Featured Map for 30 March 2017:
Delta Air Lines A330s

In the United States, and sometimes in Canada and a handful of other countries, today's date is written as 3/30. That seems like a good excuse for a map about Airbus A330 flying, and a recent lunch with a friend who is an A330 pilot for Delta suggested a map of Delta's A330 flying. (With hundreds of A330s in service, a map of where they all fly would be too cluttered to convey any useful information. A large collection of not-featured maps covers many which just did not work, including an earlier attempt to depict Delta's A330 flying at a time when that network was a bit more complex.)

Delta operates of fleet of 41 Airbus A330 aircraft, comprised of 11 A330-200 models and 30 A330-300 models. The A330-200 has greater range and thus is used on several trans-Pacific routes, while shorter trans-Atlantic routes favor the larger A330-300. Exceptions are not uncommon, presumably with payload restrictions when the A330-300 substitutes on a trans-Pacific route.

There are also four routes where both types are regularly used, between Delta hubs Detroit and Seattle (the only Delta hubs in the U.S. which see the A330-200) and the hubs of European SkyTeam partners at Amsterdam (KLM) and Paris (Air France).

Two of Delta's US hubs have no A330 flying. Cincinnati is mostly a regional hub, with limited international service to Europe using Boeing 767s. LaGuardia favors smaller aircraft on shorter routes than those on which the A330 is usually deployed, with longer routes operated from the hub at nearby JFK.

Seasonal routes, likely to go away as demand to Europe and Asia picks up for the northern summer, include Detroit to San Francisco plus snowbird routes from hubs to Cancún, Fort Myers, and Phoenix.

Today's Featured Map shows Delta's A330 schedule over the past few weeks, ignoring a few military charters and other special operations. Routes in navy are flown with the A330-200; red routes are flown with the A300-300. The four routes regularly flown with both types are in magenta though it's hard to see them on the map.

References and additional information:

• Delta Air Lines
• KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
• Air France
• Delta Airlines Fleet – Planespotters.net
• Delta Airlines Fleet - Airbus A330 - Active – Planespotters.net