcher came longer, I suppose as part of the "platinum salutations". We had a short chat. He was interested to hear from me that I find AF the best overall business product on North America. Why? The quality of the service, the food is extremely good (I like AA as well), the seats are all good on the US lines and…. the customer service is excellent as soon as something happens - you get miles, vouchers or reimbursement without long discussion - at least when you're in your good right.

The meal service is done from a tray. I personally don't mind and can rearrange my table if I want without. I prefer the speed of the service like this. There are 2 FA serving the 2 aisles, 2 in the galley preparing everything and helping with refills or special demands and the purser helping with the entres later. That is a good ratio for 36 passengers (cabin was full). 
The salmon was excellent, the pumpkin or butternut squash as well. The bread had been heated slightly. There was a choice between white or cereals. 

The duck lasagne was brought by the BC purser when I was ready (on demand). It told me that it comes with a sauce that seems a bit oily. Well… yes it is sir, this is a duck dish ^^ Anyway it was excellent, the sauce as well :))

I was still full from my previous flight so did not ask this time for a second choice ;)
Cheese plate was brought. Sorry I forgot to take the picture. There was one for all taste.

Desert came shortly after. Together with a selection of teas or coffee and ice creams.
All in all I was very pleased by the dishes, the quantity, the wines and the quality of service. 

Somewhere over Canada after a very short nap, that's where my WIFI really started to work. 

The second service started about 65min before landing. It's more an afternoon tea than a real second meal. That's usual on the east coast flights. However everything was good and I was still not hungry after the first service 4h ago.

The approach was beautiful. We passed Detroit downtown (on the left side of the aircraft) to land from the west. 
Detroit is just a mere shadow of what i used to be in the 60's. It renewed a bit in the 2000's but I still don't see a huge change. There is space and space everywhere. You can see below downtown as a whole. Rest is the suburb.  

We passed through Grosse Ile, the other side is Canada. The coal power plant was off…

… while the nuclear power plant was on. This is where we decide to u-turn for our landing.

Last views of the surroundings, mostly empty.

Welcome to DTW. The airport has 2 terminals: the McNamara terminal with Delta and all its partners, the most famous with the nice fountain and the inner shuttle, and the North Terminal, home of all other airlines, not as fancy as the McNamara terminal but very good as well.

We off course parked to a handful of Delta planes.

Immigration was a breeze, I was the first to come through. Anyway no other flight before so I suppose everyone was on the other side in less than 10 minutes. We had to wait a bit for the luggage, but not that much. No priority delivery though and I had to wait maybe 20min averall for my 2 bag and suitcase. Then direction Hertz with a shuttle bus where I met a colleague arriving from Chicago over AA. Meeting at the rental car station is the most convenient when you arrive in 2 different terminals.