Detroit - Chicago DL / F, MD -88: Cabin crew, take your seats
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St Louis - Detroit DL / Y, B717-200
Detroit - Chicago DL / F, A319
Chicago - Minneapolis DL / F, E175
Minneapolis - Seattle DL / F, B757-300
Seattle - Fairbanks AK / F, B737-900ER
Fairbanks - Seattle AK / F, B737-700
Seattle - Paris CDG DL / J, B767-300ER
Paris CDG - Basle AF / Y, ATR72
Out as third from the plane, I'll arrive very quickly at immigration, and there's is virtually nobody. 10 minutes later, I'll be waiting my bags that will arrive within 5 minutes. That's what I called priority :) The last time I flew through DTW it was the same, very quick immigration and fast bag delivery. Hope it will be the same next time as well.
I head for a quick lounge tour at the Sky Club as I plan some spotting before my plane is due to depart.
The fire place is the most interesting thing in that lounge:
I'll only have a quick and bad coffee from this coffee station:
Travel docs:
As the offering very poor is, I make my way to the terminal to take some shoots of DTW:
An Embraer parked next door:
And my plane is arriving:
The plane pulls in to the gate on time, lots of hope for an on time departure. Unfortunately, the jetty operator will try to go too fast and hits the plane badly. I saw the plane shacking strongly. As a result, the plane was AOG, and Delta OPS was in need for another plane. Thanks to being at a DL Hub, this won't be too long. 15 minutes later a replacement A/C has been found, two gates further back.
In no time the boarding is launched and here the first class seat, as I boarded the aircraft among the first passengers:
Next to us:
The cabin crew was friendly, but the purser will not follow any DL procedure. There won't be a welcome drink, but instead she'll walk around the cabin with the water pack and handed out water bottles. Then she came around with a big plastic bag of peanuts and handed them out. Same for pretzels, and same again for the Biscoff Cookies. Was funny to see, but not very classy. Furthermore, she had a very male voice that was kind of strange and she was always laughing loud. A nice person, but as said, not classy at all.
A further 10 minutes delay is announced due to ATC. Let's take some pictures of the safety on board card in the meantime:
Push back and drive to the de-icing. As I begin to get a bit bored, here is the PSU:
While de-icing, I shoot everything I see to kill the time:
At the end, we summ up a 90 minutes delay, that will give an hour on arrival. After de-icing, we'll use a taxiway and a runway not completly ice and snow clear:
Some snow plumber in the distance:
Take-off before that jumbo jet:
In flight, we'll get some drinks and snacks, and I'll have my usual bac-coke:
That's the mad-dog loo: (liquid in the loo is not mine ^^, that's flush water)
That bird shows its age, but still a good workhorse for DL!
Eventually we start our descent after a short cruise of 20 minutes. Wonderful views of the Michigan Lake, frozen to 78% (Wiki is my best friend and learnt me that this is the record since the last 20 years. The absolute record was 98%)
Chicago O'hare is being snow plumbed as well!
A bit of spotting before we arrive at the gate:
And this snow-melter that we don't have in Europe:
We will be at the parking stand with a good hour delay, but the bags will be at the caroussel before me. I jump in a taxi to downtown, even if I know that it will be expensiver than the L (USD 2.50.- from ORD to downtown). But it will be a good deal, no trafic jam and it will only cost me 35 bucks and 15 minutes later I am at my hotel.
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Verdict
Delta Air Lines
7.1/10
Cabin8.5
Cabin crew8.0
Entertainment/wifi5.0
Meal/catering7.0
Delta Air Lines Sky Club (Gate A18)
3.6/10
Comfort2.0
Meal/catering2.0
Entertainment/wifi8.5
Services2.0
Detroit - DTW
9.6/10
Efficiency9.5
Access10.0
Services9.5
Cleanliness9.5
Chicago - ORD
9.2/10
Efficiency10.0
Access9.0
Services9.0
Cleanliness9.0
Conclusion
The MD88 is definitively and old plane, but the seats are comfy enough. A strange purser but funny and nice. On such a short flight, it is virtually impossible to offer a better catering. DTW Sky Club? What do you expect ? Well, it's a Sky Club :) DTW Airport? Nice and functional, I really like it.
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As the offering very poor is, I make my way to the terminal to take some shoots of DTW:
you don't say! Love to read these old reports with cool old Mad dogs, and the old AAL liveries under a snowy wonderland weather type; gives me some "home alone" vibes! Thanks!
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4 Comments
Thanks for sharing this FR, it has awesome pictures!
The weather is very cold ! I wanna some snow in Brussels to have a normal winter but... we have 15°C... Last week 20°C ! Absolutely logical...
Awesome aerial pictures !
you don't say!
Love to read these old reports with cool old Mad dogs, and the old AAL liveries under a snowy wonderland weather type; gives me some "home alone" vibes!
Thanks!
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