Here's some good news... Delta Connection is adding two flights a day direct from Altanta to Key West! Two daily, direct flights will connect Atlanta's Hartsfield airport with Key West.

The flights will leave Atlanta at 8:30am and 2:25pm, with return flights to Atlanta leaving Key West at 11:25am and 2:25pm. The trip is expected to take 2 hours.

This is exciting news for anyone who's made the Atlanta-Key West trek before!

Here is the press release -
Atlanta is First Key West Destination Outside Florida In 40 Years;
Special Inaugural Fares Offered

ATLANTA, July 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Delta Connection this fall will offer customers the first regional jet service at Key West, Fla., with daily round-trip flights to Atlanta and Orlando. The nonstop Atlanta flights will be the first airline service from Key West to a destination outside Florida in 40 years.
Delta Connection will upgrade existing twice-daily Key West-Orlando turboprop service with 40-passenger Bombardier CRJ200 regional jets on Sept.
1. Two daily nonstop, round-trip flights between Key West and Atlanta will start Oct. 1, featuring the 70-passenger Bombardier CRJ700.
Delta (NYSE: DAL) is offering special introductory round-trip fares ranging from $250 to $350 for travel between 148 destinations and Key West via the new non-stop Atlanta-Key West flights for tickets purchased by Aug. 9, 2001. The special fares apply to travel between Oct. 1 and Dec. 15, 2002, except for certain holiday periods. See below for other important details.
"Key West customers will love the comfort and convenience of Delta Connection regional jets," said Fred Buttrell, president and chief executive officer, Delta Connection, Inc. "This fall it will be even easier to fly to their favorite destinations, because our new service to Atlanta links the Key West community to the world in just one stop."
With new service to Atlanta's Hartsfield International Airport -- the world's largest single-airline hub -- passengers can connect to more than 880 flights to 210 destinations served by Delta, Delta Connection and their worldwide partners.
Both the CRJ200 and CRJ700 aircraft are environmentally friendly, operating at noise levels lower than many of the commercial and private aircraft serving Key West today. Known as one of the quietest aircraft in the world, the Bombardier CRJ has revolutionized travel through its broad passenger appeal, comfort and convenience. The aircraft has a comfortable
two-by-two seating arrangement; every seat is an aisle or window, with no middle seats.
Delta Connection carrier Comair will operate the jet flights between Key West and Orlando and Delta Connection carrier Atlantic Southeast Airlines (ASA) will operate the new service between Key West and Atlanta.

Sample Of Delta's Round-trip Sale Fares

BETWEEN KEY WEST and ROUND-TRIP SALE FARES

Kansas City $300
Los Angeles $350
Milwaukee $300
New York (JFK) $250
New York (LaGuardia) $250
Philadelphia $250
Seattle $350

The new flights between Key West and Atlanta:

From Key West to Atlanta
Flight Departs Arrives Equipment Effective
4846 11:25 a.m. 1:25 p.m. CRJ700 Oct. 1, 2002
4848 5:25 p.m. 7:25 p.m. CRJ700 Oct. 1, 2002

From Atlanta to Key West
Flight Departs Arrives Equipment Effective
4845 8:30 a.m. 10:35 a.m. CRJ700 Oct. 1, 2002
4847 2:25 p.m. 4:30 p.m. CRJ700 Oct. 1, 2002


The new schedule between Key West and Orlando:

From Key West to Orlando
Flight Departs Arrives Equipment Effective
5032 9:00 a.m. 10:07 a.m. CRJ200 Sept. 1 2002
5034 7:35 p.m. 8:42 p.m. CRJ200 Sept. 1, 2002

From Orlando to Key West
Flight Departs Arrives Equipment Effective
5031 7:35 a.m. 8:35 a.m. CRJ200 Sept. 1, 2002
5713 6:00 p.m. 7:00 p.m. CRJ200 Sept. 1, 2002

Delta Connection includes wholly owned subsidiaries Atlantic Southeast Airlines and Comair, and additional regional carriers Atlantic Coast Airlines, Chautauqua Airlines and SkyWest Airlines. Delta Connection carriers operate more than 250 regional jets throughout North America. For more information, please contact Delta Reservations, 1-800-221-1212, or visit delta.com.

NOTE: A portion of travel for some itineraries may be on the following Delta Connection carriers: Atlantic Coast Airlines, Atlantic Southeast Airlines, Chautauqua Airlines, Comair and Sky West Airlines, or codeshare partner American Eagle.

Restrictions: Tickets are non-transferable. Seats are limited and fares may not be available on all flights or in all markets. Purchase Requirements: Fares require a 14-day advance purchase. Fares shown are roundtrip. Roundtrip purchase is required. Ticketing Period: Tickets must be purchased on or before Aug. 9, 2002. Purchases at delta.com must be made at time of reservations confirmation and must be paid for using
credit card/check card only. For tickets not purchased at delta.com, purchase must be made within 1 day of reservations confirmation or at least 14 days prior to departure, whichever comes first but not later than Aug. 9, 2002. Travel Period: Travel must commence on/after Oct. 1, 2002. All travel must be completed by Dec. 15, 2002. Blackout Dates: Nov. 27, Dec. 1-2, 2002. Fare Validity: Fares are valid in the Economy (Coach)
Cabin on Delta/Delta Connection flights between Key West Fla., and select Delta destinations in the 48 contiguous states via nonstop flights between Atlanta Ga., and Key West Fla. Travel must originate or terminate in Key West, Fla. Min./Max. Stay: Minimum Stay: Saturday night stay is required for travel commencing prior to Nov. 24 and from Nov. 30 through Dec. 15, 2002. For travel commencing Nov. 24 through Nov. 27,
2002 a Wednesday night stay is required. For travel commencing on Nov. 28-29, 2002 no minimum stay required. Maximum Stay: None. Cancellations/Refunds: Fares are nonrefundable. Changes/Standby: Wholly unused tickets: Although fares are nonrefundable, customer may apply value of fare to any applicable published fare less $100 plus any applicable fare difference. Partially used tickets: Date/Time changes allowed only on return portion of itinerary for a fee of $100 per change,
plus applicable fare difference, as long as rule requirements are
satisfied. All changes must be made prior to the original date/time of departure. Fares offered on delta.com do not apply for reissue/downgrade of previously purchased tickets. Same day standby is allowed.
Taxes/Fees: Fares do not include a $3.00 Federal Excise Tax which will be imposed on each flight segment of your itinerary. A flight segment is defined as a takeoff and a landing. Fares do not include Passenger Facility Charge(s) of up to $18.00, depending on itinerary, and September 11th Security Fee of up to $10.00 per round-trip. These fees are the responsibility of the passenger and must be paid at the time of purchase.
Miscellaneous: Fares and rules are subject to change without notice. Third party purchases of tickets are not permitted on delta.com. The credit card/check card holder making the purchase must be a traveling passenger or have the same last name of at least one passenger. Special offers issued on delta.com may not be applied to other Web fares. These
special offers are not combinable with other Delta Fares. Vouchers cannot be used towards the purchase of tickets on delta.com. Offer is void where
prohibited by law. Other restrictions may apply. (c) 2002 Delta Air
Lines, Inc.

After a trial run yesterday, the new jets that'll be making this route got a lot of good reviews. Area residents were reported in the papers as saying that the Bombardier CRJ 700 (the jets that will be on this run) were quieter on take-off than the turbo-props, and the locals on the flight said the seating was comfortable.

Be interested to hear some first-hand reports of this flight when it kicks off on Oct. 1st...

Unfortuntly I couldn't go out on the trial run but I spoke to several people who did and this is what I gathered - Everyone commented on how quiet it was. You could easily hear the guy 3 seats in front of you with no problem. The take off was very, very steep. That seem to bother a couple of people but not too much. The landing was the worst......very bumpy, a very hard landing and they used up every inch of the runway getting it to a stop. That bothered just about everyone. Most wrote it off to the fact the pilots are getting use to the plane/runway. It also offers beverage service and snacks (pretzels) and was very comfortable. The really need to get the runway thing figured out. That kind of a landing would bother me every time if that would be the norm with what we have now.

Thanks grglnswsh! The steep take-off was kind of strange to me the first time I flew on one of these smaller jets from a small airport. Then I realized it was like a really powerful thrill ride and enjoyed it. It's all state of mind, I guess.

Now, the landing seems to be the most important part of a flight so I'm with you on getting the it down to an artform. So, if anyone flies into/out of KW after this flight goes regular, would you mind posting about it? We're interested in hearing how this works out!

The steep feeling in the CRJ's is somewhat of an illusion for the most part. It is the same initial climb as bigger Boeing jets but you notice it more because you are in a smaller plane. Also, prop planes don't climb at such an angle. While I don't know the specifics, there also could be a noise abatement issue specifying that planes climb at their maximum climb specs (similar to John Wayne airport in Orange County, CA).

The Key West runway is about at the operating edge for a CRJ 700 both in length and width and very unforgiving to error. The bottom line is that the plane needs the entire runway to stop so there is going to be some hard braking.

A hard landing isn't the bad thing that most people assume. When it is raining, pilots land a bit hard to prevent hydroplaning and force the wheel contact with the asphalt. When the winds are gusty, you can't glide in smooth. Plus, you only have one runway so fighting crosswinds is a factor.

A pilot's priority is to get it lined up and get the wheels on the ground, and get it stopped. Don't worry ... the planes are build to withsand all of this and more.

The "bumpy runway" effect was probably more a result of speed. It magnified the uneven spots in the runway. Remember, Key West airport was never designed for any any form of jet aircraft.

The CRJ's are very quiet. They are a real win-win and airlines are buying them to replace similar capacity prop planes as the prop's get retired. They are opening up non-stop longer range service to communities that have the demand but don't have an airport with 7000+ feet of runway.

I wouldn't think twice about flying in as far as saftey. If you want a real thrill, fly a full size jet into Burbank, CA where the approach is unusually steep because of noise abatement combined with a pretty short runway. Bringing a CRJ into Key West is child's play compared to that!

Now you all have me wanting to plan a winter getaway to Key West!