RVBOOS

Wanted to share this experience with you...

Since i'm in my exit strategy from Delta, I haven't been flying them much. But since I was doing FLL-MKE, they were the best choice as far as fares and times went.

Anyway, flight home last week from MKE-ATL was on a 737-200 in a window seat. This had to be the single worst experience in my five years of business travel. The plane was old, it smelled bad, the carpets were ripped. I was also jammed into the middle seat, the seat in front of me reclined into my face...... it was horrible.

If all the "enhancements" that drove me away were ever questioned, this brought it back to me that i'm doing the right thing not flying DL.

andymo99

Five years of business travel and this is the worst experience that you have endured!?!?

Ripped carpets... old plane... malodor...
Is there any business traveller among us who wouldn't trade his own "worst experience" for RVBOOS'?

Count your lucky stars, RVBOOS.

jjglaze77

Although I would agree this is not the worst thing that could happen to someone, I am certain that worse has happened to RVBOOS... I would imagine that he/she is just referring to the actual flying experience... and personally, I think the 732 is one of Delta's worst aircrafts. The only thing that makes it bearable is 16A & 16F. If not in F or 16A or 16F, then it makes for a long flight. Everybody has their least favorites, perhaps this is mine because we get them for 2 of the 3 TUL-ATL flights, and after SLC goes RJ, we go all 732 TUL-ATL. Perhaps I should shut my mouth though... at least they are not RJs

sxf24

So, were you in a window or a middle seat? One is tolerable, the other is much less so.

Either way, it is to bad you had an unpleasant flight. Still, there are a few positives to keep in mind - 1) a 737-200 is better than a CRJ, 2) DL typically does a better job cleaning their aircraft then AA. Just imagine flying on a dirty, smelly plane on many more flights.

PIONEER

Just curious...was this an all coach plane?

I'v egotta think that DL is going to phase these 732s out as they replace mainline routes with RJs, thus perhaps explaining the lack of cosmetic maintenance.

Aren't there Delta's oldest planes?

ConnFlyer

The 732's all have F. They have been reconfigured from their Delta Express days.

They aren't DL's oldest planes either. Most of the 732's were delivered between 1984 and 1986. DL has 762's and 752's that are older than that.

As for phasing the 732's out, exactly the opposite is happening. The 732's are being pulled out of the desert and put back into service. DL has a total of 52 732's of which about 30 are currently in service. If all goes as planned, the remaining 22 should be phased into service over the next 6-9 months. This phase-in will support DL's intended 8-10% capacity growth for 2004.

In some cases, the 732's will actually be used to upgrade RJ routes. If you look at the winter schedule (particularly out of ATL), you'll see some RJ flights being replaced by 732's. For example, ATL-GRR, which had been turned over completely to RJ's, will regain one mainline flight next year (using a 732).

The 732's are worn and could use an interior overhaul, but they fill an important gap between the CRJ700 and the MD88.

JRF

This is sad, and a sign of an airlines having real problems. However, this is cosmetic and easily fixed. The bigger problems, FF program, insulting PAX, and the worst problem, dealing with ASA. It is all relative, but the sum of the parts is now a negative on the qaulity scale.

PIONEER

Thanks Conn.

Do you happen to know if the ones being pulled out of the desert also have F, or are they keeping the Delta Express configuration?

JS

Delta Express is gone. The all-coach mainline planes are 737-800's.

Re "the seat in front of me reclined into my face" -- welcome to standard coach!

You must have been flying nothing but First Class or UA E+ the last five years. All the Delta planes in coach (except the Shuttle config) have tight seating. The 737-200 is not any worse than the others, in my experience.

As ConnFlyer wrote, we should be singing the praises of the 737-200. The 737 was originally put on routes too small for a 727, routes that today are often stuck with CRJ's. Thank goodness the CRJ didn't exist back then.

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"Yippie-kay-yay, Mr. Falcon!" -- John McClane, Die Hard II As Seen on TV

Motion122

Was in one of these SLC-IAH, IAH-SLC...19F and 12E.... very cramped and no legroom. When will DL match E+ on UA?