Today, I saw a news report on CNN International about a Delta flight making an emergency landing in Colorado Springs because of an engine problem.  Lucky enough, only a couple of people were injured during the evacuation, which was instituted because of hot brakes.  I’m sure you are as shocked as I am that one of the old NWA 753 birds almost lost it in-flight.  Like anyone else might, I went to Google News to get a little more ...

Every now and then, I write a post that is not directly related to the core concepts of Upgrd, but that touches on topics that involve its readers. This is one of those dispatches.   Recently, I was reading through a forum that aims to unite and assist native-English-speaking residents in a foreign country. While the information on this forum is incredibly helpful, a common and discouraging undertone seemed to be omnipresent: the blatant bashing of anyone, or anything, that ...

Boredom is officially here for me, which sadly benefits you by way of another post.

I'm going to (hopefully) update this on a semi-regular basis.  Feel free to ask me to monitor other fleet changes, and I'll gladly call corporate communications at Delta to get what I can.

Part I: International Upgrades

What was promised: Flat beds in (almost) all wide-body jets: 772L, 772E, 764, 763E, 744.  Unclear as to what will happen with the angled flat beds in the 330 series, ...

I’m out of hiding for one post:

A friend of mine recently made Diamond Medallion for the first time.  He knows I am off the grid, so he asked me to “hook him up with the FlyerTalk people” in an attempt to make sure that he doesn’t fall behind on requalification in the coming year.  I wouldn’t wish a connection to FlyerTalk on my worst enemy, but I begrudgingly dug up some threads for him to ...

Since no one is touching this on UPGRD, I'm coming out of the dark for a moment to fill you in on what you probably already knew.

In the past, most Delta (DL) people have moaned about the relative uselessness of SWUs, formerly known as PMUs.  I always felt obligated to use them when they simply showed up - before we had a choice in getting them.  For me, it always made sense to use them on a K fare to Hawaii, or when an I fare was more expensive than an M to Europe.  ...