Delta One 767 Business Class: Narrow Seats, $9.99 “Champagne”

To finish off my review trip to Hong Kong, I flew Delta’s Boeing 767-400ER business class (marketed as Delta One) on the six hour flight from New York (JFK) to Los Angeles (LAX). In a previous installment, I shared my thoughts on the incredible Delta One Lounges at both airports, which exceeded my (high) expectations. Unfortunately the flight as such didn’t leave me with the same positive impression.

There were some things I really liked about the flight, like the friendly service, the solid entertainment (including free Wi-Fi), the Missoni amenity kits, and the good bedding. But then there are aspects of the experience that leave a lot to be desired, like narrow seats that aren’t very comfortable, a lackluster meal service, and an embarrassing drink selection.

But I think that also really sums up Delta, in a way. The airline is very good at selectively investing in aspects of the experience, while having a subpar product in other ways, all while trying to make customers believe that it’s premium across the board.

Anyway, in this post I want to share some initial thoughts, and then soon I’ll have a full trip report. Let me note that obviously I was only flying this jet on a premium transcontinental route, and not a long haul flight, so below I’ll note which things are specific to transcon flights, and which would apply to long haul flights as well.

Delta’s 767 business class seats are subpar

Delta’s Boeing 767-400ERs are configured with 34 business class seats, taking up the entire space between the first and second set of doors. The seats are in a 1-2-1 configuration, spread across nine rows, in a staggered layout. Delta has actually updated these seats in recent years, so this is still a relatively new product for the airline.

I had a “true” window seat, which is the best seating option in this configuration, since it provides the most separation from the aisle.

Here’s the thing — for a transcon flight, these seats are perfectly nice, and competitive. But Delta primarily uses these planes for long haul routes, including on many of its most premium long haul routes, like from Atlanta (ATL) to London (LHR).

For long haul business class, this simply isn’t a competitive product, at least among US airlines. Why? Well, the seats are really narrow, as you’d expect. I mean, Delta has a 1-2-1 configuration in business class on both the A350 and the 767. The A350 has nine seats per row in economy, while the 767 has seven seats per row in economy.

When in bed mode, I had very little space to move, and struggled to get comfortable. The seat also felt quite hard to me — it was almost like sleeping on an ironing board.

I also found the lavatory situation on this plane to be less than ideal. There’s a single lavatory in front of the cabin, and a single lavatory behind the cabin. The forward lavatory is shared with the pilots, while the rear lavatory is shared with the 20 premium economy passengers. That’s not a great lavatory to passenger ratio, and it meant there was almost always a queue.

Purely in terms of hard product, this is worse than any of American’s wide body business class seats (on the 777 and 787), and it’s worse than United’s wide body, long haul business class seats (on the 767s, 777s, and 787s). I mean, just compare Delta’s 767 business class to United’s 767 business class, as the seats are in a different league.

What’s even worse, if you ask me, is that the configuration of the aircraft I was on is Delta’s nice 767 product. Delta has over 60 767s in its fleet, and two-thirds of them are the 767-300ER, which have a much worse hard product.

I’m by no means suggesting this is the worst hard product in the world, but among its US peers, I do think this is pretty uncompetitive, especially given the number of premium long haul routes that this plane operates.

Delta’s business class entertainment & Wi-Fi are great

I was very happy with the entertainment selection in Delta’s 767 business class. The Delta Studio system offers a huge selection of movies and TV shows — specifically, there were 473 movies, 74 TV series, 141 audio options, and more.

Furthermore, this flight had free Wi-Fi for SkyMiles members, with Viasat being the provider. I found the speeds to be excellent for the most part, so appreciated the ability to stay connected at no cost.

Delta’s business class amenities are impressive

Despite this “only” being a transcon flight, Delta offers its full set of Delta One amenities on this route. This included comfortable bedding, like a plush pillow and a duvet.

I also finally got my hands on one of Delta’s new Missoni amenity kits. What a nice, premium collaboration! I also kind of love the Delta branded socks.

There were even slippers!

Delta’s business class food & drinks are underwhelming

So this is where I get really confused about Delta’s transcon flight strategy. Delta markets these flights as Delta One, which is the name of Delta’s premium, international business class experience. Clearly the airline is largely trying to offer a good experience, with things like real bedding, Missoni amenity kits, and Delta One Lounge access (the best perk of all!).

But then the onboard food and beverage service makes no sense to me. For example, Delta has no menus in Delta One on transcon flights. Furthermore, it’s not a coursed out meal. Instead, the salad, appetizer, and main course, are all served on one tray.

The food tasted quite decent, but it was definitely more of a domestic meal selection, in terms of the options, which were vegetable lasagna, turkey meatballs, or beef short rib.

Dessert options were just a cheese plate or an upside down pineapple cake.

While the food was okay, the alcohol selection was absolutely pitiful. I mean, I guess can’t blame Delta for not having printed menus, since I think most airlines would be embarrassed to put what’s on offer into writing, if this is the quality.

For example, the sparkling wine (“champagne,” as it was described) was Gambino Sparkling Wine Brut, which retails for $9.99 per bottle (and significantly less when buying in bulk). For context, the average retail price of Korbel is higher.

So Delta takes a very odd high-low approach to its service. You get amazing food and cocktails in the lounges, but once onboard, you get domestic first class food, and sparkling wine that’s under $10 per bottle.

How does this compare to the competition on premium transcon routes?

• JetBlue Mint business class has printed menus, and food that’s actually delicious, along with proper barista coffee
• American Flagship Business offers printed menus and a multi-course meal, similar to what you’ll find on an international flight
• United doesn’t market its transcon premium product as “Polaris,” so it has more of a standard domestic service; however, it’s also typically priced more reasonably than Delta, and is operated out of Newark

I guess I’m not sure whether to be disappointed that this is marketed as Delta One when the actual onboard product is watered down, or whether to be grateful that it’s marketed as Delta One, since it at least offers great lounge access? I guess I lean toward the latter, though I wish the product investment weren’t just on the ground.

Delta’s business class service is friendly

On the plus side, the crew on this flight was excellent. Los Angeles-based Jaylen was working my aisle, and he was super friendly and engaging with everyone. Delta does have better flight attendants on average, and that was definitely the case on this flight. He constantly checked on passengers, and just generally had a great attitude.

Bottom line

My Delta One business class flight was a mixed bag. While the Delta One Lounges blew me away, the inflight experience wasn’t as impressive. On the plus side, there was extensive entertainment, free Wi-Fi, impressive amenities, and friendly service.

However, otherwise I find Delta’s 767 business class hard product to be quite underwhelming, with seats that are narrow and quite hard (and again, this is the nice version of the 767). It’s ultimately perfectly fine for a transcon flight, but Delta also flies these planes in some competitive long haul markets.

On top of that, Delta’s inflight service is surprisingly watered down on these flights, given that they’re marketed as Delta One. I was expecting a coursed out meal, menus, and decent alcohol, but there was none of that.

What do you make of Delta’s 767 business class?