How do you get an astronaut's baby to sleep?
You rocket
Departure Airport: Los Angeles International Airport (LAX/KLAX)
Arrival Airport: Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL/KATL)
Aircraft: Airbus A350-900
Airline: Delta Air Lines
Flight Time: 3:35
Server: Expert
I got to Los Angeles International Airport’s Terminal 3 about 2 hours ahead of my scheduled 11:00 AM departure. After dropping off my bag and clearing security, I made my way not for the many domestic gates Delta operates out of but over to the Tom Bradely International Terminal. My flight today won’t leave American airspace, but it’s operated by a widebody jet. Delta often runs 767s and A350s on the Los Angeles to Atlanta routing to accommodate the massive demand. Today, I’d be on N502DN, an 8 year old A350-900, which I watched being cleaned and unloaded shortly after its arrival from Shanghai.
Boarding started a few minutes behind schedule, due to a slightly late arriving first officer. This was a pretty full flight, so it was quite the lengthy process. After about 20 minutes of getting through all the various status members and first class/Comfort+ passengers, it was my turn to board. I settled into an economy seat right behind the right wing for this 4 hour run to the Peach State.
“This is your captain speaking. We’d like to warmly welcome you onboard Delta Air Lines flight number 446 with service out to Atlanta. We’ll be in the air for a touch under 3 and a half hours today, cruising up at 37 and 39 thousand feet with some really nice tailwinds helping us along. I do expect a fairly smooth ride, maybe just a few bumps as we navigate some weather in New Mexico and Texas. Should be an on time arrival into Atlanta. Weather seems pleasant over there, mostly clear skies and a temperature of 89 degrees. We’re just finishing up a few last bits of paperwork up here, and we should be good to get underway shortly. Thank you.”
After the announcement ended, the safety video played. It was a special video for the airline’s centennial, so that was a pretty neat thing to see. Our taxi was pretty short over to Runway 24L, but there was a pretty stacked lineup for takeoff. We rocketed down the runway and were up in the air pretty quick, given the A350’s powerful engines and our relatively light load of fuel. A few seconds after liftoff, we got the iconic view passing over Playa Del Rey Beach before heading out over the water.
Somewhere over Central Arizona, the lunch service started. Being seated in economy, there was no meal service provided. There was an offering of a free snack and drink, with the option to purchase additional food. I decided to spend $10 on a Market Snack Box from the FlightFuel menu. It was pretty good, containing a medley of prepackaged Mediterranean foods.
Shortly after I ate, the seatbelt sign came back on over Albuquerque. We did get bounced around a little bit, but the pilots did a good job avoiding the worst of the thunderstorms, which were quite a sight to see from the plane. It was around this time that I decided to check out the IFE screen. The selection was absolutely massive, and there were seemingly endless options to choose from. There was a nice page of information about our flight, and a super well done route map. I decided to watch Oppenheimer (fitting given our position over New Mexico), and time passed pretty quickly.
Before I knew it, we were crossing over the Mississippi, right on the Arkansas - Tennessee border. Somewhere along the way, we had climbed up to 41,000 feet, just 2,000 feet short of this aircraft’s service ceiling. The flight attendants slowly began to prepare the cabin for arrival. Given the sheer number of people on the plane, this process takes a little longer than it does on your standard A320 or 737.
Somewhere over Rural Tennessee, the end credits of Oppenhimer were interrupted by the PA.
“Ladies and gentlemen, from the flight deck this is your captain speaking. We’re about 200 miles or so from Atlanta, so we’ll be beginning our initial descent in the next few minutes. We’ll have you on the ground in a little under half an hour. Our approach today will take us over the rest of Tennessee, clipping the corner of Alabama, and then down into the Atlanta area, landing to the west. Weather’s looking good - hot and sunny with just a light breeze out of the north. That said, with the heat on the ground, we could see a few bumps on the way in, so I’m going to go ahead and turn the seatbelt sign on. I’ll turn that seatbelt sign on right now. Sit back, relax, enjoy the rest of the flight, and thank you for flying Delta.”
The approach afforded us some incredible views of Hartsfield Jackson International Airport on Downwind at almost 11,000 feet. It was amazing to be able to see the entirety of the world’s busiest airport laid out below us.
We had a rather firm touchdown on ATL’s Runway 26L, followed by some heavy braking to slow down in an attempt to make the first exit, which we just missed by a hair. After that, it was a pretty lengthy taxi over to Concourse F, where all the widebodies were parked.
I got a final look at our jet as we deplaned. It would head up to Minneapolis in a few hours before making its way across the Pacific to Seoul. Overall, this was a great experience flying a Delta widebody on a relatively short domestic trip.
Passenger Perspective Landing Video:
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