Hello!

Spring training has come to an end and we’re getting eager for the home opener. The official MLB Opening Day was Sunday, April 5, but we won’t actually go back to Turner Field for our home opener until tomorrow, April 10.

Turner Field is very special to me since I grew up in the Atlanta area and have been following the Braves since I was a kid. But overall, it’s just a really unique ballpark, period. So I thought I’d make this blog Jeff Francoeur’s Guide to Opening Day at Turner Field.

First, if you’ve got kids, this is a great experience for them. Just inside the North gates is Tooner Field, which is a cool interactive area with characters and games from the Cartoon Network. Also for the kids is Scouts Alley near the West Pavillion of the Grand Entry Plaza where kids can test their throwing skills, learn about different pitches and see different gloves and bats.

For the adults, there’s the ampm All You Can Eat seats, which are a new concept at the stadium as of last season. Personally, this is where I would sit if I were watching the game as a fan. These tickets range from $45-80, but include everything you can stomach through seven innings.

If you’re over the age of 21, you have to check out the ChopHouse. Just about any night of the week, the ChopHouse is the place to see and be seen. It’s located directly above the Braves bullpen in right field, so fans can eat and drink while enjoying the game from right above me.

Just about every park has its own unique feature that makes it stand out. The old Shea Stadium had the Home Run Apple, Miller Park has the slide that Bernie Brewer slides down, and Dodger Stadium has the Think Blue sign in the mountains. When I look out at the Turner Field from the dugout, I always see the huge Delta letters above left field. And then there’s the gigantic Coca Cola bottle next to it that shoots out fireworks every time a Braves player hits a home run.

But the newest feature, which was added last year, is the massive Chick-Fil-A cow on top of the stadium, which has a mechanical arm that does the ‘tomahawk chop’ during games. It is 40 feet high and weighs over 15,000 lbs.

If you want to get the entire Braves experience from beginning to end, be sure to get to the park early. You can come watch us take batting practice 2 ½ hours before each home game. The visiting team will come out an hour later for their batting practice. If you’re looking to catch a baseball, there are a lot of home run balls that escape over the outfield wall during this time. And it’s a great time to see all of the players in their element getting stretched and prepared for the game.

Speaking of foul balls and home run balls, here’s a little known fact about Turner Field. If you’re in the right place at the right time and you’re the lucky fan to catch a baseball at a game, you can go to the Guest Relations window by Aisle 146 with your ball and they will give you an official “Grandstand Fielder” certificate.

And of course, if you’re a big enough fan to travel across the country on Delta and see your favorite team play, there are some really exciting celebrations and events that take place on Opening Day at all the ballparks around the country.

Will any of you be traveling to games in a different city on Opening Day?

Jeff
Atlanta Braves

The Delta experience shifted into high gear on March 30. This was the day that all former Northwest frontline employees donned their new Delta uniforms. It truly marked the end of a rich and long legacy of the “Red Tails” but signified the beginning of a new era of a Great Global Airline.

I am very excited to be joining another great legacy airline and am very proud to be wearing the Delta uniform. On the morning of March 30th, our crew gathered in the lobby of the hotel and we all commented on how professional and classy each other looked in our new uniforms. You must understand that the Northwest flight attendants had not seen a new uniform since 1990!

We landed in Minneapolis and the whole airport had been transformed into the Delta brand. I just flew from Honolulu to Seattle and got to experience new boarding music and some of the new food on board the aircraft.

The spring of 2009 has special meaning for me because is represents the new beginning for the people of Northwest and Delta. Spring is a symbol of new life and also a sign of many great things to come!

Scott Schaefer
757 First Officer for 13 years
Detroit

Activity continues to churn on 1804. Our Flight Test is scheduled for later on this week and we are nearing the end of the modification. We are looking forward to beginning work on the next couple of aircraft. We will have 3 lines of aircraft out at one time with 1 here in Atlanta and 2 in Hong Kong.

Ship 1820, a 767-400 (76C), was the first to receive the SkyTeam Logo paint job. Pictured here, the aircraft will make its formal debut tomorrow morning in Milan.

Winglets continue to be a hot topic. Most of you may have heard, Delta flew its first 76T winglet on 3/21, an out and back to Lagos. Tomorrow, the first 76L, ship 192, will be back from Hong Kong and will be entered into rotations.

Ships 7104 and 7105 have delivered to the fleet with 04 arriving in the morning. Once we complete their PTS mods, we will bring in 7102 to accomplish the +2 J/C seat mod to bring 7101 and 7102 up to 45 B/E seats and standardize with all our remaining deliveries.

Next week resumes our 75E large lav tank mods. We will begin the production run of these aircraft in time for the summer. Headrests will continue to be installed while the SAT COM aircraft will come in toward the end of the production line.

Lastly, we are in the early planning stage of converting 3101-3104 into 3601-3604. We have mid-May tentative cut over date for the first aircraft.

Mike Kotas
Fleet Programming