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You have to feel a little sorry for United and American Airlines (ok you don’t really). United and American have been playing catch-up to Delta for years and things looked like they were starting to go their way. American Airlines finally has some excellent Business Class cabins on its long haul aircraft (the 777-300ER currently has the best Business Class seat across the Atlantic and the 787 seats aren’t too far behind) and United must have been looking forward to a long period where it clawed back some of the customers it haemorrhaged to Delta with its own impressive-looking Polaris Business Class that is coming in December.
Compared to those offerings Delta’s current international Business Class cabin wasn’t looking all that good….and apparently the airline noticed.
New Delta One Suite
Yesterday afternoon Delta caught me completely by surprise (in truth that’s not that hard to do) and announced a brand new Delta One product that it first plans to introduce on its A350 aircraft before then fitting it on its Boeing 777 fleet too.
Just take a look at this image of the new Delta One Suite (notice that’s not called a “seat” any more):
New Delta One Suite
Doesn’t that look fantastic?
In case you’re in any doubt, that’s a sliding door that you can see beside every seat – Delta is installing a full-on suite in Business Class!
This isn’t an airline doing what they normally do – give something a great sounding name that, in reality, bears no resemblance to the actual product (like most “first class” cabins on US domestic airlines) – this actually is a proper suite.
Suites aren’t exactly new on aircraft but we’re only used to seeing them in international First Class cabins….and then only on premium carriers. This is Delta we’re talking about…and a Business Class cabin.
Singapore Airlines First Class Suites on the A380
Here’s what Delta has to say about its new Delta One Suite:
The Delta One suite will debut on Delta’s first Airbus A350, due to enter service in fall 2017. Each aircraft will feature 32 suites.
In addition to full flat-bed seats with direct aisle access, which the airline introduced eight years ago, the Delta One suite features:
- A full-height door at every suite
- Sliding privacy dividers between center suites
- In-suite, customizable ambient lighting
- Dedicated stowage compartments for shoes, headphones and laptops
- Contemporary design featuring premium trim and finishes
- Memory foam-enhanced comfort cushion
- An 18-inch, high resolution in-flight entertainment monitor, the largest among U.S. carriers
- A universal power outlet and high-powered USB port at every seat
Here’s another image the airline has offered up to showcase the detail it expects each seat to have:
New Delta One Suite
That quilted seat cover is reminiscent of a good Barbour jacket.
Very importantly Delta has been quick to stress that this in not a new class of travel. These new Delta One suites will be replacing the existing Business Class seats on Delta’s fleet and will form the regular Business Class cabin.
A report in the New York Times says that Delta sees its first A350 aircraft (with this amazing looking product) operating routes with extra-long flying times (12 hours+) like the Sydney – Los Angeles route.
On the roll out of the A350, and the future retro-fit of its 777 aircraft, this is what Delta had to say:
Following the A350 debut, the Delta One suite will progressively roll out on Delta’s Boeing 777 fleet. Delta will be the first U.S. airline to take delivery of the A350, which will primarily serve routes between the U.S. and Asia.
In addition to the above information the New York Times has reported that 18 777 aircraft will begin being retrofitted as early as 2018.
Bottom Line
Wow. I thought United’s Polaris Business Class looked good and I was looking forward to trying that out. Now I don’t care so much about Polaris…this is the Business Class seat I want to try! 🙂
This really is a big kick where it hurts for United and American because, if this seat lives up to the press release (and I expect that it will), Delta will take a big leap ahead of its two US rivals once more.
American Airlines has already delayed its A350 order so we’re no closer to seeing what it plans for its version of the aircraft and we already know what the future of Business Class looks like as far as United is concerned. I’d say Delta is probably pretty happy with itself right now.
With the exception of a massive screw up in the past two weeks Delta runs by far and away the most efficient airline operation out of the US legacy carriers…and that often gives it a big USP to use against its closest rivals.
In recent years American has been able to point to its excellent transcon and international premium cabin seats to try to take the spotlight away from its glaring deficiencies elsewhere and United must have been hoping to be able to do the same with Polaris….but that won’t work for much longer.
From late 2017 it looks like Delta will be back with the most efficient US airline operation AND the best US international premium cabin product as well. It will be back to the drawing board for the other two.
