I had a very pleasant flight on a Delta A350-900 in “Delta One” business class from Los Angeles to Atlanta, a flight that felt like a longhaul international journey in many ways despite its short duration.
Delta Air Lines A350-900 “Delta One” Business Class Review
Delta is now branding its flights between Los Angeles and Atlanta that operate on a widebody jet as Delta One, similar to the way American Airlines brands its widebody service only between Los Angeles and Miami as Flagship.
I arrived at the airport 2.5 hours before my flight (typically I cut it very close and arrive about 45-60 minutes prior to departure), to utilize the posh Delta One check-in facility on the arrivals level of Terminal 3 and the Delta One Lounge. I enjoyed a delicious breakfast ahead of my flight and wish I had even longer in the lounge.
This flight departed from the Tom Bradley International Terminal, which was about a 10-minute walk from the lounge.
Boarding began 40 minutes prior to departure.
Delta Air Lines 327
Los Angeles (LAX) – Atlanta (ATL)
Saturday, May 9
Depart: 9:30 AM
Arrive: 4:26 PM
Duration: 03hr, 56min
Distance: 1,946 miles
Aircraft: Airbus A350-900
Seat: 5A (“Delta One” Business Class)
Onboard, I found a refurbished cabin reflecting Delta’s latest color palette. The seats are darker, the blues are gone, but the cabin looks refined (it would have looked even more refined if the mood lights had been turned on).
Seats
Delta has two A350-900 configurations, one with 40 seats (including a mini-cabin of eight seats behind door 2) and a 32-seat cabin, which I flew on here.
Delta’s A350s have 32 seats in business class in a staggered 1-2-1 configuration. Each suite in business class has direct aisle access and a sliding door that offers additional privacy. All seats face forward. The modified Thompson Vantage XL seat can also be found on SAS and Qantas (among others), though without doors.
I prefer “true” window seats (which on this aircraft are odd numbered A and D seats), I chose 5A, which happened to still be available even though I booked this flight less than 24 hours prior to departure.
The seat is well-padded and features a wireless charging port for your mobile device, though like so many such devices, I could not get it to charge…
Seat controls include four pre-set modes plus manual adjustments and also control lighting.
On the side there’s a second set of controls that make it easier to recline or incline the seat while you are sleeping.
Each suite has a universal A/C outlet and a USB-C port (easily within reach), plus a dimmable lamp.
A lid at my armrest flips up, housing a control for the IFE and a mirror.
Finally, there’s a bit of storage on the side where the headphones are stored (and I found some trash there that the aircraft cleaners had missed, so even Delta struggles here).
Overhead, there are personal air vents, though the cabin never got warm during the flight:
The cabin remained dark for the entire flight (despite it being morning…):
Full bedding was offered including a mattress topper, pillow, and duvet.
Amenity Kit + Slippers
One thing that made this feel like an international flight was the full Missoni amenity kit. Unlike American and United, which offers very small amenity kits on their premium domestic flights, Delta offers the full Missoni kit, which includes products I find extremely useful like Marvis toothpaste (love it) and Grown Alchemy skin products.
Missoni-branded slippers were also offered:
Food + Drink
Meal service began after takeoff with a hot towel followed by a choice of beverage and mixed nuts.
The menu was elaborate, also like a longhaul flight:
Breakfast was served on a single tray with a yogurt appetizer, salmon side dish, main course, and a mini-scone. I chose:
Cheddar Scrambled Eggs
chicken date sausage, hashbrown casserole
The other breakfast choices were French Toast or a breakfast burrito and the scrambled eggs were excellent.
I had a cup of coffee (Starbucks) with breakfast, but espresso was also available (though no cappuccino…I was told there was no milk foamer available).
Later in the the flight a snack basket was offered and a warm chocolate chip cookies followed by a piece of chocolate were offered before landing.
IFE + Wi-Fi
You never know about Wi-Fi and so I managed to complete all my essential work before the flight (at the expense of my sleep), but the Wi-Fi worked well and was free for SkyMiles members. Noise-cancelling headphones were offered and the IFE library included hundreds of TV shows, movies, games, and music, plus a moving flight map (but no tailcams on the Delta A350).
I watched a sci-fi movie I very much enjoyed on the interaction between AI and the way called Mercy.
Lavatory
There are four lavatories, two in the front of the plane exclusively for Delta One passengers and two just behind the business class cabin that are shared with Comfort Plus (premium economy). The lavatories include Grown Alchemist soap.
Interestingly, the lavatories have no ashtrays…
Service
Finally, the service was pleasant on this flight, but not otherwise noteworthy. Flight attendants were not as proactive in offering refills as I’ve seen on other Delta flights, though I could have rang the call bell if I wanted something (and at one point, I did). Midway through the flight I asked if there were any mixed nuts left and was obliged with a second helping.
CONCLUSION
We landed in Atlanta late, but I was still able to make my connection.
It was a pleasure to fly on Delta One on a domestic flight and the upgraded amenities are noticeable. Certainly any widebody on a U.S. domestic flight is itself an upgrade, but the enchanted soft product on this flight was really nice. The true value-add, however, was the Delta One Lounge access.
I don’t think there will be much domestic travel this summer, but if there is I hope to do another Delta One segment…
It’s a beautiful aircraft, and premium cabin. If Delta wants to keep the 330ceos and 767s in-service longer, can’t those interiors be upgraded to the newer DeltaOne suites? Would make for a more consistent product, less disappointment.
you couldn’t have had a good WiFi experience on a DL A350; some people are convinced that fleet doesn’t have WiFI.
that plane is actually one of DL’s newest and has regularly made calls over the past couple weeks at MEL, JNB and of course ICN and HND – all routes where the performance of a cutting edge A350 shines.
and 1990,
cabin mods for the A330CEOs start this fall.
DL already has 80 aircraft with Delta One Suites including 359s and 339s and that number will grow by scores as the 330CEO fleet is modded and the 35Ks arrive. DL will be at 2/3 of its widebody fleet w/ Delta One Suites in a couple years – far more than any other US airline and in the upper league of global airlines.
Tim, that’s genuinely good to hear about the cabin mods! Woohoo!
DL currently operates roughly 100 widebody aircraft equipped with enclosed Delta One Suites featuring sliding privacy doors. The fleet featuring these flagship business-class suites includes the following aircraft:
* A350-900: 41 aircraft
* A330-900: 39 aircraft
* B767-400: 21 aircraft
Woah, the good doctor correcting Mr. Tim “Delta” Dunn on a Delta stat, now I’ve seen everything!
But Tim is correct here – the 764s do not have the new business class suites.
Tim people have wifi issues on TPAC flights.
I was on the HKG flight, and as expected no wifi.
and AA and UA are experiencing WiFi issues w/ Panasonic.
It is easy to nitpick at someone else but far less meaningful if nobody else is really delivering anywhere close to perfection.
The next Viasat satellite for Asia will be operational later this year – long before any other carrier has close to 100% coverage on every flight.
At Delta’s usual rate of interior renovations it will take well over four years to complete and they will still have four different international J seat/beds. Yikes!
and yet UA is unique among global airlines in pursuing a single business class seat and, in doing so, dumbed down Polaris to fit the 767 at the expense of not having a true suite product while DL has had it on its 359s for almost a decade.
perhaps you can tell us how long ago UA started advertising United Next and their progress on that initiative – as well as Starlink.
No airline with 1000 aircraft is going to do any refurbs fast and it is pure hypocrisy for you to throw shade at DL while excusing the mish mash of products that UA has across its fleet.
Since DL is now planning on using the same J seat as UA has been and is finally adding more premium seats, UA must have better evaluated the market way back. Unfortunately, product consistency suffers when it takes so long to install interiors and management keeps changing their minds about their latest hard product offerings like Delta does.
Why do you make a blanket statement that all flights between LAX & ATL now feature DL1? As a blogger I would hope to avoid seeing general statements like that when a little research would indicate it’s only offered on two flights daily……..Disappointing
Who are you talking about? I said nothing of the sort.
Always good to see a *normal* review of a delta flight and not the fawning, cult-member-like posts that some other bloggers write. This was a good, objective review of what seemed like a nice flight.
There is no Delta One Lounge in ATL. Seems weird to offer the product without the Lounge in ATL
*deep sigh* they really should get on that… (I know, I know… fortress hub, captive audience, focus on competitive markets first, but… it’s their HQ!)
But UA has Polaris lounges at fortress hubs like SFO and IAH…
True… There is currently no dedicated Delta One Lounge at ATL. While Atlanta is DL’s primary hub, a signature Delta One Lounge is still in development and is slated to open in 2028, likely in Concourse E or F. Until the standalone lounge opens, you can take advantage of the premium services and alternative lounge spaces currently available:
* Premium Check-In: ATL does feature a dedicated, exclusive Delta One check-in area at the International Terminal (inside Door 2).
* Delta Sky Clubs: Passengers traveling in Delta One can access any of the standard Delta Sky Club locations at ATL. The lounge on Concourse D is the largest, while the lounges on Concourses E and F offer showers.
* Alternative Lounge: Concourse E also houses the world’s largest American Express Centurion Lounge, which can serve as an excellent alternative if you hold an eligible Platinum or Centurion card.
The DL difference, once again…
For aviation enthusiasts → The DL jetliner in the article’s photo is an A350-900 (age: 1 years). It is currently parked at SLC.
Greetings to that full Missoni amenity kit!
Are you ok?
It’s nice to see this elevated service on a transcontinental flight outside of the traditional premium markets. I remember US Airways offering elevated service on all transcontinental flights between 1997 and 2001(ish) operating from it’s East Cost hubs to it’s West Coast destinations including DEN, PHX, SFO, LAX, SEA, etc. The wine list was elevated and the meal service was multicourse and modeled after it’s Envoy Class transatlantic service.
I recently flew Delta LAX-RDU in First and the service on that flight was exactly the same as you would get on MSP-RDU (main course, bread, dessert). I wish more airlines would offer truly elevated service on flights exceeding 4-5 hours.
As a side note, the flight looked great, but I was surprised to not see any sparkling wines on offer.