Good-enough refresh of dated jets

As a continuation of my previous Delta 767-300 business class review, this short hop on an MD-88 took me from ATL to MIA in comfort, though I’m not sure about style. Since this was the second leg of first class award ticket I booked, I credit my butt being in this seat to the Amex Membership Rewards transfer that I made to Delta to book this flight, and in general both of these jets can be found flying into/out of ATL a bazillion times a day, given that ATL is DL’s largest hub. Was it worth it? Let’s get into the details…

How Was The Flight?

Seatlink’s take:

This review should really be titled “When Mood Lighting Goes Bad” — I’m not sure if it’s Delta’s attempt to make these aging aircraft feel cool and new, or if this is what we have to look forward to for all Delta One flights, or if a member of the cabin crew hit the wrong button, but the mood lighting on this flight was too intense (and I’m not the only one who commented).

Now that I’ve got that out of the way…these seats are actually quite good — wider and roomier than the classic domestic Delta One seats found in 737’s and the like. So, while I generally dislike flying the MD family of aircraft, the seat goes a long way towards making the flight a comfortable one.

Delta’s blinding mood lighting in Delta One first class

The Cabin:

4 rows of standard domestic first class seats with no offset and a curtain behind row 4. That’s potentially bad for those seating in row 4, but excellent for those seated in row 10, which is hands down the best row in economy on the entire plane.

The Seat:

At first glance these are standard domestic first class seats, but while they are a dated product (minus the new Delta One seat covers), they are actually quite roomy — probably because they’re a dated product and not designed to cram more people into smaller spaces! The middle armrest is fixed and houses the traytables for each seat, but the armrests on the aisle and window side do not have a “wall” like a lot of other first class seats, so it feels like you get a few extra inches of space on top of the 19 already there.

Delta One MD-88 first class

Working:

The traytable comes of of the middle armrest, and it’s adequately sized but not particularly large. a 12″ laptop and a mouse fit fine, but a laptop much bigger than that would be a challenge to use with a mouse. Now back to the mood lighting…this made it almost impossible for me to work on the flight as it is borderline blinding. I really hope Delta does something about this, because it is just excessive. They should take a not from Virgin America whose use of mood lighting is aggressive but not offensive, so it actually adds to the experience.

Lounging:

Standard backrest recline on this seat, on articulation like on Alaska’s Recaro seats (for example). To that end, not much to report here…

The Meals:

This flight featured Delta’s standard snack basket, which has both healthy and unhealthy items to satisfy any hunger needs or cravings. Next time I’m on DL I will snap a photo of the basket, but the items do tend to change with some regularity (even if that only means once a year).

IFE and Video Screen:

No video screen, but Delta offers Delta Studio which is a collection of TV shows, movies, and music that can all be streamed to a wifi device with the Gogo Video Player app. Get more info here.

The Service:

Regional level service for a 2 hour flight, which equals one round of beverage service and 1-2 stops with the snack basket (try the pasta chips, they’re good!).

What else?

Did I miss anything? What’s your experience been in Delta One on the MD-88?

The verdict

Reviewed by

Seatlink

Date

2015-12-23

Airline/cabin

Delta MD-88 First Class

Rating

4