Delta Air Lines, an Atlanta-based carrier, currently operates Boeing 737-800 and -900ER series aircraft on various routes. While commonly used for flights over 2,000 miles, these planes are also deployed on shorter routes. A recent example involved a journey from Los Angeles to San Francisco, a popular intra-California route utilized by several airlines, including American Airlines, United Airlines, Southwest Airlines, and Alaska Airlines.
Traditionally, Delta used both 737s and Airbus narrowbodies on this route. However, a change occurred in April when Delta began exclusively operating Boeing 737-800s, except for two flights in each direction using the 737-900ER, according to data from aviation analytics provider Cirium. There were about 200 roundtrip flights operated with the 737-800 model.
One instance of this operation was on April 3 with the aircraft N375DA. The early morning flight from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) began with the 06:05 departure of DL1421, despite a longer than expected wait at the security checkpoint. The passenger had enough time for a brief stop at the nearly empty Delta Sky Club before heading to the gate.