Well, this is a shame. Several months ago, Delta Air Lines introduced its only daytime eastbound transatlantic flight. People either love or hate these kinds of flights, and personally I loved to see the option. Unfortunately this frequency isn’t lasting long, as it’s already being discontinued.
Delta’s daytime eastbound transatlantic flight cut
For some background, since March 31, 2024, Delta has been operating a third daily flight between New York (JFK) and Paris (CDG). This frequency operates with the following schedule:
DL266 New York to Paris departing 8:30AM arriving 10:00PM
DL267 Paris to New York departing 9:30AM arriving 11:50AM
The 3,635 mile flight is blocked at 7hr30min eastbound and 8hr20min westbound. Delta uses a Boeing 767-400 for the route, featuring 238 seats. This includes 34 business class seats, 20 premium economy seats, 28 extra legroom economy seats, and 156 economy class seats.
What makes this service most interesting is that it’s a daytime transatlantic flight in the eastbound direction. While a few airlines operate these kinds of flights, they make up a tiny percentage of overall service.
It was a pretty big milestone for Delta, as it’s the first time that the Atlanta-based carrier has ever operated a flight like this. Delta’s joint venture partners Air France and Virgin Atlantic have operated daytime flights from New York to Paris and London (respectively), but this is the first such flight on Delta metal. Furthermore, American and United have operated several eastbound transatlantic daytime flights, so Delta was the last of the “big three” carriers to operate such service.
Well, unfortunately the clock is ticking on this unique flight. As noted by @IshrionA, Delta is cutting this service as of October 25, 2024. The intent all along was that the flight was seasonal, and that it would resume next summer. However, Delta has now retimed this frequency for the summer of 2025, so it will have a more traditional schedule, as follows:
DL266 New York to Paris departing 8:30PM arriving 10:00AM
DL267 Paris to New York departing 9:30AM arriving 12:15PM
Interestingly the eastbound flight is being retimed by exactly 12 hours, while the westbound flight is maintaining the same schedule, so presumably there will be a plane swap between frequencies in Paris.
I love these kinds of daytime flights
People tend to have strong feelings about daytime eastbound transatlantic flights. I understand why some people don’t like them, which is that they “waste” a day, when you could instead fly overnight. However, personally I’m a huge fan of these flights:
- They’re so much better for jetlag and exhaustion, since you can get a proper night of sleep in a real bed
- You know your room will be ready when you arrive at the hotel, unlike when you land at 7AM, and then potentially have eight hours before check-in time
- If you’re able to get work done remotely online, there’s much less opportunity cost to the “wasted” day you spend flying, since you can stay productive above the clouds
So I’m a huge fan of these flights, though unfortunately don’t get to take them often. You mostly see these flights from Boston and New York, so they’re not very useful if you’re like me, and live in Miami. Furthermore, they’re not useful if you’re looking to connect beyond the European gateway (Paris, in this case), since there aren’t many flights departing after these arrivals.
Bottom line
In the spring of 2024, Delta launched a daytime eastbound transatlantic flight, whereby the airline has been flying a Boeing 767-400 daily from New York to Paris, complementing the carrier’s two other daily flights (plus all the flights of joint venture partner Air France).
Unfortunately this didn’t last long — the route is being cut as of late October 2024, and isn’t expected to return in 2025. Instead, Delta will retime this flight as of next summer, to have a more traditional schedule.
What do you make of Delta cutting its daytime flight to Paris?
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