Hello!
Welcome back! My wife likes to do one charity half-marathon a year. This year she chose to do the flagship St. Jude race in Memphis, TN. As that is a 10+ hour drive, we decided to fly instead. Our routing back home will take us from Memphis to Atlanta to Columbia.
Glad to have you along with us and hope you enjoy the trip!
Please excuse the briefness of the report as the flight was very short. The picture quality is also poor as well. Sorry :(
I'll do better on my trip next week to Maine.
Flight Info
Airline: Delta Airlines (DL)
Aircraft: MD-90
Registration: N926DH
Delivered: 1998
Route: MEM-ATL
Flight Number: 2441
Seat: 1A
Departure Gate: A27
Departure Runway: 36C
Scheduled Departure Time: 9:25 Central
Actual Departure Time: 9:33
Scheduled Arrival Time: 11:47 Eastern
Actual Arrival Time: 11:22
Landing Runway: 8L
Arrival Gate: D8
Scheduled Flight Time: 1Hr 22 MIN
Actual Flight Time: 49 Minutes
MD-90
The MD-90 is dying breed. Delta is the last user and is slated to phase the 2 dozen or so aircraft by end of 2022. This is a special occasion for me to ride this wonderful workhorse and I am grateful to know the history behind it and just how rare this bird is
Check In
I checked in 24 hours in advance and with a tight connection (37 minutes), I decided to use some of my Delta SkyMiles for an upgrade to the pointy end of the plane. It should have cost 8,500 per person but due to a technical screw up Delta gave it to me at 5,000 per seat. I am an avid points enthusiast and know that SkyMiles are tough to use and with only 20,000 it was worth it for me to use 10,000 to upgrade my wife and I. Due to the technical mistake on the app, I contacted Delta support via text message and within 10 minutes everything was sorted and I was seat 1A and my wife was 1F!
Arrival/Secuirty
We arrived at 7:24 to a mostly barren airport. American, Delta and Southwest use Check in B. I had mobile boarding passes so I bypassed the check in counters. Memphis had a regular security lane, priority and wheelchair lane and a TSA pre-check lane. We used the pre-check lane and was airside in no time.
Delta uses the A gates at MEM alongside Southwest. A27 was about a 5 minute walk from security and you pass several shops and restaurants along the way. Plenty of seating was available near the gate but power plugs were rare.
Boarding
Boarding began at 8:49 for those needing extra time. First class was called at 9:52.
Seat
My bulkhead seat had decent leg room. The seat was comfy and included an adjustable headrest. A flimsy blanket and pillow were waiting for me at my seat.
IFE
First class seating featured power plugs/USB at each seat. Wifi was available on this aircraft. the seatback pocket had the usual safety card, BOB menu, Wifi card and Sky Magazine.
Food/Beverage
A small bottle of water was waiting in my seat. I was also offered a pre-departure beverage and I decided that Coke was a good choice. It was severed in a plastic cup. After take off I was offered another beverage and chose coffee. It was served in a white porcelain cup. Oddly, it was not branded. Delta could really step up its game in this department. Staff was pro-active with refills.
A snack back was offered as well. I chose a Kind Bar which was tasty. The basket had half a dozen or more choices but I can not remember what they were.
In-Flight/Landing
We pushed back early at 9:18. After very lengthy taxi across the airfield we took off on 36C at 9:33. The flight was smooth and before long we touched down on 8L at 11:22 Eastern. We made our way to D8 and parked at 11:30.
It is now time for a quick transit and one more flight!
