Delta Forces Man To Survive On Pretzels!

Today as I flew home from Richmond, VA, I had a very early flight and a short leg to Atlanta.  I had a moderate layover but found very little decent, healthy food to eat in the terminal where I was waiting.  I had checked my itinerary knowing that I was sitting in first to see if the longer ATL-MSP flight had food.  It declared that lunch would be served.  Knowing this, I decided to just wait for the flight and live on the banana I had on the first leg. 

Once airborne, the FA came by with the usual peanuts, pretzels, twix, cookies and Sun Chips.  I held off awaiting the choice of salad or sandwich.  She never came back. 

I used the lavatory and asked if lunch would be served and was shot down!  OH NO!  I am starving! 

To hold me over, I had enough pretzels (45 cals per baggie) and peanuts (60 cals per tiny baggie) to get me through to MSP. 

While I did not blow my calories out the door by just eating whatever she had in the goodie box, I sure did not get much.  It reinforced to me that I should always double check with the gate agent first of all and secondly, that good food for the same calories is always a better choice.  Whether it is between a bunch of peanuts and pretzels and a salad or between a quota of calories in fast food vs. a meal of filling food that prevents you from being hungry and at risk for a slip, picking the better or BEST is always the way to go!

The Orracle is HIGH!

I am posting from 39,000 feet. Flight 2692 from PHX to MSP. First time I have ever used the Gogo inflight and I am actually impressed. It is better than some hotels I have stayed at for speed.

It made me realize something that I think of posting after every flight but forget.

Why the hell am I always behind Mr. Recline All The Frigging Way? It is tight enough for skinny assed people but for me it is just a pain in the butt. Even in First Class where the pitch is much better, it blows.

When I see someone reclining, my eyes go to the person behind them to see their reaction. Bottom line, nobody likes it....even the skinny people.

That's all I have to say. I just had to get it off of my chest and since I was online....DONE!

From 39,000 feet, just south of the South Dakota border (according to www.flightaware.com) this is the Orracle, getting ready for landing.

Know When To Retire....

I am not a huge fan of the NWA - Delta merger. Everyday, more NWA planes are sitting at the gate in Delta Livery. My first trip on an A330-300 was in Delta colors. I just hope I get a chance to ride one still painted in NWA colors.

I don't mind travel for work and certainly love it for play. I have developed a list of favorite airplanes for various reasons mostly related to space and size since I am not quite "waif".

I loved the A330, like 757s in first class but in coach they are a bit cramped like any Boeing plane. I get along very well with the A319/320's.

At one time, NWA Airlink had some RJ-85s which had 4 engines on a regional jet for short runways but were gas hogs. They were great because their coach seats were bigger than most first class seats on other planes. For airlink, I am currently a fan of the Embraer 175s. Nice plane.

YES - I AM GETTING TO THE POINT!!!!

When Delta bought NWA, I expected it to be the end of the old smokers also known as DC-9's. These planes originated with Republic Airlines which was purchased by NWA.

I DESPISE these planes. Small, cramped, immovable armrests and they are LOUD inside. These planes mostly originated in the 60's and are still in service so we'll give them a point for reliability.

I am now seeing these painted in Delta colors. Why? They are gas hogs! They burn in 500 miles what an Airbus or Embraer burns in 1000.

Well, I guess we get the last laugh. I saw one tonight at Indianapolis at a gate. The nice, pretty new Delta paint looked like someone lit a bonfire under the plane behind the engines. The old NWA colors hid the exhaust markings but not the nice, pretty white that Delta has back there.

They should have just left them red and silver until they retire them which should have been yesterday!

What is the Delta Between NWA and the New NWA?

Today was my first ever flight on Delta. I actually said to the attendant that checked our bags that it was my first flight on the "New NWA". She very quickly scolded me with "NOT EVEN CLOSE!". Apparently Delta employees are convinced they have a far superior product.

So how was my first experience? Not great.

The inbound flight from ATL was late. The pilot told us that there was a major headwind that made the inbound late but I know from watching the flight on www.flightaware.com that it simply left ATL late. Strike 1.

We made up a little time and had plenty of time for our connection. That is until we landed. No gates. We sat for over 1 hour on the tarmac waiting for a gate. I have never had the pilot open the door, shut off the engines and say "feel free to move about the cabin....we're on an active taxiway but we're not going anywhere soon". HOLY SHIT! He was not lying. The issue is that with it being a hub and so many flights terminating there with the holiday, there were no outbounds to open gates. The old addage, "A lack of planning on your part should not constitute an extra hour + on the tarmac for me!". Could someone not have figured this out before today? Strike 2.

We then hiked it through ATL to gate B30 like their website told my blackberry. Nope, that is Chicago bound. We needed gate A30. Long hike again, take a train, long hike again. No moving sidewalks, etc to get from a-z quicker at ATL. Strike 3.

Fortunately, the flight to San Juan also was late getting into the gate so despite the fact that we deplaned our first leg 10 minutes after the scheduled departure of our second, we made the flight. The gate attendant was telling everyone that wanted seats together that the back was oversold. I said I was elite and asked how many seats were open in first. She said 7. I offered our coach seats that were together for her to use for a family if we could get upgraded. She nearly bit my head off! Beeeotch! I am sure she hated life for working on Thanksgiving and having all of the flight issues piling up but I was trying to help. A polite "no" would have done OK. Strike 3 1/2 (1/2 point since we still made our flight).

Then, I had to force down a Diet Coke. Just a cup too....not a whole can like NWA gives. On a 3 1/2 hour flight, I think I can handle a can. Strike 4 1/2.

Lastly, for everyone in Minneapolis that posts comments about "Northworst" having dirty planes, bad service, etc. Delta was no cleaner. Same peanuts on the floor as NWA. I had rude service at the gate. The flight attendants did seem to work a little harder even after the beverage service. Still, you have to pay for everything extra on Delta which we were forced to do with no chance to eat between flights. The Delta movie was on old TVs that probably would have been more in-focus had I taken my contacts out. All in all, I don't see the angst against NWA. My flights are almost always on time. The planes are good and safe. I might not have a movie but whatever.

I know Al will have some constructive criticism. I don't mind the merger. I just hope I don't have to get routed through ATL for more flights after the merger is done. I don't see it as a happy place to travel through.

From humid San Juan....goodnight!

SAT Question of the Day

Alright - time to put your thinking caps on. This is your SAT question of the day. Educational AND informative!! No thanks are necessary, I am just here to serve you.

Here it goes.

Northwest Airlines is to Pepsi as Delta is to _____________.

Maybe that is a little too challenging. Let's add some visuals....

IS TO

As......

IS TO......

Yep! You heard it here first. Well, Al probably KNEW this was coming since he is a "Delta from Salt Lake City" guy. A flight attendant told the guy next to me this when he asked for a Diet Coke. I have to say, I am a Pepsi guy. I am dissapointed that I cannot get a Diet Pepsi for very much longer on NWA (now a part of Delta as the flight attendants say).

There could be an upside to this. Perhaps some of those old, jaded, crusty flight attendants on NWA will have a Coke (and finally) a smile!

My New Favorite Site(s)

Aside from my newfound enjoyment of finding old high school and college friends on Facebook thanks to Sabrina telling me I should try it, I have another new favorite website.


I have always liked aviation. I probably should have gone into it as a career. Even though I used to be scared to death as a child of flying, I love it. I think because of my fear, I immersed myself in it as much as possible. Using a scanner at the airport to watch planes and listen to the communication. Reading a blog of a former United captain. Understanding the elements of flight iteself.


I have long enjoyed looking at pictures on http://www.airliners.net/ When I am at the airport and I see a couple or a small group of people traveling together and they say their connecting gate, i.e. "F12", I find myself guessing where they are going and looking at the monitors to see how close I was. There is logic in this of course...time of day (dictates where remaining flights might be going), age, how they are dressed, etc. Of course, in the MSP terminal where I am so often, I kind of have figured out NWA (read: Delta) has arranged their gate patterns. Indianapolis mostly goes from the low C gates. Omaha, the low F gates (unless it is a CRJ or Embraer). West coast flights from the high Gs.


OK, not done with the story and just reread to this point. My geekiness is even scaring ME a little.


My new favorite site out of all of this is http://www.flightaware.com/ I find myself looking up all kinds of flights to see where they are, how much time they have left, etc. I look at airplanes going to busy places to see if they are doing loops to get in line for landing. On their home page, they have a time lapse quicktime of every flight over the US for 24 hours. I could watch it loop forever I think. The patters of east to west, flights incoming from Europe and then Europe bound is so neat to me. Quite possibly just to me.


Here are some images of my flight from Indy last night and then one from 10/9 from DTW to LGA with some holding circles in it. At least I think it is cool.

Detroit to LaGuardia with 2 loops to await congestion

Nice flight from Indianapolis to Minneapolis - had a great view of Chicago out my window and you can see why! Big turns going into MSP to come in from the west!

Delta-NWA

In Minnesota, this IS the news today. Delta and NWA are going to merge assuming the DOJ investigation which is estimated to take 6-8 months finds it to not be a monopoly. That makes me wonder how THIS could be approved but the Sirius/XM merger has been waiting for more than a year. We'll get to that on another day I suppose.

Maybe the hard times for NWA will finally be over. This means no more need for baggage porters to panhandle everyone they service.

Ah, you say. This is not about the merger. This is about a personal issue The Orracle has with the Panhandlers - oops I mean Porters.

Right you are.

I was sure I had blogged about this in the past but could not find any evidence of it.

Let me set the story right. I travel quite a bit. When I am forced to check a bag, I use the outside porters to do so. I always tip them a couple of bucks. But man, if you do not have those greenbacks in your hand, they start to hint. OK, they don't hint. They come right out and tell you.

"This is a tipping service" I have even heard them grumble out loud when they do not get a tip... "You think we stand our here for nothing?"

Do waitresses come to your table and as they take your order remind you of the tip they expect? NO!

Like I said, I always tip them. When I get panhandled for the tip, it really turns me off. I imagine in my head that a no-tip service will reroute my bags somewhere else. I never give the tip until my bag is on the belt and out of their reach though.

Let's look at the NWA porters at MSP specifically. Since this is a hub (at least for now), they have a belt behind them that they drop the bag on. This is NO different than the ladies inside at the counters which do not beg for money nor do they expect it. They put the sticky tag on the bag and drop it on the conveyor belt. If these guys had to put the bags on a cart and haul them inside like at some of the airports with a smaller NWA presence - then the tip is GREATLY deserved. Simply doing the same service as the people inside - not so much. But I still tip them.

Maybe with the merger, these poor souls standing under heat lamps will get the compensation they need to do their job such that they don't feel the need to panhandle me.