Delta 777LR Business Class Seats

Last week I had the opportunity to sit in the Business Class section of Delta’s 777LR.  These planes are amongst the newest in Delta’s fleet and feature 1 of 2 completely different versions of Delta fully flat seats.  Here are what the others look like.  According to the captain, this particular plane (registration: N710DN) was delivered to Delta in March of this year.  While my flight was merely from Atlanta to Los Angeles, typically this Business Class configuration can be found on Delta’s longest flights, including those to Sydney, Johannesburg and Dubai.

In a nutshell, the good and the mediocre:

The good

• Seats lie completely flat and every seat is an aisle
• Headrest that is relevant (can add comfort) even in full lie flat mode
• Water bottle holder & drink rail

The Mediocre

• Seats are somewhat narrow
• There was no audio/video entertainment
• Cabin feels crowded when every seat is occupied  

Explanations & Other Observations

Overall, the seat is quite comfortable when laying fully flat, upright or anywhere in between.  It is, however, a bit narrow, in 2 places: At the foot and in the shoulders.  At 6’ tall I could not lay flat on my back and rest my feet right next to each other, I had to cross my legs.
Regarding the shoulders: The armrest opposite the TV side of the seat can swing up.  If up, your arm hangs off the seat.  If the armrest is positioned down (flat), your arm will rest above your body, effectively putting your arm “to sleep.”  Basically, laying on my back, both of my arms hung off the sides of the seat.  Laying on my side, if my knees were bent at all, they hit the divider and my ass was against the other divider.

There is in seat power, a USB port and an Ethernet port at each seat.  The power worked but there was no audio or video; not even the moving map.  Maintenance made a last ditch effort in Atlanta to fix this problem, but no luck.  I know the lack of video was temporary and will be fixed, but on a plane less than a year old?  In fact, an FA told me the plane would fly back to Atlanta to be fixed and they “would not fly across the Pacific with no A/V entertainment”
That comment raised a few questions in my head, like what aircraft would replace this one?  There are no maintenance operation at LAX that could fix the problem?  Does this FA have any idea what she is talking about?

Tray Tables

You will notice that it is very difficult to open or close tray table without making one or several banging sounds.  This can be bothersome if you are sleeping in the full lie flat mode as your head is right next to the seat divider that holds the  the tray table belonging to the passenger behind you.  Once the tray tables are pulled out, they have an excellent range of motion, allowing one to use a laptop or read a book and still have a meal tray in front of them.

Overall

When the business class cabin is full, as it was on my flight, it seems like tight quarters and the feeling you are staring straight at someone, which you are because of the inner facing seats, is evident.  I didn’t get this feeling when I flew on a Cathay Pacific flight with the same type of seats, but the cabin was only half full on that flight.

All this being said,  I would be more than happy to snag one of these lie flat seats on a 10+ hour flight.

“drink rail” and adjustable arm rest