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Our First Look Inside the Brand New Delta A321neo!

Chris Carley by Chris Carley
May 21, 2022
in Trip Reports
10
Delta Air Lines' Airbus A321neo cabin

Advertiser Disclosure: Eye of the Flyer, a division of Chatterbox Entertainment, Inc., is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as CreditCards.com. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers. Compensation may impact how and where card products appear on the site. This site does not include all card companies or all available card offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities. Some of the links on this page are affiliate or referral links. We may receive a commission or referral bonus for purchases or successful applications made during shopping sessions or signups initiated from clicking those links.

I rode Delta Air Lines’ first Airbus A321neo revenue/customer flight — DL1202 — from Boston to San Francisco on Friday morning.

A321neos aren’t exactly new to the airline world. (I see one or two JetBlue A321neos fly over my house every day.) But this is Delta’s first A321neo rodeo. Given this is the airline’s first new aircraft launch in a while — and a chance to do something fun since the world is reopening from COVID — I decided to take the trip and check out the plane.

Especially because the aircraft features new first class seats and inaugural flights are special.

So here are my initial impressions.

Inside the Plane

Curious about what Delta’s A321neo looks like? Here are some general pictures:

Delta Air Lines' Airbus A321neo First Class cabin
Delta Air Lines’ Airbus A321neo First Class cabin
Delta Air Lines' Airbus A321neo First Class cabin
Delta Air Lines’ Airbus A321neo First Class cabin
Delta Air Lines' Airbus A321neo cabin
Delta Air Lines Airbus A321neo Comfort+
Delta Air Lines Airbus A321neo Comfort+
Delta Air Lines Airbus A321neo Comfort+
Delta Air Lines' Airbus A321neo Main Cabin
Delta Air Lines’ Airbus A321neo Main Cabin
Delta Air Lines' Airbus A321neo Main Cabin cabin
Delta Air Lines’ Airbus A321neo Main Cabin cabin

luggage on a shelf in an airplane

Delta Air Lines' Airbus A321neo overhead bins
Delta Air Lines’ Airbus A321neo overhead bins

a toilet in a plane a tissue box on a wall

Delta Air Lines' Airbus A321neo forward lavatory
Delta Air Lines’ Airbus A321neo forward lavatory
Delta A321neo cockpit
Delta A321neo cockpit

First Class Seats

Delta announced a couple of years ago the design of new first class seats. The seats made their grand, public debut on the flight.

How were they?

Good, but not amazing. Let’s check out more detailed positives and negatives.

Delta A321neo First Class Seats: The Good

There’s a decent amount of space between you and your seatmate (or would it be row mate?). You won’t bump into the other person nor likely spill their drink while in your seat during the flight.

a seat in a plane
Delta Air Lines’ Airbus A321neo First Class seats
Delta Air Lines' Airbus A321neo First Class seats
Delta Air Lines’ Airbus A321neo First Class seats
Delta Air Lines' Airbus A321neo First Class seats
Delta Air Lines’ Airbus A321neo First Class seats
Delta Air Lines' Airbus A321neo First Class tray table
Delta Air Lines’ Airbus A321neo First Class tray table
Delta Air Lines' Airbus A321neo First Class tray table
Delta Air Lines’ Airbus A321neo First Class tray table

a person's leg in a pocket in an airplane a person's legs in a seat on an airplane

The seats feature a great setup for getting work done. My elbows were very comfortable on the armrests while I typed on my laptop. The large tray table allowed plenty of room for 16” MacBook Pro and a decent-sized mouse pad.

Delta Air Lines' Airbus A321neo First Class setup
Delta Air Lines’ Airbus A321neo First Class setup

I appreciate the individual power ports built into the privacy divider. There’s no need to worry about tripping over cords and cables plugged into outlets situated between seats near the floor of many other domestic Delta first class products. A Delta spokesperson told me the A321neo power port’s positioning was very much intentional for that reason. Also worth mentioning: the power port is situated far enough back that my adapter stayed out of my way.

Delta Air Lines' Airbus A321neo First Class cabin power port
Delta Air Lines’ Airbus A321neo First Class cabin power port
Delta Air Lines' Airbus A321neo First Class cabin power port
Delta Air Lines’ Airbus A321neo First Class cabin power port
Delta Air Lines' Airbus A321neo First Class cabin power port
Delta Air Lines’ Airbus A321neo First Class cabin power port

Bravo, Delta, on the “flying office” you’ve made out of the A321neo seats.

Another feature I really like is the wide beverage tray with elevated borders. There’s enough room for a couple of beverages per passenger. And the raised “lips” help limit spills. (As my wife would say, “Oh, look, they’re almost Chris-proof.”)

Delta Air Lines' Airbus A321neo First Class drink tray
Delta Air Lines’ Airbus A321neo First Class drink tray

There are plenty of storage nooks, crannies, and cubbies. That’s both good and bad.

Delta Air Lines' Airbus A321neo First Class storage and water bottle holder area
Delta Air Lines’ Airbus A321neo First Class storage and water bottle holder area
Laptop and tablet storage cubby in the Delta Air Lines' Airbus A321neo First Class seating
Laptop and tablet storage cubby in the Delta Air Lines’ Airbus A321neo First Class seating

The good part? Your laptop, tablet, phone, and maybe a purse are all easily accessible during the flight. The bad news: this gives you ample opportunity to forget something! So, remember to check in your seating area before deplaning.

A Note About the Privacy Set Up

You’re separated enough from the person next to you that conversations can be difficult. That’s great if you don’t like visiting with others. (I generally keep to myself when traveling alone.)

But the person next to me on the Delta A321neo inaugural was a travel journalist and we were familiar with each other’s work. So, we chatted about a few things — but there was plenty of leaning over the armrests and repeating ourselves. We simply had a rather hard time carrying on a conversation.

To that end: you may find it difficult to converse with a companion while sitting in the A321neo first class seats. But that could be a good excuse to take a nap, read a book, or watch a show.

Also, one problem with the privacy “wings” when you have a window seat:

a window with a view of a road and a black chair

Laptop and tablet storage cubby in the Obstructed window views in Delta Air Lines' Airbus A321neo First Class
Laptop and tablet storage cubby in the Obstructed window views in Delta Air Lines’ Airbus A321neo First Class

The Not-So-Good

A number of passengers around me were not happy with the legroom, which leaves a little to be desired, as well. Especially when the person in front of you reclines.

For some reason, we were under the impression that the seat’s shell or pod wouldn’t retract when someone reclines. Instead, several of us thought the seat would sort of slide forward. That’s not the case.

My knees and lower thighs felt slightly squeezed by the arm walls, which I found a little too thick — especially during a 6+ hour flight.

Squeezing into the window seat is a bit of a chore. (I heard other passengers say the same thing.) There’s maybe a foot or so of space. For reference, this is my 16” MacBook Pro that I set down across the beverage tray and ledge above the electronic device storage cubby.

a rectangular object on a table a laptop and a tray on a table

I normally opt for aisle seats but wanted a window for this flight so I could take pictures and record anything special. In the future, I’ll choose an aisle whenever available (though I certainly won’t turn down a complimentary Medallion upgrade to a window! 😉 ).

Again, the seats are good. Better than everything except Delta One. (Although the 767-300s that haven’t yet been retrofitted…) But the A321neo first class seats aren’t as spectacular as some of us hoped.

Bluetooth Connectivity to the IFE!

Sick of bringing a Bluetooth connector for your earphones?

Those days are over (at least, on the A321neo).

The inflight entertainment (IFE) system features Bluetooth connectivity so you can listen to movies, TV shows, and live satellite television.

a hand touching a screen a screen shot of a device

I also enjoy the great flight tracker options.

a tablet with a screen showing a plane flight

Unacceptable: Inflight WiFi and Internet Connectivity

Delta and Viasat are in big trouble if this is their future of inflight WiFi and Internet. (Help us, Obi-Wan Elon, if you’re our only hope.)

We heard several times during boarding and soon after takeoff that the A321neo features Delta’s latest and greatest onboard Internet system. Fast enough, they said, to watch our favorite shows.

Amazing!

So, how great was it?

Let me put it this way: I missed Gogo.

I’m not even kidding or being dramatic.

Like, my old AOL dial-up connection in 1994 seemed faster and more reliable.

Here are the results of a few speed tests — and that’s when the WiFi actually connected.

a screenshot of a computer a screenshot of a computer a screenshot of a device a screenshot of a phone a screenshot of a phone

People trying to work were not happy. I literally saw shoulders slump in frustration several times when the service dropped.

Even after a Viasat rep onboard reset the system, the Internet speeds and connectivity still were disappointing.

Here’s what happened when I pressed “publish” on this blog post.

a white background with text

Not good.

I can’t imagine Delta and Viasat didn’t take the WiFi for a test drive or several before the first revenue flight. But maybe the system was overloaded with a bunch of passengers using the service. It cost only $5 a pop. But I’ve been on countless other flights when Internet access cost only five bucks – and service was fine.

I hope the issue gets corrected soon.

More to Come

I’ll write a little more about the festivities inside the airport, the (delicious) onboard breakfast, and stuff like that in future posts. But I wanted to get some pictures and a quick review of the plane itself up ASAP.

Please let me know your thoughts of Delta’s A321neo when you’ve had a chance to fly it!

Advertiser Disclosure: Eye of the Flyer, a division of Chatterbox Entertainment, Inc., is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as CreditCards.com. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers. Compensation may impact how and where card products appear on the site. This site does not include all card companies or all available card offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities. Some of the links on this page are affiliate or referral links. We may receive a commission or referral bonus for purchases or successful applications made during shopping sessions or signups initiated from clicking those links.

Responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.

Previous Post

Delta Pre-Departure Beverages Return on June 2

Next Post

My First Visit as a Passenger Through the New Delta LAX Sky Way

Chris Carley

Chris Carley

Chris Carley is the owner, editor, and lead writer of Eye of the Flyer (formerly known as Rene's Points).

Next Post
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My First Visit as a Passenger Through the New Delta LAX Sky Way

Comments 10

  1. Don in ATL says:
    3 years ago

    Thanks for the overhead bin shot. Any reason the red suitcase was lying flat? Did it not fit on its side? Did that suitcase belong to an “uneducated” passenger?

    Reply
    • Chris Carley says:
      3 years ago

      The last of the three.

      Reply
  2. Mariana says:
    3 years ago

    Hey Chris, Mariana here. Awesome review! The legroom is a bummer. Airlines should know that most passengers squeak about that. However, since I usually fly with my husband (also a spiller, lol), the privacy wings are really a turn off. I’m assuming these wings aren’t adjustable in anyway, right? Maybe they did it on purpose to minimize noise, who knows. Can’t wait to hear about the food and the utensils. Do you get any little bags in this flight? My husband loves the Tumi bags from our international flights. He saves all of them. Lol. Thanks again for reviewing this for us.

    Reply
    • Chris Carley says:
      3 years ago

      Hi, Mariana. The wing are not adjustable. No amenity kits. Those are only for Delta One. I’m eager to see the new Delta One amenity kits — the sustainable ones.

      Reply
  3. FNT Delta Diamond says:
    3 years ago

    I think many customers would have been happy with more legroom and no recline. Delta’s domestic first-class legroom on existing planes is alright tight. It’s unfortunate first-class on the CRJ-900 has more legroom than the 757 or A220, the latter of which is really uncomfortable.

    Reply
    • Mel says:
      3 years ago

      Really? Can you handle no recline? I wish I could, but it really hurts my back during longer flights. I hear a lot of discussion about reclining or not reclining due to how it affects other passengers. I travel first class to be able to have more leg room (husband) but also recline more comfortably without squeezing others. Also, with this new privacy wing, if you can’t talk to the person next to you, and you don’t have to work, I guess reclining for a nap may happen more often. I wonder how many people still enjoy the reclining feature.

      Reply
  4. Txrus says:
    3 years ago

    Those privacy wings are a real turn off for me. The whole squeezing into the window seat thing sounds like the problem that currently exists when trying to get into the seat if the pax in front are fully reclined. All in all, I’m not sure this is a plane, at least in front, to get excited about.

    Reply
  5. Douglas Kryzanowski says:
    2 years ago

    I’m curious on Delta Neo Row 18 A and B…. I have them booked for our seats, but any comments on their performance? The good and bad would be appreciated…Thanks!

    Reply
    • marty says:
      11 months ago

      I just booked 18 A and B. How was it?

      Reply
  6. Nancy Dods says:
    1 month ago

    Worse first class seats we’ve experienced on Delta. The bat wings make seats very claustrophobic, and leg room is much tighter. May be looking at alternative airlines as this airplane is the worse we’ve flown.

    Reply

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