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#918067 by horburyflyer
28 Feb 2016, 17:23
Ground Staff
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So after a busy few days Stateside it was time to head home. I was keen to avoid London (as I would be there later in the week with work) and Manchester as many of you will know is close to home and having a rest day after my arrival at home it made sense to travel back to MAN.

The direct JFK-MAN flight with Delta had no availability when I booked. That's another route doing well by all accounts with the imminent upgrade to a Boeing 76W so loyal to the brand I took a connecting flight from the New York area to Atlanta. This was with Delta in First and uneventful. Friendly crew on an A319, salad or sandwich with a cookie and a couple of G&Ts. All worked fine with an early arrival into Concourse E too.

As the VS110 was departing from F2 and my bags had been checked through I simply boarded the air-train and I was in Concourse F within minutes at 1600. Boarding for the VS110 was planned to start at 1645 which seemed early and indeed was. This was also commented on by the Delta Sky Club agent as I checked into the lounge.

The lounge was surprisingly quiet which was unusual as it can be like a zoo in there sometimes. But I found a table by the window and by the bar which I have never been able to do! The food offer is enhanced compared to other Sky Clubs and features the usual items such as salad, two soups, crackers, cheese, cookies and veggies. In addition there was a hot pasta dish, a hot chicken dish and some wedges too.

Just had time for a sweetwater 420 and a few nibbles before heading to the gate at 1700. Boarding didn't commence until 1720 and the gate staff were competing for air-time over the tannoy with departing flights to LHR, AMS, CDG, BRU and MAD.

Boarding was pretty disorganised and the team at the gate were clearly under pressure. Welcomed at L2 and I stepped onto G-VWAG for the tenth time!

I had settled for 8K which was handy for the washrooms, bar and when leaving the aircraft. Sadly it suffered from a little noise at the bar. This has never been an issue before at all, but four people who had never flown UC before and had been upgraded were enjoying themselves and quite rightly too (more about them shortly...)

The CSS came along and introduced himself. This guy worked his socks off all flight long, as did the rest of the other crew, but this was one hard-working CSS. Champagne was quickly offered and accepted closely followed by sleep suits and newspapers.

The amenity kit (still using the old one's out of MAN) was on the ottoman. At 1800 the Captain came on to announce a delay as we were awaiting some paperwork....he promised a flight time of 7hrs20mins and that we were all ready to go, except the paperwork.

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At 1815, after a refill of champagne four passengers arrived who had been due to travel on the LHR flight but had missed it because their connecting flight was late. They had been upgraded to UC and took the last four seats in UC. This was a busy flight, full in UC and a total of 199 passengers. I have heard (and seen) that the MAN-ATL route is doing very well and it sure is according to the crew.

Push-back came at 1820 and we were airborne at 1827 skipping the line we were airborne into the rainy sky. It was bumpy, quite bumpy for the first 20mins though the crew were released and commenced the service with hot towels.

The FSM came along to introduce himself and welcome me back. I do appreciate that and it took only a minute or two to do but demonstrated to me this was a crew determined to please and add value. We also had another FSM working in the galley who I had flown with a couple of times before and she came to say hello too. As we climbed the slide of my ottoman came away from unit and it was slotted back in by the FSM and held together by some tape.

Drinks were soon offered and came with dill pickle crisps. Refills were proactively offered and tables for dinner were laid at 1915.

The menu is changing in the next few days and personally I don't think it has been a strong one this past cycle so looking forward to the change but it was:

Roasted garlic and cauliflower soup
Tuna nicoise
Artichoke and manchego salad

***
Fillet steak with gnocchi
Chicken and mushroom teriyaki
Mushroom and rocket risotto
Gravlax salad

***
Sticky toffee ginger pudding
Chocolate mocha mousse

***
Cheese and Port

I personally enjoyed the artichoke and manchego salad, the fillet steak and the sticky toffee ginger pudding.

Wine, water and warm (white or brown) rolls were topped up frequently. It was a very attentive service throughout and great to see the cheese trolley which was very popular indeed on this flight. This was a nice selection of Beemster goat, Ewe's blue and Le Chimay a la Biere.

The four people decided to go to the bar as everyone else was settling down. They were in good spirits though after 30mins there they were sent back to the seats as we hit some pretty rough air. The crew quickly cleared the bar, turned off the lights and we all settled down for a few hours rest.

Breakfast was served 1.5hrs from MAN and the usual spread of Juice, cereals, fruit, porridge, bakery items and the full works were all available. I have quite a taste for those warm hazelnut chocolate croissants which go down a treat.

Coffee and juice were flowing. This was a busy breakfast service for the crew as most people were having the full works.

Just time for a final round of hot towels, lovehearts and a cheery goodbye from the crew and we touched down into a misty Manchester at 0640. We were quickly on stand 202 and disembarking into a chilly terminal.

The bags were around within minutes and I was quickly on my train home to Yorkshire. So a good solid flight. A strong team minded CC with a great CSS, a friendly FSM (or two) and attentive service throughout.

The IFE worked well and ahead of a Dubai trip I have coming up watched (again) The Billon Dollar hotel and Miranda from the O2 which had me giggling all the way through.

Thanks for reading.

Jon
Last edited by horburyflyer on 28 Feb 2016, 22:46, edited 4 times in total.
#918069 by hiljil
28 Feb 2016, 18:40
Thank you for your TR. It is pleasing to read about a good crew again after a couple of recent TR's .
#918076 by buns
28 Feb 2016, 20:52
Jon

Thanks for yet another excellent TR. Atlanta is becoming a favourite route for many (thanks to relatively good G availability ) for those wishing to get to Florida, so updates on the route are always helpful.

Top marks to an excellent crew and as you say, that brief moment to welcome you back says more about an airline that an amenity kit ever can :-D

Thanks once again

buns

PS Can I be invited to the ceremony when they put a name plaque above your seat on G-VWAG :-P
#918079 by David
28 Feb 2016, 21:36
Jon,

Good to read normal service resumed, and a little excited about a new menu (although the chicken biryani outbound was superb) which I might hopefully get to try in 4 weeks time.

Also good to hear ATL seems to be working well for VS load wise

Thanks for another informative TR

David
#919193 by ChrisS
26 Mar 2016, 02:10
Thank you Jon - I'm considering the Man to Atlanta Upper option for our winter trip to SW Fla in November (only minor blip is Atl to RSW is aboard Delta), so this has been a most informative review.
#919232 by Florida White
27 Mar 2016, 02:11
Thank you for a great trip report once again. I was considering Atlanta until a couple of weeks ago when some really good offers appeared for UC for our October jaunt across the pond and got direct both ways to MCOfor at a great price. Never seen anyone at the bar yet on a night flight but doesn't seem to have been too much of an issue in the end for your return.
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