Welcome to the next Flight-Report for a trip I took in January. This edition will cover my flight from Atlanta to Montreal. Eventually, my Flight-Reports will cover:
DL 1625; BWI-ATL; F Class; 5/1/2014
DL 5324; ATL-YUL; F Class; 5/1/2014 (Current Report)
AF 346; YUL-CDG; J Class; 5/1/2014
AF 3886; CDG-AMM; J Class; 6/1/2014
RJ 344; AMM-TLV; J Class; 9/1/2014
AZ 809; TLV-FCO; J Class; 17/1/2014
AZ 610; FCO-JFK; J Class; 17/1/2014
DL 2914; JFK-DCA; F Class; 17/1/2014
After arriving into ATL on DL 1625, I exited the plane. We flew into Terminal A. My next flight, DL 5324 to YUL, was departing from Terminal E, and my layover was only around an hour and a half, so I moved fairly quickly to Terminal E so I could catch a few minutes in the lounge. Before leaving the terminal, though, I was able to take a photo of the 757 next door.
Since I was arriving early on Sunday, ATL wasn't as busy as it would be later in the day.
I was disappointed that we weren't leaving from Terminal F, ATL's new international terminal. Instead, the flight departed from Terminal E, the old international terminal.
After taking the train to Terminal E, I made my way toward the Sky Club. Unfortunately, because of the time, One Flew South was not yet open. For those of you who aren't familiar with One Few South, it is what I consider the best airport restaurant in the country. Service is great, the food is great, the atmosphere is great. If I have time and it's open, I always make my way there.
Anyhow, this Sky Club entrance was closed, so I made my way to the main entrance.
Thankfully, due to the time, the Sky Club wasn't very crowded.
The Sky Club is great for plane watching.
As is usual, the Sky Club is not great for for finding good food options. At least since I've been visiting them, Sky Clubs have always been better breakfast options than lunch options. There might be good news on the horizon, though, as Delta is apparently introducing better food.
The bar is popular. Note the special bar in the back. In some Sky Club locations, Delta offers premium beverages for a fee. These mostly tend to be Scotch, but I also see other premium whiskies, tequila, and good vodka back there.
For what it's worth, I like the design of the men's restrooms.
It's time to leave the Sky Club. Despite the lack of exciting food options, the Sky Club was the better place to go, as ATL is seeing more passengers.
Although not as new and shiny as Terminal F, Terminal E has one standout exhibit: several of Doctor Martin Luther King Jr.'s personal effects.
Heading to my gate, I have an opportunity to see a few more planes.
At the gate, and here is the chariot that will take me to Montreal.
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I'm the first in Business Class to board the plane. Since this is a small regional jet, Business Class is laid out in a 1-2 configuration; economy is 2-2. Leg room is adequate, but not exemplary. Mind you, I'm 1.97m tall.
The fog has not yet lifted from ATL, so taxing doesn't provide great views of planes.
I can see enough to recognize that American Eagle's new livery is just as awful as American Airlines mainline's new livery is.
Because a meal is served on this flight, we receive an oshibori.
Because the flight is less than 1,500 miles, only a cold breakfast is served. The breakfasts consists of a prepackaged muffin, Chex, milk, strawberry yogurt, and fruit. This is Delta's ubiquitous cold breakfast. They really can do better. I ordered an orange juice with my breakfast.
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When I said they can do better, I mean they occasionally (really, rarely) do. This is the cold breakfast a year ago, ABQ-ATL.
This is how a cold breakfast is done. There's high-quality granola with a lot of dried fruit. The croissant was lovely. The fresh fruit had blackberries! If Delta consistently provided this for a cold breakfast, I'd be a-okay.
Anyhow, they don't. Back to my flight. Cheers!
Because of clouds, there's little to see out the window.
Finally, the suburbs of Montreal.
We land without a problem. Snowy YUL.
I had a seven-hour layover at YUL, so I rented a car and visited some friends. Immigration was wholly painless, with one of the friendliest customs agents I've ever met.
Too bad you didn't have more time in ATL. When I have enough time, I'll go to the F Sky Club regardless of where my flight is departing. That's one nice thing about ATL, being able to go to any club (time permitting). In Paris, for example, one cannot access AF lounges in a different concourse thant your departing flight. The SKy Club food options are just sad--I'm glad they will finally be introducing actual food (sandwiches, soups, better cheeses from what I've been reading). Breakfast on the shorter flights is normally terrible...how embarassing to serve cereal as a main course...but then again, I understand that most pax in domestic F are upgrades so they have no incentive to improve catering. I like the omelettes on the longer domestic flights, though. I really like the F cabin config on E170/CRJ700/900, the A seats are great when travelling solo. You are right that the legroom isn't great though. I find the First row of Economy Comfort to have MUCH more room than in F. Thanks for sharing!
I've been to the F Sky Club once before, right around when it opened up. I remember it being bright, airy, and spacious—a really good example of a Sky Club.
I'm not sure that I've had Delta's 1,500+ breakfast before. Being based around WAS, and before that MCI, my 1,500+ meals always tended to be lunch or dinner. Late this month and early next month, I have an F RT to SNA, so I'll get two of these breakfasts. Looking forward to them.
I'll be posting a flight-report in F from DCA-SLC with the 1500+ Breakfast. Not sure when I have a backlog of a few reports, but it should be soon-ish.
Thanks for sharing this FR
The breakfast is poor and not appealling at all
An interestingly creative title picture.
My educated guess is that such a showy welcome message by the mayor of a major French city at the airport would generate instant popular rejection - no matter how popular he/she would actually be. Maybe Americans wouldn't think twice about it - cultural differences, and that is what makes this pictures interesting to my eyes.
I too like this decoration of the men's room, and agree about AA's new livery. Thanks for this report !
Thank you for this second opus.
The flight's duration should allow a better service : the breakfast tray isn't appealing :( Anyway, a full service awaits with the next flight.
Thanks for the tip about One Flew South, I may give it a try :)
Thanks for this FR.
It's always surprising to see a real breakfast(even if not amazing)with a linen cloth on a RJ, where the usual service is usually drinks only.
In 1,5 hour you didn't want to risk going to the F gates for a few minutes?
It's not a matter of risking it. As I just noted above, I had been to the F Sky Club before. Given the amount of flying I was doing, I'd rather relax in the E Sky Club than run back and forth from the F terminal.
Excellent report! I was wondering, if there was anyway you can send me the picture of the Delta B757 at the beginning of your report?
Thanks for this FR.