Review of Air France flight Atlanta → Pointe-à-Pitre in Economy

Hi,

This is my return flight, to Pointe-à-Pitre (Guadeloupe)

Planned routing:

• Pointre-à-Pitre, Pôle Caraïbes - JFK. Norwegian D84900, B737-8 (French only).
• JFK - Albuquerque Int'l sunport ABQ. JetBlue B6 65 A320 (French ) (English)
• Albuquerque int'l sunport ABQ - JFK. JetBlue B6 66 A320 (never).
• JFK- Pointe-à-Pitre, Pôle Caraïbes. Norwegian D84901, B737-8 (never)
Routing after cancellation of B6 66 due to snowstorm at JFK.
• Pointre-à-Pitre, Pôle Caraïbes - JFK. Norwegian D84900, B737-8
• JFK - Albuquerque Int'l sunport ABQ. JetBlue B6 65 A320
• Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson ATL - Pointe-a-Pitre, Pôle Caraïbes. AirFrance AF609, A320 (here) (French)

Normally, we had to go back to Guadeloupe via JFK, with B6 and DY, but, with snowstorm on eastcoast, our flight was cancelled, and we had to find an other solution to come back. We were thursday evening, and after many research, we found a flight with Air France bound for PTP from ATL. We had to rejoin Atlanta before saturday evening. In two days, 1400miles and two time zone. Very hard, in car, but saturday at 9p.m, finally, we saw Atlanta's business district. It was snowing, 14°F, so very cold for Atlanta, but that did not cause problems for H-J Airport !

We're sunday, 7th january, it's 6a.m, and we wake up. It's hard, we win 2 hours in two days (Atlanta is +2h from Albu). We had bought our breakfast at Wholefood on saturday evening. At 6:30, we go to the rent-a-car to leave our car. It was very fast, fortunately, because in this morning the temperature was glacial.
Let's go to International Terminal, with a bus shuttle, (Skytrain for domestic terminal). The path is very long, but we had a good view on the airport. It's interesting for avegeeks. At 7a.m, we arrived on concourse T, but AF staff is absent. We wait, and after few minutes; an agent Delta hailed us to follow her. We were checked in at Aeromexico counters, by a Delta agent for an Air France flight. Where is logic??

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At 8a.m we go to pass the police. Wait lasted 10 minutes, so it's correct, contrariwise, agents were not cools, seemed tired, at 8.am..?
Go to the train to concourse E
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Go up
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I tried to take FIDS in photo, but there was 12 screens, for departures between now (8a.m) to 2p.m !!!!

At ATL, it looks like there is only one company in the world : Delta. Anywhere you look, there are only Delta's plane !!! Like an anthill of Delta's planes.

A few pic, with mainly DL.
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We go to gate, and we eat. We see Atlanta's CBD away. The airport is far from the center, generally in the USA, the airport is in the center of the city (LAX, MSY…).

It's 9:20am, and we board on our 320.

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It's F-GKXU, he is 8.3 years, he always belonged to Air France. It's not the new A320 of Caribbean network, however cabin has been renovated.

Control tower of 122m, the highest in North America.
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engine
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it was 10am when we left our gates. We were 15minutes in advance.



Some pics, with mainly Delta.
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Direction the runway threshold, it was 10:05am, and let's go : maximum thrust.

It becomes difficult to spot for a few seconds, it shakes a lot!

Frontier to Denver.


Delta

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Korean 747-8, bound for ICN

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Take-off pics, with Atlanta away.


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We will stay fairly low until the coast of Georgia, which we leave a few miles south of Savannah. Everything is frozen and snowy, pretty.


R2R

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Some reading with regional network Hop! and Air France, international network, and Transavia destinations..Un

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security

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After 2hours of flight, (noon at atlanta, 1pm at PTP), the meal is served. I expected the same sandwich of flight PTP-MIA, but no, we have had hot meal.
It was composed by chicken and pumpkin puree with cinnamon. Against all expectations, it was very good !




For cabin comfort, my opinion may be a little bit biased because I had the row for me only.

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After eat, I chatted a little with cabin crew, she was very cool and fun, laughing all te time ! It was very cool to have a chef cabin crew like that !


I look trought the window, and surprise, we fly over Sint-Maarten ! already ! We fly over Anguilla, SXM and Saint-Barth


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The devastated island of Barbuda where nobody lives since Irma hurricane



On a cloud with some goods turbulences




2:20 p.m Guadeloupe time, we start our descent.


We fly over the Grand-Cul-de-Sac Marin , with Fajou island and the rest of caret island.
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We turn on our left, we fly over Sainte-Rose city.
Mangrove swamp was very destroyed by succesives passages of hurricanes Irma, and 10days after, Maria.
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Alliance Bridge and Salted river

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Bonvini a Lapoint ! (Welcome to Pointe-a-pitre (Point Peter in english)!)
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There were a lot of planes this afternoon.

-A 737 Norwegian
-A 777 Air France (To ORY, Paris)
-A 320 Air France (To PAP and Miami)
-A 330-200 XL Airways (To CDG, Paris)
-A 747 corsair (To ORY, Paris)
-A A359 Air Caraïbes (To ORY, Paris)

And us ! (our plane continued on his way to Cayenne, French Guyana).

Plus regionals planes (ATR 42/72) and Air Transat from Montreal (YUL) which land after us. For a little tarmac! PTP will be closeup, because the flow of passengers has exceeded 2,360,000 passanegers this year!!!!


Air Transat


the seats that welcomed me


Some pics



baggage claim was overcrowded, but our luggage arrived very quickly.


thanks you for reading !!! !
Louri.