Strange Delta Question

[martyap]

We need a non stop early morning flight JFK > FCO on May 8, 2024. When I look at the available seats I see something I have not seen before. On both the right and left sides, rows AB and HJ almost every aisle seat is occupied in Main and Economy…NO WINDOW SEATS….ONLY AISLE SEATS are occupied. Also on May 6th. Seems very strange. ?

[Zach1213]

I'm not sure where you are seeing an "early morning" JFK-FCO flight. What you're seeing is definitely odd, I see it too, and I am not sure what the answer may be...perhaps some group that only wants aisles? The other option is that, for whatever reasons, those are just the seats that Delta is holding back and nobody is actually booked in to them yet...again, for whatever reason. 

[martyap]

13 minutes ago, Zach1213 said:

I'm not sure where you are seeing an "early morning" JFK-FCO flight. What you're seeing is definitely odd, I see it too, and I am not sure what the answer may be...perhaps some group that only wants aisles? The other option is that, for whatever reasons, those are just the seats that Delta is holding back and nobody is actually booked in to them yet...again, for whatever reason. 

MY MISTAKE IT IS THE MID AFTERNOON FLIGHT FROM JFK ARRIVING FCO *EARLY MORNING*

 

When Delta holds back seats I believe they mark them

with an X. This is quite strange…..nobody from this fictional group wanted to sit near a window?  And…..they all appeared overnight together

Edited June 26, 2023 by martyap
Error

[TayanaLorna]

I would not rely on a Delta schedule or seat assignments 10-11 months before traveling.  I found a great flight on Delta Athens to JFK non stop for March 2024.  Two weeks later it was gone.

[martyap]

18 minutes ago, TayanaLorna said:

I would not rely on a Delta schedule or seat assignments 10-11 months before traveling.  I found a great flight on Delta Athens to JFK non stop for March 2024.  Two weeks later it was gone.

I agree.......just curious of the seats taken this far out

[martyap]

And this seating oddity in not only on the 4:40 pm Delta JFK > FCO on May 8…..ditto on other early May dates…..same flight time

[Globaliser]

2 hours ago, Zach1213 said:

What you're seeing is definitely odd, I see it too, and I am not sure what the answer may be...perhaps some group that only wants aisles?

 

The pattern is repeated or similar on a number of other flights. I've looked at the week centred on the OP's travel date, and also the week before that (ie 28 April to 11 May), and you can also see it on DL182 on 28 April, 3 May and 5 May, with a sparser selection on DL230 on 5 May and DL182 on 7 May.

 

You can also see it in the reverse direction: DL231 on 6 May in particular.

 

It's also interesting that where it occurs, the pattern extends into the seat rows that are otherwise marked as blocked on the source that I use.

[Globaliser]

Also interesting to see DL231 on 29 April.

[martyap]

Have no idea why??????

[Zach1213]

I just texted my cousin who works for Ops at Delta and asked if she knew why. She told me "yes, but I can't tell you". Thanks, cuz...

 

That means absolutely nothing other than that there is a reason and she isn't willing to share it with me haha. 

[Globaliser]

4 minutes ago, Zach1213 said:

That means absolutely nothing other than that there is a reason and she isn't willing to share it with me haha. 

 

It's the FAM annual works outing.

[martyap]

23 minutes ago, Globaliser said:

 

It's the FAM annual works outing.

No idea what that is…on 3-4 different days? No one wants to sit together?

[Globaliser]

3 minutes ago, martyap said:

No idea what that is …

 

It was a joke. Sorry.

[FlyerTalker]

2 hours ago, Zach1213 said:

I just texted my cousin who works for Ops at Delta and asked if she knew why. She told me "yes, but I can't tell you". Thanks, cuz...

 

At least she didn't add in "but I'll have to kill you".

 

 

[Zach1213]

48 minutes ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

At least she didn't add in "but I'll have to kill you".

 

 

She pretty much tells me that about most things anyways

[Ashland]

Perhaps those seats showing an "X" are being held back for crew if needed when there's only one or two at the front ???

[waterbug123]

The first rule in trying to understand anything Delta does is don't try to understand anything Delta does.  Seriously though, sometimes their IT seems to be completely screwed up and strange things like this are often asked about in Delta frequent flyer forums.  Could very well be just a computer glitch that will theoretically get fixed at some point.

[martyap]

12 hours ago, waterbug123 said:

The first rule in trying to understand anything Delta does is don't try to understand anything Delta does.  Seriously though, sometimes their IT seems to be completely screwed up and strange things like this are often asked about in Delta frequent flyer forums.  Could very well be just a computer glitch that will theoretically get fixed at some point.

Showing up on many different dates around April and May 2024. Very strange

[martyap]

Still no definitive answer to my question. I am looking at various r/t flights Delta JFK to FCO next April and May. It appears that Delta is blocking lots of seats on various dates of the non stop morning flights to Rome……..heads appear in lots of the aisle seats NOT ANY WINDOW SEATS of rows A and B; H and J…………OR……don’t they want singles booking those seats and they open up if you continue the booking process for a couple?

Edited July 11, 2023 by martyap
Spelling

[fbgd]

On 6/27/2023 at 8:46 AM, Zach1213 said:

I just texted my cousin who works for Ops at Delta and asked if she knew why. She told me "yes, but I can't tell you". Thanks, cuz..

 

I wonder if it's some kind of quirk where they don't know if there will be an equipment swap to a different aircraft. The seatmap will block off certain seats so it makes it easier to remap seat assignments into a new aircraft configuration if/when that happens. Yes, there isn't an aircraft that matches the configuration with the blocked off seats but it's the best I can think of for a large-ish number of seats on a bunch of flights way in the future.

 

Though not sure why that would be something your cousin couldn't share so maybe not...

[Ashland]

I've been looking at several DL flights...multiple routes/dates etc and most all of them have the notated "X" as not available on some seats with random locations. Long time DL flyer and this appears to be rather new.