Airlines keep finding new ways to carve up premium cabins. Delta, at least for now, is not playing that game. I think that could give it a strong competitive advantage in the years ahead.
Winning Strategy? Delta Says No To “Business Class Plus”
Delta Air Lines has confirmed it has no plans to add a “premium” business class seat at the front of its longhaul Delta One cabins, unlike American Airlines with its Flagship Suite Preferred product or United Airlines with Polaris Studio. That’s the case even though its new business class cabins allow for exactly that type of seating.
At first glance, that might look like Delta falling behind. Many have been made that explicit argument.
I don’t think it is.
Delta Is Making A Different Bet
American and United are both moving toward a multi-tier business class product. There’s standard business class, and then there is something better…for a price, or something worse…for slightly less.
Bigger seats. More space. Extra privacy. Sometimes premium lounge access. Sometimes not. It all depends on how much more you are willing to pay.
That is one strategy.
Delta appears to be taking another, at least when it comes to onboard service.
Instead of carving out a “better” product within business class, Delta can argue that Delta One is already the premium experience…for everyone sitting in it.
It just does not sit well to pay several thousand dollars for a business class ticket and then be told, in effect, that you did not quite pay enough. We are already seeing this with “basic” business class fares that strip out seat assignments or lounge access unless you pay more.
United has already moved in that direction. Delta has warned it is coming as well.
But if Delta chooses not to layer on a second tier of seats within the cabin, it has an opportunity to draw a clearer line.
Buy Delta One, and you get the product: not most of the product and not a downgraded version, but the product.
I see huge branding potential here. Delta can position itself as the airline that does not nickel and dime premium customers. Period.
You paid for business class. You get business class.
That may sound obvious, but it is becoming less so.
United has effectively told customers that even within business class, there are winners and losers based on how much extra they are willing to spend. There should not be “losers” in business class.
I would be refreshing to see Delta avoid that. It can still reward its most loyal customers by prioritizing bulkhead seats for Diamond Medallions or Delta 360 members, which adds a true loyalty benefit.
But that is very different from carving out a separate, higher-priced mini-cabin within business class or charging extra to assign a seat, access a lounge, or change a ticket.
Consistency Still Matters
Airlines love to talk about “premium experiences” and “brand loyalty,” but loyalty is built on consistency as much as it is on aspiration. If customers feel like they are constantly being upsold or segmented after they have already bought in, that creates resentment (I’ve heard it for years when clients book British Airways business class and find out they have to pay $200 each way per-person for an advance seat assignment).
Delta has an opportunity to say something different: we mean it when we say this is our premium product.
CONCLUSION
Delta’s decision not to introduce a “business class plus” product is not a sign of weakness. It may be a deliberate choice to keep its premium cabin simple and coherent. At a time when competitors are slicing business class into a wide range of products (Lufthansa is the largest offender with its Allegris cabins), there is value in restraint.
Shortly, Delta plans to introduce “basic” business class. But maybe it should reconsider?
If Delta can resist the temptation to nickel and dime premium passengers, it has a credible argument that it offers the best overall experience, not because it has the biggest seat in row one, but because it treats everyone in the cabin like they are valued and that is the way brand loyalty is truly built.
Business class is not first class.
It is a very premium economy, having evolved from the economy cabin
Having flown first class 35 years ago. I can assure you modern J is superior to old-school F for the hard product.
Yes. Which is why these ‘marketing terms’ are more confusing than helpful. Is ‘business class’ a lie-flat with a door (great), without a door (still good), recliner (less good), or a mere economy seat in a 3-3 configuration with middle seat blocked (bad).
Just looked at the TWA 747 seat map that I flew in F in the early 90s. 9 pairs of seats and 3 single ones. Don’t reserve early, get a stranger next to you. The seats were what we’d consider today to be a nice movie theater seat.
Row 1 (in the nose) was clearly best; row 4 (out in the middle, wide open) was kinda wild.
I sat in 1A on an AA 789 and 789p on my last trans-Pacific trip. I liked the regular 789 better than the 789p. I found it more difficult to get comfortable in the suite. I hated how the door didn’t actual fully close. I paid no extra for the suite, and I’ll never reserve it again. The steward and I talked about it, and they offered that the 789p was inferior in J for pax. The bulkhead seat on AF’s newer 350s is nice. I don’t have to pay extra to get it TATL, and I wouldn’t. But, I will reserve it for free.
I’m glad to hear DL isn’t going that route. It seems to be a strategy to give some the opportunity to pay more and feel “special. ” It’s an ego stroke more than a really improved product.
Sorry Matt, completely disagree. In the coach cabin, want more space, you pay more. Why should it be different in Biz class, allowing that all food and beverages are the same? Recently in Seattle Hotel Lotte charged $50 for window table, which I valued. Same food, same service. but only a few window tables with great views.
#humblebrag
You are, perhaps, right. A lot of insecure MFs with cash will pay for stuff worth very little. I read in a blog recently some idiot paid $50 to a restaurant to have a window view.
Perhaps very few airlines seem to have grasped the core concept of “Business Class” as deeply as DL.
DL “keeps climbing” in its own way and it shows.
They love to fly and it shows.
No doubt about it!
As one of the people on here who is pushing for Delta to add a “Plus” to their business class this article makes a lot of sense but only if Delta avoids Delta One “Basic”.
I know they were looking into launching a “Basic” product but thus far the only US airline to move forward with a “Basic” business class is United, with Delta still being on the fence.
I did notice in Delta’s press release for the A35K D1 seat they mentioned all D1 seats would have at least 3 inches more space in bed mode and a 6″6′ person would be able to lie completely flat no need to bend their legs in bed mode. If they are giving all business class passengers more space that is a great thing lets hope they avoid business “basic” as well.
One thing I’m still holding out hope for is for Delta come out with their own version of SkyCouch.
Something like 0.1% of the male population is 6’6″ or taller. Why design airplanes for these people? A much larger percent is obese. So, what 23″ seats? Agreed, your genes determine your height and your actions determine your level of fat, but should we really be expected to deal with an infrequent defect like extreme height?
well said, Matthew, and not because it is about Delta.
The VantageNova platform in Delta One probably could be equipped with a business class plus product because of the reverse herringbone seat but the airline basically takes a little bit of extra space and tries to make it “say” much more.
It is a given that the soft product on AA and UA in the business class plus product will be degraded over time; it just isn’t worth the extra complexity for FA service to have a small number of seats with a different type of service.
Aerolopa has a seat map for the A350-1000 on their site now and it appears to have the configuration that has been rumored for several years.
The real game change will come when the A350-1000 enters service, likely next summer or spring which means markets should be announced within the next couple months. DL’s 35Ks will be on the less dense side for 35K operators which will give in the range and capability to fly routes beyond anything else in the US carrier fleet at economics that are unmatched by any other aircraft.
It’s interesting to watch and compare Delta and United’s current approach to pricing ‘Premium’. I recently purchased a Premium Select ticket on DL for $3443 – LAX-SYD RT. In choosing this fare level, I decided not to pay another $500 for a fully refundable ticket vs. an e-Credit. All the other benefits were exactly the same. Comparing United for the same day/city pair, it listed its Premium Economy as $3455. Except that fare – as you come to realize – is for their ‘Basic Premium Ecy’ product which virtually strips out every benefit except the actual seat and food. No seat selection, refunds, changes, a charge for checked luggage and virtually no accrued miles or points. To get the comparable set of benefits that Delta offers costs $4091. Yep, $636 more. That is bullsh*t. I don’t see how UA can compete on ‘Premium’ when it puts itself at such a competitive disadvantage. Maybe Delta really does know what’s its doing when it comes to ‘Premium.’
An interesting take on things. I’m not sure I’d agree though. The fact that Delta is intentionally degrading the business class experience by introducing basic business class sends exactly the opposite message: that you don’t matter and Delta only cares how much you pay them. If you don’t pay extra you get a worse experience.
except UA has already implemented basic business, DL is likely to and AA will follow if both DL and UA have it. The two concepts – a business plus mini-cabin and basic business fares – are not the same.
DL just says it doesn’t want to carve up the cabin and onboard experience into different experiences. If you select basic business, no one knows once you are on the aircraft.
and as much as some want to focus on basic business, other global airlines have been doing it for some time. As Matthew noted, the difference between basic and normal business class isn’t enough for me to buy down.
None of what you say refutes my point that Delta doesn’t care about you, only how much they can squeeze from you.
The fact that other airlines are making poor choices (in my opinion) doesn’t make it fine to do the same. Charging people extra to be able to reserve a seat or access a lounge on a business class ticket looks cheap and very non-premium. That directly contradicts the premise that Delta doesn’t need business plus because their business is already premium. Cherry picking areas where you’re premium is nickel-and-diming and looks cheesy rather than tasteful.
I’m guessing 10 years from now we’ll have the answer on the wisdom of this. I choose to respond by noting I’m not a fan, but this might be smart. On another blog, I read a poster was happy to give a restaurant $50 for a table with a window view. People want to feel “special.” You can make hig money on playing on ego.
An interesting take on things and one I hadn’t considered. Thanks for the fresh perspective.
you seriously believe that any company cares about YOU?
I believe that some companies value loyalty. Just not Delta.
I personally do not mind seeing the business class plus seat with a few extra perks. But I 100% agree that this trends of business class light that excludes lounge access or charging for seat reservations on business class point redemptions are extremely ridiculous for the reasons you stated in this article.
I paid significant amount of points for an Air France business class redemption recently and was shocked to see charges of $200 per seat, per segment to reserve the seats.
If (big if) J- fares are kess than current J fares, and J fares don’t go up, who cares? I suspect the $3000 J fare will be replaced with a $2990 J- and a $3250 J fare, though. Given the failure of airfares to keep up with inflation, I’ve already embraced the near certainty I will see my J fares go up by more than inflation for the rest of my life. And, I’m willing to pay it. Airlines are hoping most are like me. I don’t care much about getting the lesser lounge instead of the premium. But, there is no way in the world I’d risk being in the 2 section of a 1-2-1 J cabin.
Disagree there, so your solution is that every pair of business class seat should recline together into a double bed for couples to sleep together, even though that’s a niche product in itself not everyone needs?
The reason these special seats exist at the front of the cabin is because there is under utilized extra space that can be used, so why not monetize it? I don’t need a business class seat where I can eat with someone else sitting in front of me, but maybe someone else does and is willing to pay?
Or is your solution to make every seat in J the same, in which case the added size of those seats will reduce the number of seats on board, raising prices.