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This is a very short TR about a short domestic flight in the United States. One of the highlights of the flight was the availability of inflight wireless internet. Firstly, I have to say that the existence of inflight internet is not so much of a big deal to me, especially considering it’s a short flight. However, I find it a nice feature onboard.
December 17, 2010
Aircraft: Boeing/McDonnell Douglas MD90
Airline: Delta Air Lines
Flight: DL2064
Seat: 11A
Origin: Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) [KMSP]
Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota - USA
Runway: 30R
Destination: Reagan National Airport (DCA) [KDCA]
Washington, D.C. - USA
Runway: 1
My journey initially began in GFK where I flew DL4664 to MSP. This TR will be about the MSP – DCA leg. Having been to many Asian and European airports, I have to say that airports in the USA are generally dull. But that’s just my opinion. So I arrived in MSP from GFK and began to find my way towards gate Delta 3, where my next flight awaits me. I took the sky train, which helped expedite my travel to the Delta Concourse. Once there, I had about half an hour until boarding. To my surprise, there was a nice observation deck just above the Delta Concourse. There were some pax there, one was playing a guitar and created a nice ambiance. I took some photos from the deck, but unfortunately, the sun began to sink below the horizon and the natural light quickly dissipated.
Delta dominates here...
Taking off 30R
CRJ
DL A320
Just landed 30R
I went back down only to realize there were just several minutes left until boarding. It was nice and organized. The flight was relatively empty. The DL MD90 had a 2-3 seating arrangement in Y. The group of three seats is on the starboard side of the aircraft. On my row there was just another pax seated all the way on the other side of the airplane, leaving three empty seats and an aisle in between. The flight pushed back on time and the overhead monitors dropped down to began the safety videos. In order to showcase DL’s new inflight internet service, the safety video actually shows a computer screen and how it opens the Google Chrome browser and searches “Delta Air Lines Safety Video” in the address box and clicking the first link in the Google results which shows the YouTube video of the DL Safety Video. The cursor in the video then pointed to the fullscreen button where you can see the +1,000,000 views of the video. Then the video itself played like normal. After the video ended, it shows the mouse closing the internet browser.
It didn’t take long to taxi towards runway 30R and before I knew it, the MD90 was already airborne towards the capital of the United States. The inflight internet was enabled once the aircraft ascended above 10,000 feet MSL. The flight lasted for approximately 1 hour and 55 minutes. It was a red-eye flight, so I was quite tired and slept through about half of it. My MacBook Pro was in my camera backpack in the overhead bin and I was too lazy to get it out, so I used my iPod Touch to access the internet service. All you have to do is to enter your email address so DL can give you a receipt for the service and you are free to surf the net. In terms of internet speed, it was faster than I expected, but a tad slower than broadband/DSL. I personally think the internet speed is acceptable for internet browsing at the altitude. I managed to browse through the SQTalk forums at 33,000 feet!
There was no meal service for this red-eye flight, but I was served some snack: salted peanuts, mini pretzels, biscuits, and a drink of your choice. I did not find a problem with space and legroom and I find it adequate for U.S. domestic standards. As we began to descend, one of the F/A came on the PA to announce to the pax to save your work/email because once the aircraft descends below 10,000 ft. MSL, the internet will be disabled. The pilots positioned us for a really long final approach for Runway 1 at DCA. Landing was at 9:03 PM local time. Later that night, I received an email with the invoice from DL. The service will be free of charge for some time as DL is promoting it, but I heard they will start charging it next year.
That’s it for my short TR. I apologize for the lack of pictures. It was a red-eye flight and I was quite tired. I also usually don’t take pictures during U.S. domestic flights because it’s not too impressive anyways!
December 17, 2010
Aircraft: Boeing/McDonnell Douglas MD90
Airline: Delta Air Lines
Flight: DL2064
Seat: 11A
Origin: Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) [KMSP]
Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota - USA
Runway: 30R
Destination: Reagan National Airport (DCA) [KDCA]
Washington, D.C. - USA
Runway: 1
My journey initially began in GFK where I flew DL4664 to MSP. This TR will be about the MSP – DCA leg. Having been to many Asian and European airports, I have to say that airports in the USA are generally dull. But that’s just my opinion. So I arrived in MSP from GFK and began to find my way towards gate Delta 3, where my next flight awaits me. I took the sky train, which helped expedite my travel to the Delta Concourse. Once there, I had about half an hour until boarding. To my surprise, there was a nice observation deck just above the Delta Concourse. There were some pax there, one was playing a guitar and created a nice ambiance. I took some photos from the deck, but unfortunately, the sun began to sink below the horizon and the natural light quickly dissipated.
Delta dominates here...
Taking off 30R
CRJ
DL A320
Just landed 30R
I went back down only to realize there were just several minutes left until boarding. It was nice and organized. The flight was relatively empty. The DL MD90 had a 2-3 seating arrangement in Y. The group of three seats is on the starboard side of the aircraft. On my row there was just another pax seated all the way on the other side of the airplane, leaving three empty seats and an aisle in between. The flight pushed back on time and the overhead monitors dropped down to began the safety videos. In order to showcase DL’s new inflight internet service, the safety video actually shows a computer screen and how it opens the Google Chrome browser and searches “Delta Air Lines Safety Video” in the address box and clicking the first link in the Google results which shows the YouTube video of the DL Safety Video. The cursor in the video then pointed to the fullscreen button where you can see the +1,000,000 views of the video. Then the video itself played like normal. After the video ended, it shows the mouse closing the internet browser.
It didn’t take long to taxi towards runway 30R and before I knew it, the MD90 was already airborne towards the capital of the United States. The inflight internet was enabled once the aircraft ascended above 10,000 feet MSL. The flight lasted for approximately 1 hour and 55 minutes. It was a red-eye flight, so I was quite tired and slept through about half of it. My MacBook Pro was in my camera backpack in the overhead bin and I was too lazy to get it out, so I used my iPod Touch to access the internet service. All you have to do is to enter your email address so DL can give you a receipt for the service and you are free to surf the net. In terms of internet speed, it was faster than I expected, but a tad slower than broadband/DSL. I personally think the internet speed is acceptable for internet browsing at the altitude. I managed to browse through the SQTalk forums at 33,000 feet!
There was no meal service for this red-eye flight, but I was served some snack: salted peanuts, mini pretzels, biscuits, and a drink of your choice. I did not find a problem with space and legroom and I find it adequate for U.S. domestic standards. As we began to descend, one of the F/A came on the PA to announce to the pax to save your work/email because once the aircraft descends below 10,000 ft. MSL, the internet will be disabled. The pilots positioned us for a really long final approach for Runway 1 at DCA. Landing was at 9:03 PM local time. Later that night, I received an email with the invoice from DL. The service will be free of charge for some time as DL is promoting it, but I heard they will start charging it next year.
That’s it for my short TR. I apologize for the lack of pictures. It was a red-eye flight and I was quite tired. I also usually don’t take pictures during U.S. domestic flights because it’s not too impressive anyways!
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