Ever wondered what a cabin interior looks like when it’s going through mod? It’s not pretty but the outcome will be excellent. Just like a house renovation, you can see here peering in through Door 2L, our AMT’s are hard at work renovating the cabin of 1804.
Late last week, Delta took delivery of its 7th 737-700 aircraft ship 3607. It is currently in work for its prior-to-service mods and will be our last 737 new delivery for another 6 months. We are currently in the process of reviewing our schedules to convert the numbers 3101-3104 over to the 3600 series and will have more information on timing in a future blog.
Speaking of 3100 series aircraft, ship 3102 just returned to service over this past weekend with new SAT COM equipment. She will join 3101 on the Atlanta to Manaus, Brazil run.
Wi-Fi production has begun with several more ships entering the fleet. The low dip in cold weather that Atlanta has been seeing hampered but has not harmed some of our adhesive curing. We have been able to increase the fleet to 15 aircraft with Wi-Fi. Look for 757 ships 690 and 692 flying around the system with Delta’s Wi-Fi logo installed.
Upcoming mods for February include then 75E Large Lav Tank and Sat Com mod. Ship 6803 is scheduled to induct on 09FEB where we will be increasing the volume of the lavatory tanks. 6803 will help support Delta’s newly announced Africa flying. Additionally, our first M90 aircraft will begin its prototype for Wi-Fi starting on Feb 15. Lastly, the 1st of the remaining (8) 767-300ER’s that do not currently have Sat Com will begin installation work in late February.
Mike Kotas
Fleet Programs
February 3rd, 2009 at 10:06 am
Thanks for the updates Mike!
February 3rd, 2009 at 2:43 pm
When you mention “We are currently in the process of review our schedules to convert the number of 3101-3104 over to the 3600 series and will have more information on timing in a future blog.”
Are you talking about the 77L’s or the ex-AA 757′s?
February 3rd, 2009 at 4:18 pm
I’m sure I missed this somewhere or in an old post, but what’s Sat Com? That’s separate from the Wi-fi mods, right?
In terms of mods, will you start making interior mods to Northwest planes too soon?
February 3rd, 2009 at 6:21 pm
Guys thanks for the comments:
Chris: The 3100 series aircraft are our new 737-700 aircraft. As a result of the merger with NWA, several of there A319′s have 3100 series numbers as well. We will convert the pre-merger Delta aircraft to 3600 because we have a smaller fleet size to convert.
aholbrook:
Sat Com is short for Satellite Communications
As for interiors, you will begin to see the soft goods on the NWA aircraft (i.e. dress covers, carpet, etc) over the next few months. For more specfici hard goods, that will begin in 2010.
February 3rd, 2009 at 11:12 pm
I would like more information on the 767-400ER in the picture. I thought only the Business Elite cabin was going to be renovated. What is happening in coach? What will the interior of this aircraft look like after it is renovated?
In addition, I am interested in knowing when your aircraft will receive the Cozy Suites in coach. Can you provide me with that information? Thank you.
February 3rd, 2009 at 11:53 pm
This sort of post makes me want to switch all my flying over to Delta even more.
February 5th, 2009 at 6:34 pm
Thanks for the updates. These are very much appreciated. The tech side of airlines are very cool.
February 6th, 2009 at 8:32 am
Skymiler:
1804, pictured above, and eventually 1805-1810, will have updated Panasonic seat back AVOD/IFE in Y/C. This will be identical to our other 767-400′s with our existing Business Elite product. Cozy Suite is still under evaluation and more information will come at a later date.
February 6th, 2009 at 1:44 pm
It’s odd how narrow it looks inside when the seats aren’t installed. Almost looks like a 757.
February 8th, 2009 at 2:25 pm
Great report, Mike!
As has been mentioned, it is interesting to hear a little from the technical side of the operation. Just a little additional info that may be noteworthy to fellow bloggers, regarding the NW Airbus fleet. For the first quarter ’09 the A319 fleet stands at 57 aircraft (an additional five on order), ship #’s 3101 – 3171, with some gaps in the sequence. Ship #’s 3148 and 3149 are the first of the -319′s to wear Delta paint, having been painted within the last few weeks, with plenty more to follow!
February 15th, 2009 at 3:32 am
Aloha Mike!
That’s wonderful that Delta is finally adding AVOD into the 767-400 in economy- hopefully I’ll get a chance to be entertained on a HNL flight soon!
I am curious though, is 1804 only getting an AVOD and BusinessElite upgrade? Since I assume the seats need to be modified, does that also mean new seats?
And ship 6803 – is that a 767? 777? I am sort of confused. Is it getting AVOD in support of the Africa expansion?
And 3101-3104 would just have a number change, nothing else, right? A blog entry on what each series means in pre-Delta terms would be cool (I work for a tour company in HNL, and we have specific series #’s for equipment classes too).
And last, but not least… the workhorse 767-300ER fleet… PLEASE say they are going to get upgraded! I fly ATL-STR once every other year and the 767-300ER’s are in bad shape. Any word on them getting upgrades, or, even better, AVOD?
Aloha!
February 16th, 2009 at 5:20 pm
@paparazzi1983: Ship 6803, or N704X, is an ETOPS-rated Boeing 757-2Q8 that Delta acquired from American Airlines.
ETOPS stands for “Extended-range Twin-engine Operational Performance Standards”. This rating allows aircraft with two engines to fly routes which take the plane further than 60 minutes (i.e., an hour) away from a diversion airport, should one engine fail. You can find more information here and here.
Most of AA’s 757s are powered by Rolls Royce RB.211 engines. However, when TWA collapsed, AA received a number of Pratt & Whitney-powered 757s from them. Now, AA has sold them off, most likely in order to keep aircraft commonality. These aircraft are ETOPS-rated. All of Delta’s 757s are PW-powered; however, most aircraft are not ETOPS-rated.
Anyway, you can see this particular aircraft in this previous blog post. I guess I could believe a 757 could fly that far, but it’s a good thing that it’s going in for an IFE upgrade; it’ll need it!
March 6th, 2009 at 10:25 am
@imagepaparazzi1983 – the 767-300ERs were recently upgraded with flat-panel LCDs in coach. As for the 767-400ER AVOD, the international-configured planes have had it installed for a while now. The domestic fleet of 764s (same sub-fleet that did the ATL-HNL missions you referred to) didn’t, however that is now changing with the remaining 764s being moved over to the international side of the operation. Soon, though, the ATL-HNL sector will be flown using 747-400s operated by our subsidiary Northwest Airlines which have AVOD, however only in the business class cabin (for now).
Christopher Weyer
Flight Simulator Technician
Delta Air Lines, Inc.
March 10th, 2009 at 6:51 am
@chris w
yeah! I see the newly-painted 747-400 in Delta colors (I believe it was 6305) while driving at HNL (work for the Wiki Wiki shuttles, so I get the pleasure of seeing jets at work all day!)! I’m curious though- does that mean Delta will change their gates at HNL? Because I don’t think Delta’s current gates (21,22,23) are capable of holding 747′s…. they barely fit the 767′s in there!
Also, I wonder how long it takes to refurb the interior for an aircraft… you mentioned a 767 in for a mod, and it was in for 42 days and still not quite done… over one month seems pretty long….
March 11th, 2009 at 5:38 pm
Mike, I’ve seen a pic of the cabin after the seats have been installed and it brings up a question. Are the seat coverings shown, what will actually be the final product? If so, it doesn’t look very finished and quite frankly, it looks cheap, especially for a premium cabin.
March 11th, 2009 at 5:41 pm
[img]http://widgetheads.net/photos/1804.jpg[/img]