Delta Air Lines flies a mixture of Boeing and Airbus aircraft on its long-haul flights to Asia, Australia, Africa, Europe, and Latin America. It was the U.S. launch customer of the Airbus A350 in December 2017, which features a new business class suite along with its first true Premium Economy class product. Similar to my prior post on the products featured onboard American Airlines this summer, it is helpful to know which aircraft and which routes will feature the various products as you begin to plan your journey. In a future post, I will outline which routes will feature what aircraft for Delta, similar to an earlier guide to American Airlines.
Airbus A350-900
Number in Fleet: 6 (19 on order)
Average Age: 0.43 years
Markets Served: Amsterdam, Seoul Incheon, Tokyo Narita, Beijing, Shanghai
Delta One Suite
This is one of the most highly-anticipated features to debut on Delta’s widebody aircraft, as the suites are the first among a U.S. carrier to feature a full-height door and sliding privacy dividers. It also contains in-suite customizable lighting, an 18-inch high-resolution in-flight entertainment screen, and a 1-2-1 configuration. They measure 44 inches in the center section an 45 inches wide at the window, and the seats themselves are 21 inches wide with a full-flat bed that extends to 77 inches, or 6 feet and 5 inches. There are 32 of these seats in total.
Delta Premium Select
The A350 also debut Delta’s first true Premium Economy class cabin, which is considered an entirely new class of service (unlike Comfort+, which is simply extra legroom, priority boarding, and few other service enhancements). The seats measure 18.5 inches in width and contain 38 inches of pitch. They also feature footrests, noise-canceling headphones from LSTN, enhanced meals, a Westin Blanket, and a Tumi Amenity Kit. There are 48 Premium Select seats arranged in a 2x4x2 layout.
Main Cabin
The main cabin on Delta features 226 seats arranged in a 3x3x3 configuration. This aircraft has the largest economy class displays in all of Delta’s fleet, along with some of the largest overhead bins. Each seat will come with a personal TV, complimentary meals, snacks, and alcoholic beverages. For those seated in the main cabin, there is one drawback: Comfort+ is not offered on this aircraft. There are extra legroom seats, such as bulkheads, which can be purchased (or are free for those with elite status). The seat width is 18 inches in the main cabin. All long-haul flights on Delta offer sleep kits to customers seated in the main cabin.
Boeing 777-200LR and 777-200ER
Number in Fleet: 10 (-200LR) and 8 (-200ER)
Average Age: 8.95 years (-200LR) and 18.24 (-200ER)
Markets Served:
- Amsterdam, Johannesburg, Tokyo Narita, Paris, Sydney, Shanghai (-200LR)
- Paris, Hong Kong, Tokyo Haneda (-200ER)
Delta One
The Delta One seats on the 777s use the herringbone seat, which faces towards the aisle, similar to the Virgin Atlantic Upper-Class product. There are 37 seats in total, each with 78 inches of pitch and 21 inches in width. However, starting this year, Delta will begin installing the Delta One suites on the 777s. Presumably, however, there will be only 28 of the “suites” installed on the 777s, as there will be adjustments to accommodate the installation of Premium Select as well.
Delta Comfort+, Premium, and Main Cabin Seats
Currently, the 777s feature 36 Comfort+ seats, which are arranged in a 3x3x3 configuration, but each offer 35 inches of pitch, in addition to the standard 18.5-inch width. Comfort+ passengers on Delta long-haul flights receive priority boarding, dedicated bin space, pillows, blankets, complimentary headsets, and amenity kits on these flights.
However, once the 777 modifications take place, Comfort+ will be eliminated and replaced with 48 Delta Premium Select seats. This will be the same product as featured on the Airbus A350 and sold as a completely separate cabin. Unlike American, Delta does not have an unaffiliated fleet site that shows the progress of the upgrades, but the refurbishment plans are indeed scheduled for 2018.
In the main cabin, the 777 offers by far the most generous width/pitch of all Delta aircraft with 18.5 inches wide and 31-32 inches of pitch. There are currently 218 main cabin seats, and Delta has stated that there will only be a net increase of 2 seats when it refurbishes the 777 with the Delta One Suites and Premium Select cabin. This is good news for travelers, because it may indicate that Delta is not going to the dreaded ten-abreast economy class configuration at the back. Still, because the mods on the 777s haven’t actually begun, the jury is still out on whether or not this will be the case.
Airbus A330-300 and Airbus A330-200
Number in Fleet: 31 (-300) and 11 (-200)
Average Age: 2.08 years (-300s with GE engines), 12.53 (-300s with P&W engines) and 12.94 (-200s)
Markets Served:
- Amsterdam, Athens, Barcelona, Paris, Rome, Sao Paulo, Milan, Tel Aviv, London Heathrow, Dublin, Buenos Aires (-300)
- Amsterdam, Paris, Sao Paulo, London Heathrow, Lagos, Nagoya, Zurich (-200)
Delta One
On Delta’s wide-body Airbus jets, the reverse herringbone seat is offered to customers. Each seat offers direct aisle access, arranged in a 1-2-1 configuration. Similar to American Airlines, Delta inherited the A330s from a merger – with Northwest Airlines – in 2008, but unlike American, many of these A330s came to Delta relatively new. Many were built in the late 2000’s and early 2010’s with the intentions of being delivered to Northwest, but instead, Delta was able to receive them fresh out of the factory. Delta also has 25 Airbus A330-900 NEOs that are expected to start being built in 2019.
These aircraft were inherited by Delta after its merger with Northwest Airlines in 2008, but Delta has done a good job of keeping the cabins refurbished and up-to-date with newer in-flight products.
The forward cabins on the -300 and -200 series both offer 34 seats in Delta One, which convert into flat-bed seats with 80 inches of pitch and 21 inches in width.
Delta Comfort+ and Main Cabin
On the Airbus A330-300s, there are 40 Delta Comfort+ seats and 219 main cabin seats, and on the -200s, there are 32 Delta Comfort+ seats and 168 main cabin seats. Each seat offers the standard 31-32 inches of pitch (35 in Comfort+) and measures 18 inches wide.
Boeing 767 (-400ER, -300ER, and -300)
Number in Fleet: 21 (-400ER), 57 (-300ER) and 2 (-300)
Average Age: 17.22 years (-400ER), 20.27 years (-300ERs with GE engines), 23.38 years (-300ERs with P&W engines) and 24.70 years (-300s)
Markets Served:
- Dublin, Dusseldorf, Rome, Rio de Janeiro, Honolulu, Lima, Madrid, Munich, Milan, Nice, Prague, Stuttgart, Venice, and some transcontinental flights between New York JFK and LAX/SFO (-400ER)
- Accra, Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris CDG, Copenhagen, Fukuoka, Sao Paulo, Osaka, Honolulu, Nagoya, Berlin, Manila, Shanghai, Santiago de Chile, Zurich, Munich, Frankfurt, Seoul, Beijing, Singapore, London Heathrow, Tokyo Narita (-300ER)
- Atlanta to Anchorage and Los Angeles to Atlanta
Carrier Codes
- 76P: 767-300, no winglets, domestic/short-haul, recliner first class
- 76T: 767-300ER Winglets, long-haul, Delta One
- 76Z: 767-300ER Winglets, long-haul, Delta One
- 76D: 767-400ER (no winglets)
The 767 is Delta’s largest widebody fleet, featuring 81 aircraft with over six different types of configurations. Thankfully, this is where the variances end (for the most part) as the planes are in unison as far as product is concerned. With the exception of the 2 -300 Delta planes, all of Delta’s 767s offer Delta One, and all of the 767s offer personal tv monitors, in-flight wi-fi, and Comfort+.
The main differences among them pertain to aircraft layout (i.e. some are more premium-configured with a larger Delta One and Delta Comfort+ cabins) while others are less-premium configured, according to the same logic. The key difference is that the 2 Delta 767s that are of the -300 variant do not offer a lie-flat variant, and are simply recliner-style seats. This birds also get used for some charter flights, such as flying NFL and NCAA teams to bowl games.
You can tell the difference between the -300 and -300ER by the presence (or absence) of winglets: all of the -300ERs have them, while the -300s do not.
Delta One
The Delta One seats on the 767-400ER and -300ER are identical, offering the Thompson Vantage seat that is the same as the one offered on American’s 767-300ERs. These face forward and are arranged in a 1-2-1 configuration. Each seat converts into a flatbed, with 77-81 inches of pitch, and measure 21 inches wide. I flew this product from London Heathrow to Atlanta, which can be reviewed here.
There are four different versions of the -300ER: two are considered, “low-J” which offer 26 seats in Delta One, while the other two are “high-J” that offer 36 seats. On the -400ERs, all of the 767s come equipped with 40 seats in Delta One. The one thing to be mindful of is that these seats have alternating positions on the aircraft, with some seats closer to the windows on one row, and closer to the aisles on the one after it, and so on. Furthermore, all of the Delta One seats are enclosed in a single cabin, so there is no curtain dividers among them. As such, if privacy is important to you, be sure to opt for a window seat that is closer to the windows on the right or left sides rather than the reverse scenario. Furthermore, be mindful of equipment swaps prior to your flight. Your seat may swap due to a change from low-J to high-J or vice versa, and you may lose the seat that you opted for at booking.
The First Class cabin on the two Delta 767-300s features 30 recliner seats, with 37-38 inches in pitch and 18.5 inches in width. Sadly, these seats are even narrower than most of the domestic first class seats on Delta’s narrowbody frames, including even some Embraer aircraft.
Delta Comfort+ and Main Cabin
Similar to the use of, “low-J, high-J” across the 767 fleet in Delta One, Comfort+ ranges from being offered in 29 seats on the 767-300ERs to up to 35 seats. All of the main cabin seats on the 767s feature 17.9 inches in width and 31-32 inches in pitch (35 in Comfort+). Comfort+ customers receive an amenity kit on long-haul flights on the 767, as well as between JFK-SFO and JFK-LAX, along with premium meals and snacks on these routes.
Boeing 757 (75S – Winglets)
Average Age: 20.51 years
Markets Served:
- Boston – Los Angeles, Boston – San Francisco, New York JFK – Las Vegas, Seattle, San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, Los Angeles – Washington Reagan.
- Malaga, Dublin, Dakar, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Lisbon
Carrier Codes
- 75D: 757-200 Winglets, short-haul
- 75G: 757-200 Winglets, short-haul, Wifi (no individual TV monitors)
- 75H: 757-200 Winglets, short-haul
- 75S: 757-200 Winglets, featuring DeltaOne flat beds
- 75Y: 757-300
Delta has 127 active 757s, per air fleets, and of these, 16 are the -300 series. These are typically found on high-volume leisure routes within the United States, so odds are they will not be operated on your long-haul transoceanic or even transcontinental flights.
The 757s are the only long-haul fleet type for Delta that features a DeltaOne product without direct-aisle access at each seat, but the seat itself is still a flat-bed with 76 inches of pitch and 22.2 inches of width. There are 16 flatbed seats on this aircraft, and they are utilized for a few “thin” routes to Europe, as well as on transcontinental routes within the U.S.
Delta Comfort+ and Main Cabin
The 757 features the most restrictive seat width of all Delta long-haul products, with 17.2 inches for both Delta Comfort+ and the Main Cabin. However, the pitch is standard: 35 inches in Comfort+ and 31-33 inches in Economy. There are 44 Comfort+ seats and 108 seats in the main cabin. Comfort+ customers receive an amenity kit on long-haul flights on the 757, as well as between JFK-SFO and JFK-LAX, along with premium meals and snacks on these routes.
