Hey all, hope everyone had a pleasant weekend. Delta did, especially since it delivered it’s first fully wingletted (is that a word?) aircraft back to the fleet. Ship 1610 pictured below is a 767-300ER (76T) that flew ATL-LOS starting Sunday evening. The winglets increase the wing-span by close to 11’ and the winglets themselves are 11’ in elevation.
Unfortunately due to timing of the mod line vs. the certification completion date, we could not get 1610 painted in the new livery, however we will definitely have at least (2) if not more 767-300ER’s painted and wingletted before the summer season commences.
Switching to Wi-Fi, Chris Babb has been keeping everyone up to speed on tail numbers so I’ll make this brief. As of today we have 72 aircraft in-service with Wi-Fi (66 M88’s).
Lastly, Delta is expecting arrival of two more 777LR aircraft, 7104 and 7105 over the next 8 days. This will allow us to fund ship 7102 into Maintenance to begin it’s +2 mod.
Mike Kotas
Fleet Programs
March 24th, 2009 at 5:04 pm
Awesome! I didn’t know 104 and 105 were arriving so soon. The more 77Ls the better - I very much look forward to flying on one of them.
The winglets look great. I can’t get over how huge they are. Their large size almost make the 763 look like a 738 because you think, ohh they can’t possibly be that tall.
March 24th, 2009 at 8:23 pm
Mike- Where are the two extra lie-flat seats going to be put in the LR’s?
March 24th, 2009 at 8:56 pm
Hi Mike,
I asked this in your last entry but you might have missed it. So with the 300ERs getting winglets, will the addition of AVOD to those planes in coach be on the horizon? Or even with winglets does the weight from AVOD still limit these flights?
March 24th, 2009 at 10:20 pm
I’m interested in how winglets specifically affect the efficiencies of the Boeing 767-300ER. Could you provide this information?
March 25th, 2009 at 2:44 am
@Chris - Seats 1A and 1D will be placed forward of 2A and 2D respectively. Closets in each location on ships 7101 and 7102 will be removed to allow for the +2 capacity increase in both aircraft. Ships 7103 and subsequent are being delivered from the factory with these seats already installed.
Chris W.
Simulator Support
March 25th, 2009 at 7:10 am
Hey guys,
Chris: The two additional lie-flat seats will be located at the fwd part of A-zone just aft of Doors 1R and L, in the canted section, where closets currently exist.
Aholbrook: My apologies if I missed your question. Our IFE strategy for the aircraft is constantly under review but plans are still being assessed at this time. The winglets, while adding direct weight to the aircraft doesn’t necessarily reduce our ability to add more equipment, the Fuel efficiency and range increase are but just two of the components that our Performance Engineering group have to work around in order to truly understand if the aircraft can handle the additional weight of an IFE system. Items like MTOW and ELA (Electrical Load Analysis) are just a few other considerations that need to come into play before we make any decision.
March 25th, 2009 at 10:56 pm
Also, in another post you made, I asked a question on whether the 763ERs will get winged headrests in Y. I know there were plans to install the Thompson Cozy Suites, but from what I was told, the plan was put on hold. So, will the 763ERs get winged headrests in Y? I assume that the seats on most of the 763ERs (except the 76Ts) do not support winged headrests, so I am guessing that would require brand new seats (probably the Weber 5751 with winged headrests).
Also, do you happen to know what are the plans for the IFE on the NW fleet? Hopefully we see AVOD in Y on the 744 fleet.
March 25th, 2009 at 11:52 pm
WOW! That looks amazing! Can’t wait to see it in real life.
March 27th, 2009 at 7:23 am
Hey All,
Happy Friday! I’m sitting high-above the clouds on one of our M88’s, with Wi-Fi connectivity, trying it out for the first time. I’m happy to report that the log-on and connectivity is extremely quick and agile.
That said, I wanted to provide a couple of quick updates and answers to questions.
Delta took possession of 7105 yesterday and will be ferrying back today to Atlanta. You should see her flying in the system in about 6-7 days from now.
764ERIntL: There are no plans to install winged headrests on the 763ER at this time. All of our seats could support headrests and winged ear-flaps with the right amount of investment, design, and cert so needing entire new seats is not necessarily the case.
As for IFE on the red-tail fleet and the 744’s, that remains to be seen. The team’s first and foremost issues are standardizing many of the fleets communication and navigation equipment to ensure that for the planned Singlet Operating Certificate, the combined fleets talk to each other’s ground based control systems prior to cut over of a unified control center.
Skymiler: I will need to get back to you on that information at a later date. Our performance engineering staff is monitoring 1610’s performance to determine trend data. We expect a 3%-5% increase in fuel efficiency with a potential of up to ~300 nmi in range dependent on mission profile.
April 1st, 2009 at 1:04 am
Hey Mike!
Dude, I saw the 767 with winglets at HNL today!!
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=33422319&l=85e8f75c0c&id=19506878
Super cool looking! But I’m confused- it flew in and parked at the hard stand when I came to work… 8 hours later and the plane was still there, untouched. Anything special happening with ship 192?
Here’s another nice picture from HNL
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=33422320&l=f9909c1f00&id=19506878