Domestic Triple Long Range

Flying on the Delta’s Last 777-200LR Flights

Over Labor Day weekend Saturday, I flew on Delta’s final scheduled Boeing 777 domestic flights (as of September).  In early 2020, Delta had just completed its 777 fleet cabin refurbishment.  As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, in May, Delta made a dramatic decision to retire its entire 777 fleet by the end of October 2020 in order to preserve capital and have fleet commonality. 

Delta has an unique variant of the 777 – the Long Range “LR” model. Designed for Ultra Long Range missions, only 60 777-200LRs were built. Delta deployed its fleet of ten LRs on routes such as New York JFK/Atlanta to Mumbai (BOM), Atlanta to Johannesburg (JNB), and Los Angeles to Sydney (SYD). 

With much of the world in quarantine and travel severely curtailed, airlines parked most of their aircraft.  Demand for travel remained low throughout the summer months which put the return of many older or specialized aircraft types back in service in doubt. 

During late summer, Delta scheduled the 777-200LR on a Saturday-only roundtrip from Los Angeles (LAX) to Atlanta (ATL) and back.  At this point, Delta only used the 777-200LR on LAX – SYD and JFK – BOM flights (I later learned that flights to BOM were cargo-only).  With travel restrictions all around (who really wants to travel overseas at the moment?), flying on this domestic flight was an easy and no-brainer way to check a 777-200LR off in my logbook.

I purchased tickets on the last scheduled flights on September 6 from LAX to ATL and back to LAX.  The autumn timetable change followed that weekend.  I splurged and booked myself in First Class – which would be the new Delta One Suites on the 777. Even though the amenities would not be at Delta One levels (nor First Class pre-COVID-19 level), I still wanted to experience the new Delta One hard product. 

It was my first time traveling since the pandemic began. Needless to say, many things have changed. I was expecting to see ghost town airports and airplanes (especially being a Saturday).  While majority of the airport shops and restaurants were closed, I was surprised to see many people throughout the day.  In particular, both flights to/from ATL were pretty much full to the socially-distanced limited capacity.  I later learned the Transportation Security Administration had recorded their largest passenger volumes since March on this Labor Day weekend. 

All day, both flights were behind schedule by about 30-45 minutes. The weather was beautiful on both coasts and enroute which made the flights comfortable.  On board, service cutbacks in order to reduce touchpoints are now de rigueur.  In First Class, I received the standard snack bag (consist of a small bottled water, cheesy crackers, and chocolate pretzels (or cookie) – and hand sanitizer) and a choice of one of three snack boxes containing more packaged snacks. 

First Class beverage choices were beer, wine, and bottled water. While I understand the need to reduce touchpoints during food and drink service, snack boxes could be modified to include fresh food such as salad or sandwich.  In addition, if Delta is able to cater beer and wine, then surely they can also cater soft drinks – given drinks are only offered to First Class passengers anyway. 

Having said all that, what made these flights memorable was the crew. The same crew (pilots and flight attendants) flew the same airplane both directions. Even though there were no balloons and no commemorative certificates, the crew recognized all the enthusiasts who independently made their way on board.  The crew made these flights special for everyone and that’s what it counts!  

Awesome Flight Attendant Cory

Captain Curt and First Officer Mike

I will have a more extensive write up about my trip in the January-February 2021 issue of Airways magazine.  So please do look for that!

Aircraft:  Boeing 777-232(LR)

msn/ln:  40559/854
Registration:  N709DN
First flight:  Feb 2010 (age 10.6 years)
Reconfigured:  Feb 2020

Flight: DL 460
Los Angeles (LAX) – Atlanta (ATL)
Scheduled departure – arrival:  8:25 am – 3:40 pm
Actual departure – arrival:  9:10 am – 4:15 pm
Flight duration:  3 hours 43 minutes

Flight:  DL 679
Atlanta (ATL) – Los Angeles (LAX)
Scheduled departure – arrival:  5:10 pm – 6:28 pm
Actual departure – arrival:  5:48 pm – 6:58 pm
Flight duration:  3 hours 41 minutes