It’s not that uncommon to see aircraft have incidents on the ground, given how close to one another planes operate, plus how many plane movements there are around the globe on a daily basis. However, this has to be among the more drastic incidents we’ve seen in quite some time.
While I first wrote about this earlier, I wanted to provide an update, as we now have a bit more context on what happened.
In this post:
A350 & CRJ-900 have serious incident at Atlanta Airport
Shortly after 10AM this morning (Tuesday, September 10, 2024), two jets operating on behalf of Delta had a serious incident at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport (ATL). Specifically, this involves:
- A six-year-old Delta Airbus A350-900 with the registration code N503DN, which was scheduled to operate to Tokyo Haneda Airport (HND) as flight DL295, with 221 passengers onboard
- A 10-year-old Delta Connection Bombardier CRJ-900 (operated by Endeavor Air) with registration code N302PQ, which was scheduled to operate to Lafayette Airport (LFT) as flight DL5526, with 56 passengers onboard
Long story short, both jets were taxiing at the airport, when the Delta A350 literally sliced the tail off the CRJ-900 with its right wing. As you’d expect, both aircraft are damaged, and flights ended up being canceled. The pictures of the damage to the CRJ-900 are kind of wild. Fortunately no injuries were reported. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is now investigating this incident.
Here’s how a Delta a spokesperson described this incident:
“At approximately 10:07 a.m., the wing of an Airbus A350 taxiing out as DL295 from Atlanta to Tokyo-Haneda made contact with the tail of an Endeavor Air CRJ-900, DL5526 to LaFayette, Louisiana, on an adjacent taxiway, resulting in damage to the tail of the regional jet and the wing of the A350. There have been no reported injuries at this time and customers are being transported back to the terminal where they will be reaccommodated on alternate flights.”
Delta ended up operating an extra flight from Atlanta to Tokyo for these customers, with the flight number DL9895. That plane departed shortly before 7PM local time, so that’s a significant delay for those passengers. Meanwhile passengers traveling to Lafayette were rebooked on other flights.
What caused this bizarre ground collision?
I’m curious to see what an investigation reveals as to how this accident happened. Let’s talk about what we do know.
At the time of the incident, the Delta Connection CRJ-900 was holding short of runway 8R on taxiway H, which intersects taxiway E. Meanwhile the Delta A350-900 had reported it needed to investigate an issue, and it was given clearance to use taxiway E, and to hold short of taxiway V.
While the Delta A350 moved at around 15 miles per hour on taxiway E, it struck the tail of the Delta Connection CRJ-900 on taxiway H. The air traffic control audio here is fascinating, since clearly the Delta A350 pilots didn’t realize what had just happened, and they had no clue what they hit. Here’s what the communication was like following impact:
ATC: “Delta 295 heavy, hold short of V, advise me when you’re ready.”
DL295 pilot: “All right, we just hit something on the taxiway. Could you tell us what it was?”
ATC: “You know, I just noticed that the tail on the RJ is missing. So Endeavor 5526, hold your position, and do you require any immediate assistance?”
DL5526 pilot: “We’ll hold our position, and standby on the… no immediate assistance. We’ll need a tow, though.”
Unknown voice: “The whole tail of that CRJ is off.”
ATC: “Delta 295, hold short of V. It does appear that you struck the RJ that’s holding short of 8R.”
DL295 pilot: “Okay, that’s that we hit then. Yeah, we were on the centerline. Instructions were E, short of V. We’re holding short of V and understand, thank you.”
DL5526: “Yeah, we’re expecting there to be a hydraulic leak behind us. We’re showing dual hydraulic failure and system warning 3.”
ATC: “Endeavor 5526, roger, we’re going to go ahead and have the emergency vehicles come out and check you guys out. There is an operations vehicle behind you there. They’ll check out the taxiway, and if you need anything else, just let me know.”
Goodness, this whole incident was highly avoidable. It seems pretty clear that the Delta A350 pilots should’ve made sure that they had sufficient wing clearance before passing the Delta Connection CRJ-900, and that this was the primary cause of the incident.
I imagine the investigation will largely center around why the Delta A350 pilots thought they had sufficient clearance, when they passed the plane off their right side.
I also find it strange how the Delta A350 pilot’s defense is that they were taxiing on the centerline, and had been given clearance to go in that direction, as if they did nothing wrong. Right, but when you’re given taxi clearance, that doesn’t mean you can just (literally) smash through other planes. If there are planes in the way, or you don’t have enough clearance, you’re supposed to stop to prevent an accident. That’s why pilots are paid the big bucks, no?
Bottom line
A Delta A350 and Delta Connection CRJ-900 had a pretty dramatic ground collision this morning, as the A350 sliced the tail off the CRJ-900. While dents and dings happen every so often, it’s rare to see something this serious happen on the ground. Fortunately no one was injured. I can’t imagine the CRJ-900 will be flying again anytime soon. I’m just curious how serious the damage is to the A350.
What do you make of this incident in Atlanta?
With so many safety incidents occurring at Delta in the past few months I am starting to wonder if there is bigger problem in the company that isn't being addressed or surfaced. Starting to worry that these are signs that a bigger sentinel events can happen in the near future if the root cause is not identified and fixed. These events seem unrelated (Crowdstrike, Explosion in the maintenance area, wing collision.... all within few months...
With so many safety incidents occurring at Delta in the past few months I am starting to wonder if there is bigger problem in the company that isn't being addressed or surfaced. Starting to worry that these are signs that a bigger sentinel events can happen in the near future if the root cause is not identified and fixed. These events seem unrelated (Crowdstrike, Explosion in the maintenance area, wing collision.... all within few months time) but I think regulatory agency such as FAA or outside consulting firm may need to do a deep dive investigation to ensure passenger safety.
the FAA doesn't regulate IT.
And United cancelled 2.5% of its flights in July compared to 4.2% for DL. Are you going to tell us that United wasn't impacted by CrowdStrike and that their regular operation is just run that badly?
They do, however, regulate Boeing and grounded the MAX 9 after the Alaska crash. AA, UA, WN, and AS have all suffered from groundings of one model or another of the MAX.
Did...
the FAA doesn't regulate IT.
And United cancelled 2.5% of its flights in July compared to 4.2% for DL. Are you going to tell us that United wasn't impacted by CrowdStrike and that their regular operation is just run that badly?
They do, however, regulate Boeing and grounded the MAX 9 after the Alaska crash. AA, UA, WN, and AS have all suffered from groundings of one model or another of the MAX.
Did it occur to you that the reason why UA and AS' have such high rates of cancelled flights is because of the MAX 9 grounding, and in UA's case, ALSO the CRWD meltdown?
and do you also realize that United bent metal on multiple aircraft in 2023 which DID precipitate an investigation by the FAA.
WN managed to achieve that without bending metal.
Let us know when the FAA decides to investigate DL's safety practices... just be assured IT will have nothing to do with it.
When looking at the video of this 'crash' on NBC this morning, clearly the A350 was right on the center line of Taxiway E. It looks like the CRJ on taxiway F didn't advance far enough on it to provide adequate clearance for the A350. Bizarre incident but I have to believe after seeing it in real time that the CRJ was the major culprit here.
Your comment, "It seems pretty clear that the Delta A350 pilots should’ve made sure that they had sufficient wing clearance before passing the Delta Connection CRJ-900, and that this was the primary cause of the incident." is the stupidest comment I've read. You have NO IDEA as to the cause. The wingtips of the A350 are invisible to the pilots. The fact that the pilot stated that he was on the centerline is critical. We...
Your comment, "It seems pretty clear that the Delta A350 pilots should’ve made sure that they had sufficient wing clearance before passing the Delta Connection CRJ-900, and that this was the primary cause of the incident." is the stupidest comment I've read. You have NO IDEA as to the cause. The wingtips of the A350 are invisible to the pilots. The fact that the pilot stated that he was on the centerline is critical. We teach and grade the pilots repeatedly since the centerline is surveyed to ensure clearance. The A350 was CLEARED to E/V. Most likely, the CRJ was going to use an intersection takeoff. The pilots are REQUIRED to right down (in some manner) the taxi clearance and read it back. Thus, the pilot restated his clearance, after the fact, to ENSURE THAT IT IS ON THE TAPE. If...IF the CRJ didn't pull forward enough, there's no way for the A350 pilots to know. The CRJ pilot might also not know that he's encroaching on Echo. ATC is responsible for that. "Hey, Delta XXX, we need you to pull forward..." And..to the clown that reported the A350-1000 "superior MTOW"...Delta does not fly the -1000 variant. Armchair aviation experts are just that...EX SPURTS...former drips of water under pressure. When you teach it...when you fly it...then and only then do you know. The FAA and NTSB will investigate and then we will know the truth.
Hope you didn't spend a whole lot of time working on that list but the root issue is that 4 high seniority DL pilots - since it was double crewed flight - failed to verify their wing clearance. Regardless of the circumstances, that is on them
Hopefully they will be fired. I would not even want them as Dood Dash drivers.
What do I 'make' of it? Very clear, two planes collided, no one hurt, planes out of service, passengers inconvenienced and rebooted. Cover it?
Re-booked...
Delta’s decline is painful to watch. What once was a great airline is a shadow of its former self.
1. Delta can’t take the same playbook of avoiding accountability and pointing fingers as they did with Crowdstrike. Endeavor is a wholly owned subsidiary of Delta. When Delta had their recent meltdown, so did Endeavor. The airline is on the hook for the cost of repairs and loss of use for both aircraft. Delta TechOps is...
Delta’s decline is painful to watch. What once was a great airline is a shadow of its former self.
1. Delta can’t take the same playbook of avoiding accountability and pointing fingers as they did with Crowdstrike. Endeavor is a wholly owned subsidiary of Delta. When Delta had their recent meltdown, so did Endeavor. The airline is on the hook for the cost of repairs and loss of use for both aircraft. Delta TechOps is limited to certain repairs and undoing a severed tail isn’t one of them There’s a long line of customers for manufacturer parts and service that Delta needs to get behind to get these aircraft back flying. The CRJ might even be a write off.
2. Multiple fatalities. In addition to Delta TechOps tireshop fatality that happened this year which included both active employees and those on contract, there was a Unifi employee was ingested into a Delta engine. Unifi is owned by Delta.
3. Crowdstrike meltdown and the subsequent lawsuit that has done wonders for Delta’s PR. The revolving updates on the lawsuit is a constant reminder from the media to the consumer that both crowdstrike and delta are synonymous with meltdowns.
4. Delta investments following the footsteps of Etihad partners. Virgin Atlantic hasn’t posted a profit for nearly a decade and has required multiple bailouts from Delta to avoid insolvency. Delta currently values its VS investment at a loss. WheelsUp is the same losing around half its value in just the first half of this year. Delta is on the hook for yet another capital injection once WheelsUp aka Delta Private Jets reserves deplete again. Endeavor is more unprofitable than Virgin Atlantic. They posted a whopping -61% margin for the last year with total loses that are greater than JetBlue and rival Spirit, which has 10x the revenue of Endeavor. Endeavor hasn’t posted a profit it almost 15 years. Delta currently values its total investments at 3 billion, a small fraction of its initial investments. LATAM alone was nearly 3 billion, most of which was wiped out.
With more revenue Delta has trailed in net profits to United in multiple quarters since covid including in 2022, this year, and in the forecast for the upcoming quarter. Icahn is banging on JetBlue’s door and Elliot is kicking people out at Southwest. It’s about time someone starts doing the same with Delta and saves the sinking ship.
Hope you didn't spend a whole lot of time working on that list but the root issue is that 4 high seniority DL pilots - since it was double crewed flight - failed to verify their wing clearance. Regardless of the circumstances, that is on them.
Let me remind you that:
American had a NYC 777 crew that couldn't follow ATC directions and taxied directly in front of a departing DL 737 and then...
Hope you didn't spend a whole lot of time working on that list but the root issue is that 4 high seniority DL pilots - since it was double crewed flight - failed to verify their wing clearance. Regardless of the circumstances, that is on them.
Let me remind you that:
American had a NYC 777 crew that couldn't follow ATC directions and taxied directly in front of a departing DL 737 and then proceeded to take off for LHR. The FAA said "enough is enough" with lack of accountability from pilots and is now in the process of requiring 25 hour black box recorders.
Southwest has had multiple pilot error incidents over the past year.
United has bent more metal than any other airline with a 30 year old 767 damaged so severely due to a botched landing that it was out of service for repairs for months - so UA didn't have to write the aircraft off. UA has had other 767 damage incidents, taxied off a runway, dropped a wheel in flight, and nearly ditched a 777 leaving Hawaii, again continuing the flight so the black box could not be analyzed.
And then we have multiple ATC incidents.
All of which prove that airlines have humans working for them that make errors. No one was killed in any of those in-flight accidents.
Funny you bring up CRWD once again. UA cancelled 2.5% of their flights in July compared to 4.25% for DL. If UA wasn't also negatively impacted by CRWD, then do they just run that bad of an operation on a regular basis? In fact, data shows (and Gary has covered it) that other airlines had worse operations year to date than DL even with CRWD. DL is not likely to fall from its leadership position in operational reliability for 2024. In fact, UA mainline consistently starts the day with more cancelled flights than any other US airline.
as for finances, UA's revenues have long peaked during the 2nd and 3rd quarters only to fall much further in the 4th and 1st airlines than other airlines - which is why they don't make as much as DL and are not guiding their investors to do so in 2024.
Delta is not in free fall; United's online PR department is working overtime to seize every opportunity to fling poop but anyone halfway knowledgeable about the industry knows the truth
LOL, Tim did you just describe yourself?
"working overtime to seize every opportunity to fling poop but anyone halfway knowledgeable about the industry knows the truth"
the truth is that there have been multiple incidents over the past year involving maintenance and flight crew as well as ATC.
In some, including with AA and UA, pilots didn't bother to report until the black box had been erased to prevent investigation. The FAA is changing the rules because of incidents like this.
Humans are part of aviation.
UA has bent more metal in more incidents last year than any other US and...
the truth is that there have been multiple incidents over the past year involving maintenance and flight crew as well as ATC.
In some, including with AA and UA, pilots didn't bother to report until the black box had been erased to prevent investigation. The FAA is changing the rules because of incidents like this.
Humans are part of aviation.
UA has bent more metal in more incidents last year than any other US and perhaps global airline; WN has had more pilot incidents than any other airline. Both received special attention from the FAA.
and the bottom line of all the financial discussion is that DL is still expected to earn the highest profit among US airlines and have the highest market cap while UA runs a much more seasonal operation from a revenue standpoint. Of course, UA is making progress but until they fix their much greater seasonality, they will trail DL in profits.
And UA, like AA, still has not given its FAs a new contract post-covid - so AA and UA's costs are hundreds of millions of dollars per year below DL and WN's - on top of the retro those first two will have to pay.
Tit for tat is expected; blatantly cherrypicking facts and data to avoid confronting the reality of "your team" is the easiest thing to expose.
Tim, you make a great point. Out of those other airlines and all the situations you’ve mentioned, none of them resulted in fatalities. Only Delta has had multiple fatalities in the span of a year. None of those situations occurred with an airplane colliding with another airplane like with the Delta A350 on Delta Endeavor CRJ-900 collision. You make a good point of how Delta cancelled nearly twice the amount of flights as United in...
Tim, you make a great point. Out of those other airlines and all the situations you’ve mentioned, none of them resulted in fatalities. Only Delta has had multiple fatalities in the span of a year. None of those situations occurred with an airplane colliding with another airplane like with the Delta A350 on Delta Endeavor CRJ-900 collision. You make a good point of how Delta cancelled nearly twice the amount of flights as United in July and has fallen from its position of operational reliability. I agree with you, Delta is in free fall.
if you want to grandstand over an industrial accident that took lives and could happen to any business, then you are a very sick person.
Actual facts, not exactly what you specialize in - show that DL's rate and actual number of cancellations through July was lower than AA or UA on a year to date basis.
And 4.2 is not twice 2.5. No wonder you argue as bad as you do.
Yeah, you’re right Delta didn't just cancel nearly twice as much as United. They did worse and cancelled more than three times (5000~) as many flights as United (1500~) and five times as many as American (600~) in the span of just a few days.
Stop trying to whitewash the blood tax Delta employees pay for the companies mismanagement. People aren’t dying at Southwest, United, and American.
But none of this grandstanding about how...
Yeah, you’re right Delta didn't just cancel nearly twice as much as United. They did worse and cancelled more than three times (5000~) as many flights as United (1500~) and five times as many as American (600~) in the span of just a few days.
Stop trying to whitewash the blood tax Delta employees pay for the companies mismanagement. People aren’t dying at Southwest, United, and American.
But none of this grandstanding about how poorly Delta did in the summer is going to bring those lives lost due to Delta’s mismanagement.
UA's internet social media team,
and yet United, which operates the smallest domestic operation of the big 4, has cancelled more flights YTD than DL.
put your poop in the toilet and not here.... you can't even get the facts straight - but you clearly don't care as long as you soil the whole house.
WheelsUp/Song Social Media Team,
“ .. you can't even get the facts straight”
“and the 764 is the smallest widebody in the combined AF/DL fleet.”
Delta needs to be bought out by another airline and be put out of its misery. United would be a good partner-they could use a Southeast hub. JetBlue could also be a buyer.
But then how would Tim spend his time? Besides copy and pasting some of his exact comments on other sites...
Tim’s struggles he has to put here and other sites defending DL on another screw up
#ThoughtsAndPrayersForDimSum
#DetlaStrong
#DetlaPremiumOooops
#DetlaPremiumAccident
What the hell is a "Detia"?
The most premium tail-slice!
Wow Tim you think you are in people’s mind vs people in your mind - seek some help you can use it
Unfortunately your DL screwed up again just glad no one was injured - funny how you are crowing about A350’s for the airline that loves its old planes. The old ones are classics which I love.
Karma is difficult and it will surface when you least see it coming.
An aircraft incident not involving a Boeing aircraft, what a nice change of pace.
I would have loved to hear the announcement on the CR900.
"Ah Folks, it looks like some other plane tore our tail off. We can't take off."
We really move our tail for you! (Former CO ad campaign).
Terminal 1 gate 1 at LAX. Southwest. I always wondered how they do that. Looks really tight.
That is a premium crash experience.
No way Timbot has enough spare time to play golf.
you clearly don't understand bots, cousin Ronnie.
When AI is left to run the show, humans can do all kinds of things.
just think how things would be different in ATL if DL had bots driving its A350s around the world's busiest airport and the Captain was on the golf course.
oh, and Ben, we don't see accidents like this ANYWHERE BUT ON THE GROUND. If they happen in the air, pictures look a whole lot different than they are here.
It’s funny you see yourself as the Captain in this scenario.
I was under the impression that Delta is the world's only PERFECT airline.
another reason why a350s shouldn't exist
Saw the news elsewhere.
Thought, it’s going to be a long night for Tim Dunn in all the blog comments.
I'll just copy and paste so as not to interfere with my golf game.
"I am having a jolly good time watching you all - the very ones that compalin so much about how much ever present I am here - spend so much time preoccupied with me."
You are your worst enemies...
So you not only check on OMAAT while golfing, you reply and then monitor the thread to make sure to reply more as needed.
yeah... me and my bots, I mean staff.
You are a bot, Tim.
an almost identical thing happened at JFK not too many years ago.... except ATL has a whole lot more room.
The REAL reason why this happened is because the DL captain at the controls plays golf with a bunch of AA and UA pilots and the AA and UA pilots are getting increasingly upset that DL is taking delivery of so many new Airbus jets this year when AA and UA are SO VERY...
an almost identical thing happened at JFK not too many years ago.... except ATL has a whole lot more room.
The REAL reason why this happened is because the DL captain at the controls plays golf with a bunch of AA and UA pilots and the AA and UA pilots are getting increasingly upset that DL is taking delivery of so many new Airbus jets this year when AA and UA are SO VERY FAR behind their scheduled deliveries. That DL captain knew that DL just took delivery of its FIFTH A350 delivery for the year and a couple more are due to come on top of several A330NEOs. The DL captain is trying to placate his golf friends and decided to take an A350 out of service for a bit. and, of course, none of them have any respect for a CRJ so he just put that plane in its place. Ben, do you think you can follow-up on what happens to that captain? He's got to be pretty senior - ATL-Tokyo in the fall on a Tuesday has got to go pretty senior. Maybe he gets to play even a little more golf than usual.
It's amazing that the people that are so concerned about how much I post are in on the comments section long before I could get in (I wasn't about going to interrupt my own golf game).
I truly live rent free in a whole lot of people's minds and have achieved market dominance that not even Delta in ATL can do.
oh... and the first A350-1000 for DL might hit the assembly line in late 2025 making it ready to enter service early in 2026.
N503DN is going to be used to start EWR, ORD and DFW to ICN flights so it can take out a few RJs - at least with paint jobs other than DL's - as part of
working through its own mid-life crisis.
$50 says he's serious
Seriously deranged.
I think a wellness check on Tim Dunn would be appropriate at this time.
I am having a jolly good time watching you all spend so much time preoccupied with me.
you know there is also a video of a UA 767-300ER (gasp!) at LHR getting blown around by a departing aircraft?
even legacy carrier widebody captains cut corners.... the consequences of their actions are a whole lot higher than the average Joe.
Credit where credit is due, B+ shitpost.
Way to lean into it Tim - love it. Truly shocking how much people are so preoccupied with you.
By far the best post you’ve made on here in a long time, Tim. Top notch sarcasm. I was never sure whether you were actually serious or just playing an excellent game of winding people up. I think I have my answer now. :D
I'm sorry but I love this sh!tpost way too much.
Top tier trolling. 10/10 from this observing judge.
I would be pretty pissed to lose my upgraded seat on the A350 to HND for this. I would expect 3000 skypesos at a minimum and a $12 voucher. Standing my ground. While being capacity controlled at the Skyclub.
Ben is just trying to generate page clicks. This is a completely ridiculous article. There’s no possible way there was only 221 passengers on board from a Delta flight from ATL to HND. I would have expected 100% capacity with at least 69 people begging to be let on the plane even though ICN has a lower unit cost per 1000 passengers on an A350-1000 compared to a Cessna 172. Boston/LA market superiority along with...
Ben is just trying to generate page clicks. This is a completely ridiculous article. There’s no possible way there was only 221 passengers on board from a Delta flight from ATL to HND. I would have expected 100% capacity with at least 69 people begging to be let on the plane even though ICN has a lower unit cost per 1000 passengers on an A350-1000 compared to a Cessna 172. Boston/LA market superiority along with competitors purchasing the XLR instead of A330-9’s sealed the deal on Delta’s success from ATL to SAV.
Wingtip clearance on the maneuvering area is always flight crew responsibility. There is just no way that controllers can from a single location (tower cab) have adequate views to judge every angle across the entire airport, especially so at a giant airport like KATL, where parts of the airport are almost 2 miles away from the tower.
ATC will issue instructions to aircraft to maintain the flow of traffic and to avoid collisions between...
Wingtip clearance on the maneuvering area is always flight crew responsibility. There is just no way that controllers can from a single location (tower cab) have adequate views to judge every angle across the entire airport, especially so at a giant airport like KATL, where parts of the airport are almost 2 miles away from the tower.
ATC will issue instructions to aircraft to maintain the flow of traffic and to avoid collisions between aircraft moving on the maneuvering area (for example "Give way to the xxxx" or "Follow the xxxx" or "Behind the departing xxxx line up and wait behind" etc) or even a simple "Taxi to Holding Point H via xxx,yyy,zzz" which does not give clearance to any aircraft to simply plow through anything that might be in the way!
Crews understand that wingtip clearance always falls on them, which is why in congested areas like the ramp wing walkers are provided to assist.
In this case from the photos it appears the CRJ was not fully up to the hold short line (perhaps there was another aircraft in front of them and they were simply waiting in sequence) and there is definitely not enough clearance from the H holding point for 8R for a heavy going past down taxiway E.
Hey, Ben!
Which credit card would yield the most points for when you gotta pay this kind of damage?
Thanks!
It's processed by points.com, meaning it doesn't count as an airfare purchase for the purposes of credit card spending. Therefore Lucky'd recommend using a card on which you’re trying to reach minimum spending, or otherwise, a credit card that maximizes your return on everyday spending.
Depends on if the CC offers primary or secondary insurance. Also need to check the policy as some model types or specific locations are excluded from the coverage. Hopefully the pilot did a video walk around of the aircraft before departing so they do not get charged for any existing damage when they returned it to the gate.
I am curious which a350 version would be more efficient at this PREMIUM slice and dice. I guess we'll have to wait until 2026 in DL case.
Since it was a HND-bound aircraft, did the pilots watch a samurai swordfight on their phones before taxiing?
Pilot must have had brain damage like myself.
The US premiere airlines doing premiere destruction. Yay Delta!
End cabotage now.
Would have LOVED to be in the cabin of the 350 to listen to the PA, if there was any :)
That’ll buff right out.
Similar to Virgin hiring EasyJet's pilots to fly their A350s (your story the other day), maybe Delta's trying out Allegiant's A320 pilots!
Those loads are kind of light. Is DL doing OK?
Actually I am looking at booking that Atlanta to Tokyo flight and it is dirt cheap.
Flights to Japan from the US are always typically quite empty this time of year. It's really easy to find a cheap flight to Japan starting in August (not necessarily the other way around though).
Obviously a United pilot taking a Delta A350 for a joy ride. Would never happen with a DL pilot at the wheel (??).
It's an Airbus, so it's "at the joystick."
A testament to Tim Dunn's greatest aircraft and airline.
Even Delta's A350-900 can do this, imagine what the A350-1000 can slice with it's superior MTOW and range in the hands of Delta.
Wait til Daddy sees this and shows up...you'll be sorry when he thrashes you with his opinion-based facts about the world's #1 PREMIERE airline!