There has been a lot of activity over these past few weeks in mod (ification) land at Delta so we’ll jump right into it…
Ship 7008 (B777-200ER) received 2 STC’s (Supplemental Type Certificates) over the weekend including one that added (3) Economy Class seats to the aircraft. This ship is now configured for 50 BusinessElite and 221 Economy Class seats for a 271 total passenger count. This aircraft also received the cell modem installation to support Panasonic data transaction from the in-flight entertainment system. The remaining a/c in the 777-200ER fleet are slated to be converted over the next several weeks.
Ship 7107 (777-200LR) successfully delivered and entered the fleet at the beginning of the month. There is (1) 777LR delivery remaining. 7108 is slated to deliver around June 6th, and enter into the fleet a week later.
Ship 3101 (737-700) enters the paint shop tomorrow to be renumbered to 3601. The other 737-700 (3100 series) aircraft will get converted within the next weeks.
Ship 1804 (767-400ER) is parked, painted, and ready to fly. We are hoping for an end of the week launch as we await some final elements of the certification to wrap up with the various FAA offices. This will be Delta’s first 767 with a full-flat seat in BusinessElite.
Last week saw (3) 767-300 Domestic (76Q) aircraft retire from the fleet and park in the desert. Ships 121, 124, and 131 all left within a day of each other. This reduces our Q fleet to 11.
On the winglet side of the house, we have (7) 767-300ERs completed and flying. Ship 1613, 191, and 185 should all be completed in the next 2 weeks to round out the 10 aircraft we are scheduled to complete by the summer season.
Wi-Fi installs continue at a rapid pace and we’ve completed about half of the pre-merger Delta mainline domestic fleet. All in-service ME88’s now have Wi-Fi. The MD90 program is under way and we expect all MD90’s to have Wi-Fi by the 18th of May. Ship 3742 is in work for the 737-800 Wi-Fi mod with only the flight test portion of the certification left to complete. Lastly, the 757-200 fleet is up to 16 aircraft and more continue to produce each week. Check out Chris B.’s blog posts in the Wi-Fi section for more info.
Cabin Soft Goods is in full swing. We have 17% (42 A/C) of the pre-merger NW fleet converted with (11) A320’s and (10) 747-400’s leading the way.
Paint-wise, (58) mainline aircraft (23%) have the new Delta Livery. At least one of every fleet type sans the A332 has an aircraft painted. The regional side has (10) aircraft or 4% painted in the new colors.
Other aircraft mods in work include the Large Lav Tank modification, 13 of 17 757-200 ETOPS aircraft are currently outfitted with the increased lav tank size. This mod also includes adding head rests to all Economy seats.
Lastly, the fully ACARS integrated satellite communications solution is under way on the 757-200 ETOPS fleet. 6802 and 6803 both have sat com and 6801 and 6807 are in work.
Mike Kotas
Fleet Programs
May 12th, 2009 at 11:23 am
Does “Cabin Soft Goods” refer to NWA aircraft receiving Delta interiors? Also, does anyone know the plan for NWA aircraft (A319, A320, 752) receiving IFE systems?
May 12th, 2009 at 4:36 pm
Hi Mike,
2 questions for you.
777LR-”There is (1) 777LR delivery remaining”. This is for year 2009 right? 2 more a/c still being delivered in 2010, correct.
A320- Any updated news on the a/c that had a tailstrike in DEN. Last I heard, no repairs were scheduled.
Thanks, Chris
May 14th, 2009 at 12:13 am
Mike, you’re awesome! Love the aircraft numbers and then what type of aircraft they are! I was curious though..
the “Cell modem installation” on the 777’s, that’s for the panasonic entertainment system to do… what? upload current content? would be cool to have the last available news broadcast available in the air…
What are “Cabin Soft Goods”? I can’t really figure that one out…
And to ask the same question as cemm6997 - you do plan on receiving the other two 777’s, right?
Thanks for these blog posts, mike! If I ever meet you, i’ll bring you a box of Hawaiian chocolates =)
Aloha!
May 15th, 2009 at 10:19 am
Hey guys,
It’s been a while but I hope everyone is having a great time out there.
ScottC: Yes, Cabin soft goods refers to the Delta Interiors (items like cushions, dress covers, seat belts, etc). As for Narrowbody IFE systems, we are actively pursuing Wi-Fi at this juncture.
Cemm: You are correct, the 777LR deliveries refer to (1) remaining this year and with more in 2010. Re: Tail strike, I’ll have to get back to you on that
Pap: The Cell modem is less for functionality of the IFE and more of data transfer of MTC and Usage Data.
Thanks for the offer Pap, ironically enough, Hawaii is the only state I have yet to be to. I’ll get out there some day.
Mike
May 19th, 2009 at 3:47 pm
Mike -
I’m surprised that you’ve retired several domestic 767-300’s that were just outfitted with TV and underwent complete interior overhauls in the last two years. Aren’t there like 6 763’s parked at Victorville now? And they’re all permanently retired - or just stored? I’m surprised with all the money put into the interiors recently that DL would dump them so soon…
May 24th, 2009 at 8:41 pm
Can someone answer a question about the 777-200LR? My husband and I are travelling to Israel next week and we are in biz-class enjoying the flat beds. Question, we are in the two middle seats … will we be able to see each other or converse? If we wanted to talk (we are still newlyweds!) should we get seats across from one another? If we are in the middle seats can we at least converse while the seats are up? I hope someone can answer this!
May 25th, 2009 at 6:26 pm
Mike,
Thanks for doing this. One question when will the 777-200ER Fleet get the Lie-Flat Business Class Seats like the 77L’s have?
June 7th, 2009 at 9:19 am
What’s the situatioin on pitot tube upgrades at DL/NW?
June 11th, 2009 at 3:13 pm
Wondering what happened to 1804? I’ve had a couple of JFK LHR flights scheduled and the seat map shows the new 76D lie-flat configuration, only to be switched at the last minute to current cradle seat. Any insights as to when this aircraft will go into service, and when it does, is it still targeted for JFK/LHR?
July 19th, 2009 at 9:39 am
Hi,
I plan on going to ATL-EZE in Septemeber 2009. It shows 763 ER.
What kind of Business Elite seats can I expect?