Trip Report: Delta Air Lines A321 Domestic First IND-ATL

The Details

Flight: DL1554
Aircraft: A321
Class: Domestic First
Seat: 4A
Route: Indianapolis International (IND)-Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International (ATL)
Distance: 502 miles
Flight Time: 1hr 9min
Departure: 13:06
Arrival: 14:23

The Preflight

I was going to visit family for a few days in San Diego and managed to get a SkyMiles award ticket through Atlanta and then to San Diego onboard their B767-400ERs in Domestic First. The first leg from Indy to Atlanta was onboard Deltas regular A321. Once I parked in the economy lot and took the shuttle bus to the terminal, I made my way to the Sky Priority check-in counter.

There was a good amount of people today and there was even a line for the Sky Priority check-in counter.

Security took just a few minutes thanks to TSA Precheck and I then made my way to the Sky Club. This happens to be the only lounge at IND.

The lounge was quite full and just a few scattered sofas and chairs were available. Pictures of the lounge seating can be found in my previous trip report. Alcohol offerings included a good amount of tap beers, wine, and liqours.

Next to the bar were packaged chips and self-serve water.

Dessert was hidden in the corner of the lounge and options included cookies, brownies, and french toast.

On the other side of the bar was a Starbucks branded espresso machine.

In the center of the lounge was the buffet. The theme of today’s hot food was Mexican and choices included seasoned rice and beef barbacoa. There was also a soup available.

Cold food offerings included veggies, charcuterie, shrimp, and tortilla chips with salsa.

The seasoned shrimp and cocktail sauce were very tasty.

There were also sandwiches, salads, and hummus.

The lounge food was very good and I had an excellent lunch there. Five minutes until scheduled boarding was about to begin, I headed to the gate area.

The A321 taking me down to Atlanta today, registration N105DX, was delivered brand-new to Delta just over a year ago in September 2020.

Boarding began at 12:31PM.

The Flight

Delta Air Lines offers a total of 20 Domestic First class seats onboard their A321s arranged in the standard 2-2 configuration.

I was seated in 4A in the second to last row of the cabin. Each recliner seat had 37 inches of pitch and was 21 inches wide.

There was a very nice IFE screen as well as a variety of seatback pockets.

Underneath the screen was a USB port and headphone jack. I really do appreciate how Delta is the only airline in the United States to consistently have personal seatback screens in their Domestic First cabins.

Inbetween the seatbacks were 110V outlets and an additional USB port.

The center armrest had a small cocktail holder and an additional holder that popped out from underneath.

The large bi-fold tray table was stored underneath the center armrest.

The other armrest had the seat recline button.

Upon boarding, each passenger was given a small sanitizing wipe.

The Flight

Flight attendants closed the boarding doors at 1:00PM and we pushed back six minutes later. The taxi to runway 5R took 10 minutes as there were a few aircraft taking off before us.

On the climb out, I had clear views of the Speedway race track and downtown Indy.

Once we hit 15,000 feet, the flight attendants began service with beverages. I was served a pitiful Bloody Mary in a small plastic cup… Snack choice included Goldfish, Cliff bar, or Biscoff.

Thankfully, the flight attendant was proactive in getting me a refill.

On our way down to Atlanta, we passed by a nuclear power plant.

We began our descent into ATL just 40 minutes after taking off from IND. The approach was smooth and provided me with an awesome view of downtown Atlanta.