One thing Delta does particularly well is recognizing market trends and capitalizing on them. Its policy of blocking middle seats may be marketed under the guise of safety, but it’s really about winning business on both a short- and long-term basis. Yet Delta’s sudden China exception route, which coincidentally is experiencing high demand, demonstrates exactly why seat blocking is simply a self-serving, temporary stop gap.
Delta No Longer Blocking Delta One Suites On A350 China Flights
Zach Griff notes that Delta is no longer imposing a capacity cap on Airbus A350 Delta One Suites between the United States and China. A Delta spokesperson confirmed:
“Strict government restrictions on the number of flights Delta is authorized to operate to China means seat availability remains extremely limited. To meet high demand in this market while safeguarding our customers and employees, bookings on Delta flights between the U.S. and Shanghai will be offered up to full capacity in the Delta One cabin where the Delta One suite provides more space and privacy with a full-height door at every suite and dividers between center suites. Middle seats in Delta Premium Select and Main Cabin will continue to be blocked.”
You might be temped to dismiss this news. It’s only Delta One Suites and it’s only China. All middle seats will remain blocked.
But like its SkyMiles devaluations, this is a no-notice change that overturns its stated policy of capping reservations at:
- 50% in first class and Delta One cabins with one aisle
- 60% in economy class, Comfort+, and Premium Select
- 75% in Delta One cabins with two aisles
This policy is in effect until at least September 30, 2020.
Blocking Middle Seats Is Smart Marketing
Many lawmakers and casual travelers have attacked American Airlines and United Airlines for failing to block middle seats. Photos from the occasional full flight make headlines, but what goes unreported is that most flights are nowhere near full. United expects an average load factor of 45% in July and that fewer than 15% of flights will be more than 70% full. American Airlines has been a bit more aggressive in filling planes.
Part of me thinks that AA and UA should just make the same promise as Delta because there are so few flights that this will actually impact. Delta CEO Ed Bastian claims that blocked seats are the number one reason people are booking on Delta:
.@delta says blocked middle seats “number one reason” why passengers choose to fly the #airline. “We;’re not raising our fares to support the blocked middle seat” says CEO. #airline #PaxEx $DAL
— Henry Harteveldt (@hharteveldt) July 14, 2020
But Delta’s move to quietly release the business class cap on China demonstrates that Delta is not in the business of leaving money on the table. How many other exception markets will spring up without notice as demand returns?
Please note I am not making any safety arguments here. In fact, I though the idea of blocking seats in a spacious business class cabin with closed-door suites was strange from the very start.
I do, however, think that the sudden asterisk for China is an indicator of what is to come. Rather than a sudden end-date to seat blocking, I predict Delta will slowly whittle away at it, as it has done with these flights.
CONCLUSION
Delta will no longer cap the Delta One cabin on China flights. It claims this is due to extraordinary demand and flight restrictions. While true, it marks the first crack in Delta’s seat blocking policy. It also foreshadows what is to come.
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image: Delta
Funny how things like this happen after you lose a couple billion more than your competitors last quarter…
And the curtains are pulled back on safety hygiene theater.
A better title would have been that Delta’s seat blocking policy has a [redacted] in it, though I’d imagine some would not appreciate the double entendre!
Come on dude… Matthew this needs to go
Agreed.
@Lo: Not funny…
I always thought it was brilliant (at first) how Delta jumped on this. In fact, most flights on any carrier are around 30% full if lucky anyway. Delta was really losing nothing and probably adding a bit in higher loads in people wanting to book them for the perceived safety. Ironically, that same customer might have found themselves on a similar United flight that had entire rows empty.
Good catch here in seeing that when it really matters…the bookings start increasing on some routes and this strategy is not beneficial…that Delta will change right away. It was all a ploy.
But at least they are still offering you a FANTASTIC deal to Europe for 300,000 miles one way on flights that are completely empty to begin with. I can’t imagine how anyone has loyalty to them. Really, Delta lives in their own world of make believe at times.
The only secret sauce at Delta was they ran on time in years when UA and AA didn’t and have lots of video screens to keep those crammed into economy distracted
I’m sorry but I don’t get what you’re saying at all. I’m no Delta apologist (ever since SkyPesos went revenue based) but there is nothing counterintuitive about what’s going on here. They are blocking all middle seats apart from one market, the reason being that flights to China are incredibly limited and they want to take as many people as possible. Your analysis is quite overblown…
I can’t blame Delta for this at all – they do need to make money from time to time. There is very limited supply (flights to china) and they do need to make money on at least one flight a week. Delta will be dropping the seat blocking at some point anyway, so this does not surprise me at all.
I see it as a humanitarian effort to oversell economy or premium economy to 8 cash strapped individuals to reunite with their families.
Given the fact these partitions are raised up with private doors, I really don’t mind if the suites are at 100% capacity. Depending on aircraft, opening up 25% seating capacity translates to an average of 8 more seats per flight. I highly doubt it’s occupied by full paying passengers when it will become an op-up situation for the top tier elite flyers.
My wife and I were able to upgrade these China flights last October to Delta One. The compartment walls are pretty high and *very* isolating (no cuddling on those flights).
There’s far more isolation than in my office building with covid-compliant cubicle wall “extensions”.
I’m not sure why there are gripes about these flights filling up compartments, compared to ordinary open business class seating without barriers, or even the original Delta One where you’re somewhat separated only when seat is down flat.