Review of Delta Air Lines flight from New York to Rome in Economy

INTRODUCTION

Hello FlightReporters
In 2022 my parents celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary
To celebrate the event we decided to make a family trip between the end of July and the first week of August

The options were Iceland or USA
Even if Iceland seemed interesting for its breathtaking nature, USA appeared to be more suitable for me and my sister, both in our 20s

We planned to fly to Buffalo in order to see Niagara Falls, then drive to New York via Boston and Cape Cod, spending the last days in the Big Apple. We'd already visited NY in 2013 so it would have been the occasion to see new or more uncommon sights. Moreover for me, as an architecture student, it would have been to occasiont to see the city with a different perspective.

BOOKING OPTIONS

The first days of June we started to search for flights
Finding the best combination was a bit difficult. At the end the best solution appeared to be with Delta Airlines, flying to Buffalo via JFK the 25th July and going back home the 5th August

Delta Airlines offers two fares on Economy Class tickets. The cheapest one (Basic) is with carry-on baggage only while the other (Main) includes also a checked baggage. Both of them allows passengers to bring a small bag as additional baggage.
Since 4 hand luggages and 4 checked ones seemes a bit too much we decided to split the booking in two: 2 bookings with checked baggage and 2 with carry-on only.

The first one costs 2324€ while the second 2024€, for a total of 4348€, 1087€ per person
We bought the tickets through Air France website because they're a little bit cheaper than on Delta's one

ROUTING

BEFORE THE FLIGHT

Despite the cancelled flight to Buffalo it had been a marvellous vacation
Niagara Falls were beyond every expectation, no pics, documentaries or movies can truly express their beauty. Boston was very pleasant as for its surroundings. Cape Cod and New England was really a surprise, a totally different atmosphere from the rest of the Country. New York, I think I don't need words, I truly loved it. It was my second time there, but I really enjoyed it, definitely wanna go there again. 

The day before the flight we checked-in through Delta's app
Differently from the inbound flight we're able to see our boarding passes since no passport verification was required
As for FCO-JFK flight we had our seats in the rear cabin of the A330, 58A-B-C-D

Arriving to JFK and check-in

To get to JFK from our hotel in Midtown, Manhattan, we had two choices: the metro, which required 45-60 minutes and two transfers (for less than 10$) or the taxi.
Our hotel offered a transfer service for 140$, Uber costed 90-100$ and NY official taxi had a flat rate of 52$. We decided to get the last solution, since the big amount of baggages would have pose an issue on the subway, considering the transfers

Having the flight scheduled for 19:30 we decided to be at the airport no later than 16:30. Knowing that the road to the airport may be busy at that time we left the hotel on West 37th St. at 15:10

We encounter some traffic on the way to the airport, especially driving to Queens
Finally, around 16:00 the taxi left us at New York-John Fitzgerald Kennedy International Airport

The taxi driver charges us 75$ since we're four people and he asked for a tip

All Delta's international flights are handled at Terminal 4, while domestic ones departs from Terminal 2

The Terminal was quite busy

Delta occupies an entire island

Fortunately there was no queue at the counter, but the check-in procedure took around 20 minutes
One of the two checked bags was heavier than the 52lbs limit and we had to move some stuff in the lightest one

We tried to change my sister's seat in order to get another window, but the plane was full

twa terminal tour + plane spotting

Having two hours to spare before boarding (scheduled for 18:35) I decided to take a short visit to the old TWA Terminal, located just one stop of AirTrain. Meanwhile my family passed through security and would wait me in the departure lounge

The terminal was designed by Finnish architect Eero Saarinen and served as TWA's hub from 1962 to 2001. Its thin-shell concrete structure made it an architecture masterpiece among airport terminals. After the opening of JetBlue's Terminal 5 the building was transformed in a hotel, which opened in May 2019

The building seen from the AirTrain

The nearest AirTrain station is Terminal 5, which is located 3-4 minutes walking

Love this logo

Some vintage cars parked in front of the building to enhance the Jet Age's feeling

Old check-in counters converted into the hotel's front desks

Beautiful FIDS

The other check-in wing transformed into food counters

The main lounge has been transformed in a bar

Lockheed L-1649 Starliner

As an aspiring architect I find really stunning how concrete was shaped in a so fluid and light structure

Taking the AirTrain back to Terminal 4 gave me interesting spotting opportunities

JetBlue A321s, Air France Boeing 777 and Delta Boeing 767

British Airways Boeing 777 and LOT Boeing 787 parked at Terminal 7

ITA Airways A350

Air France Triple-7

Lufthansa Boeing 747-8

On the way to T4, Emirates A380 and WestJet Boeing 737

Virgin Atlantic A330

Waiting for boarding and other spotting

It took me less than 20 to clear security
Only half of the screening lanes were opened and this made the control slower

Our flight shown to be on time and departing from gate B30, as written on the boarding pass

I rejoined my family in the departure lounge, full of nice shops and food and beverages options

The headhouse presents a large glass facade to the apron, giving a good chance of plane spotting

Kuwait Airways Boeing 777

Latam and Virgin Atlantic tails

Singapore airlines A380 parked behind a Delta A319

Delta Boeing 737s and Aeromexico Boeing 787

Terminal 4 is equipped with two piers, named A and B
While the main building has a more interesting architecture, the piers are kinda basic
The holdrooms were quite busy

Delta Boeing 737 parked next to a KLM Boeing 777

Virgin Atlantic A350

Etihad Airways A350

Latam Boeing 777

Aeromexico Boeing 787

Delta A330neo

We reached our gate, B30, in a few minutes
The floght to San Francisco was closing at that moment
A family at the counter was arguing with the agent, maybe because they showed up late. By the way the plane was still parked and connected to the jetbridge

Delta Boeing 767 bound to SFO

Virgin Atlantic Boeing 787 and Emirates A380

China Airlines Boeing 777

Delta A220

Delta Boeing 757

Air Serbia A330 heading to Terminal 1

Around 18:00, half a hour before scheduled boarding time, our plane was towed to the gate
According to FlightRadar it landed from Dublin a few hours before

Delta Air Lines Airbus A330-300, N830NW, delivered in January 2017 to Delta Airlines
It's equipped with 282 seats, 34 in J, 21 in W and 227 in Y

boarding (chaos)

Cabin crew arrived around 18:25, ten minutes before scheduled boarding time
The gate was opened 20 minutes after and then started the mess

Boarding was called for groups, starting from DeltaOne, Delta Premium Select, SkyPriority and then Main Cabin 1 and 2
Unfortunately not so many people seemed to understand this system and most of them rushed to the gate trying to get onboard
Moreover one agent was checked really carefully if the passenger screened belonged to the group, while the other one didn't care so much about

Even if we're Main 2 group we sneaked at the counter when Main 1 group was called
30 minutes after the gate opening we got our boarding passes scanned

Delta A330neo parked next to us

No doubts about who rules here at T4

Bye bye New York, hope to see you again soon

Almost onboard

The Purser welcomed me aboard with a smiling "Buonasera"
He also speaked Italian
I gave him the Flight Report form and he told me he'd have brought it to the cockpit

I receive mixed reactions from the crew every time I give this paper. To be honest I was a bit "worried" by the American crew's reaction, due to all the security and safety apprehensions, but fortunately they didn't make questions
In the paper is clearly stated that it can be filled at Captain's discretion, so it didn't pose a big issue for the Purser 

Delta Main cabin

58A is located in the last row of the cabin
Fortunately behind the seat there was a bit of space to recline it without issues

The view from my seat as sun started to set

Being among the first to board in Economy gave us a lot of space in the overhead lockers
The plane was filling slowly, maybe due to the chaotic operations at the gate

While boarding came to end the crew distributed a travel kit from Comfort+ cabin and plugs

Doors were armed around 19:40, but a few minutes later they're opened again to let some connecting passengers board
Finally "boarding complete" was called moments after 20:00, half a hour later than scheduled departure time

Meanwhile the safety video was played

The looooooong taxi

Around 20:10 we left the gate

Lights were lowered and mood-lighting turned pink

Delta A330neo

Delta Boeing 737

Delta Boeing 767

American Airlines Boeing 737

El Al Boeing 787 with T4 in the background

Emirates A380s

JetBlue's hub, Terminal 5

Due to traffic (caused by weather limitations) we waited more than 20 minutes stuck on the taxiway

Crossing RWY13L/31R

Unknown Boeing 747, surely cargo

Waiting our turn to depart behind British Airways and American Airlines Triple-7s

We'd depart from runway 22R

the flight

45 minutes after leaving the gate the two General Electric engines went full thrust

Goodbye Big Apple

Mood-lighting turning purple after the take-off

Banking over the ocean

Jamaica Bay, JFK Airport and New York City in the background

JFK Airport is surrounded for two sides by water

Climbing over Long Island

Norwalk or Westport

We continued our climb over Connecticut

As a light turbolence was announced, a thunderstorm revealed itself in the distance

First time seeing thunders from a plane, so impressive

(To get this pic I took a short video and than made a screenshot)

dinner time

One hour into the flight the dinner was served

Since we were in the last row only one food option was available

Quinoa with mixed vegetables
Followed by 
Chicken Marsala with mashed potatoes and steamed vegetables
To finish
Lemon Blondie brownie

Quinoa salad was quite tasty and refreshing

Chicken had a good taste and perfectly cooked, however it was a bit difficult to cut with that useless toy-cutlery. Mashed potatoes were fine too, while veggies were a bit undercooked

Lemon Blondie was sickly

Service terminated while we approached Newfoundland

After dinner I wore my eye-mask, recline my seat and tried to sleep
The last row seat presented just one additional drawback: the toilet flush noise
By the way I was so tired that I fell into Morpheus' hands in a short time

Breakfast approaching FCO

I slept 5 hours and half
I woke up while breakfast was being served, flying over souther France
Less than one hour to Rome

Breakfast was made of a hot box and a fruit salad

The box contained a cheese and egg bun which was quite good and less drier than it appeared. The fruit salad was very refreshing

Meanwhile we started to fly over Mediterranean Sea

Varazze, in Liguria Region

Piombino, in Tuscany Region

After the breakfast service was over the Purser came to my seat holding the Flight Report form and these two small gifts
I really appreciated them, they'll be definitely a good memory from this vacation

The report was filled very good

landing in rome

The cabin was prepared for landing

Talamone, also in Tuscany Region

Montalto di Castro Power Plant, in Lazio Region

Approaching FCO from north

Bracciano Lake

Aurelia state highway, which connects Rome with France at the Ventimiglia's border

A12 motorway, which passes close to the airport's border

We'd land on RWY16L, which is quite unusual at FCO

Most of the times "heavies" land on parallel runway 16R/34L, due to its proximity to the international terminal, while 16L/34R is used for domestic and European flights
It's not a fixed rule, just a matter of distance between runways and terminals

At 10:29, just four minutes after scheduled arrival time, we touched town at Rome-Leonardo da Vinci International Airport
It's impressive, we took off with one hour and twenty minutes of delay and we landed almost on time

Vacating the runway after a smooth and long landing run

ASL Airlines Boeing 737 parked at the Cargo area

ITA Airways A320s and Poste Air Cargo Boeing 737s

Vueling A320 and Air Europa Boeing 737 parked at the new pier A61-83, opened in May 2022

Pier A1-10, which hosts European flights

Aegean Airlines A320, Norwegian Boeing 737s, airBaltic A220, Volotea A320 and Ryanair Boeing 737

ITA Airways A330

Twin Delta A330 parked at pier E11-24

ITA Airways A350 pained in "Born to be Sustainable" livery

This plane definitely gives an idea on how ITA's livery would have looked if they chose a white style as most of airlines

Air Transat A330

United Airlines Boeing 777

American Airlines Boeing 777

We parked at gate E11 at 10:44

Disembarking I met the Captain and thanked him for the nice gift
I didn't ask to visit the cockpit since I've already seen it on FCO-JFK flight

Bye bye Delta A330

At FCO (as in many other airports) flights coming from countries as USA are part of One-Step-Security policy
This means that disembark happens into the departure lounge and not in a separate arrivals' mezzanine
Obviously it's really useful for connecting passengers, who're not required to clear security again

Heading straight to the baggage reclaim hall

Since the gate we disembark was at the beginning of the pier, it took just a few minutes to reach the immigration hall
There was no queue and the control was made in no time thanks to the e-Gates

The baggage reclaim hall was undergoing a refurbishments and only a few belts were available. By the way it didn't look too busy
We waited less than 10 minutes for our bags to be delivered

After getting off the terminal (and being welcomed by one of the hottest summers in Rome) we took the shuttle bus to the long-term parking and drove home

FCO greeted us with an ITA Airwas A350 landing on RWY34R