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

A visual of my entire journey from Athens to Salt Lake City via JFK & LAX which would cover a total distance of 8,006mi/12,883km

Introduction

Welcome everyone to this trip report. This is a continuation series of my three leg trip that began in Greece on my way home to Salt Lake City, Utah. This time I'll be covering the transcontinental flight between JFK and LAX in economy class onboard one of Delta's ancient yet fascinating aircraft. I had just passed passport control and customs with ease and now made my way to a dedicated connections security just as enter the arrivals hall. It was not hard to follow as there were bright yellow signs with the word 'connecting flights' which will ultimately lead you there.

We finally made it airside but with thousands of other passengers arriving from their transatlantic flights onwards to catch their connecting flights as well it took a total time of nearly an hour to go through security control. Initially we had a 3 hour layover most of that time was taken up my passport control and clearing security. 

This trip was taken in the beginning of Dec. 2023 so christmas decorations were at full swing throughout the concourse. 

T4 Concourse B Sky Club

Since our flight to LA was going to depart out of the B gates, me and my mom opted to try out the Sky Club on concourse B. Naturally there was a a huge line at this time just to get in and that alone took about 10-15 minutes. Finally it would be our turn and the agent welcomed us in. 

The Sky Club was great and had a great array of food and beverage options. Definitely took advantage of the food here as we would not be getting anything to eat (aside from some snacks) on our next nearly 6 hour cross country flight in just a few moments. 

The flight board.

My aircraft

After spending about 30 minutes or so in the lounge it was soon time to start heading to the gate area. This will be my bird taking me across the country this evening. 

While looking up the info on this plane, I was completely astonished on the age of this aircraft. At the time of this flight this 767 was just about thirty three and a half years old and it is still going strong at the time of writing this trip report she's still flying and well over 34 years now!  It's unheard of for me to fly on an aircraft that's older then me (and I'm not that young neither 😅). 

Some information about my plane:
Flight number: DL 429
Aircraft: Boeing 767-332(ER)
Registration: N175DN
Delivered: July 26, 1990
Age: 33.4 years (at time of flight)

Thanks to my status, I had received an upgrade at the gate and for this cross country adventure I'll be traveling in comfort+ section, DL's version of economy plus. To be exact I'll be seated in 19A. This B767 (76L) is configured in three classes which are 36 Delta One, 32 Comfort+ and 143 Main Cabin seats for a capacity of 211 passengers. If I'm not mistaken these 767's mostly operate domestic transcon and Hawaii flights as it's not the premium heavy version which is missing the premium select cabin that is normally used on transatlantic flights. Seat map courtesy of aerolopa.

Boarding

In no time the gate area filled up with a lot of people anxiously waiting to board.

Since I got upgraded at the gate, my mobile boarding pass didn't reflect my newly upgraded seat from main cabin.

Boarding began on time and I boarded with comfort+ group.

Onboard

I finally made it to my seat, 19A. I apologize for the lack of a seat view as my seatmate was already there when I arrived. 

A nice sized PTV which I'll take a look at later in the flight.

Legroom is great and these seats offer 34" of pitch, a whole 2 inches more then regular main cabin.

Waiting at each seat was a plastic sealed blanket which will come to good use in this fairly long flight to California tonight. Although I would of appreciated if they also offered a pillow for more comfort. 

My view for the next 6 hours. 

An FA came through the cabin offering complimentary earbuds which is always a nice gesture.

Boarding was completed and today's flight load to LA is nearly full at about 95%.

Pushback

We pushed back from the gate right on time. You can check out the full taxi and takeoff down in the video below: 

Shortly after the safety video began showing.

We passed by a Virgin Atlantic Airbus A350-1000 taking off for London (LHR).

Takeoff

Finally it was our turn and we lined up for our departure on runway 13R. 

Until next time NY!

Inflight service

About 50 minutes into flight the first inflight service began as we were flying close over Detroit. 

When flying in comfort+ domestically, there is a premium snack basket that is passed around by a FA before the main snack and drink service. I opted for a bag of potato chips and pretzels. 

Shortly after that, the main drink and snack service commenced. I went for a coke and a bag of sun chips. It's worth noting that alcoholic beverages are complimentary when flying domestically in comfort+. 

After the service, the cabin lights were dimmed for everyone to get some rest. 

Eventually the cabin was pitch dark for the majority of the flight. I decided to catch some snooze as I've been up at this point for almost 24 hours.  

I woke up once again as we were flying over Colorado Springs. 

Inflight Entertainment

Let's explore DL's fantastic inflight entertainment. There are countless movies, tv shows and music to choose from. More then enough content for a flight of this length.

However my go-to for entertainment is the interactive map which is fantastic.

Pre arrival service

About an hour before arrival, the cabin lights were turned on once again for the start of the pre-arrival service. 

This time however only drinks were offered and no snacks. I went for a coffee which came along with cream and sugar. 

Initial descent

Not long after we began our initial descent into Los Angeles.

The FA's began preparing the cabin for landing. 

You can check out the whole landing down in the video below:

Landing

We'd be landing on runway 24L.

Welcome to LA!

Spotted this good looking Airbus A350-900 departing for Sydney this evening. 

Arrival at gate

We arrived at the gate 15 minutes ahead of schedule, well done Delta.

Passing by the very outdated Delta One cabin.

This concludes the trip report, stay tuned for the next TR in this series 😉. Thanks for reading!