Delta Air Lines’ flagship plane is about to get a little more premium.
The Atlanta-based airline filed plans this weekend to introduce an entirely new configuration for the Airbus A350-900, as first spotted by Ben Bearup on X (formerly Twitter).
The new configuration, reportedly called the ’35H’, will feature 40 Delta One Suites, 40 Premium Select recliners, 36 Comfort+ seats with extra legroom and 159 standard economy seats.
There will be two rows of a new Delta One “mini cabin” with room for a total of eight passengers. Depending on the exact details of the layout, this could be the most private mix of product and cabin location offered by any U.S. airline.
In total, the new configuration represents a net reduction of 31 seats compared to the current ‘flagship’ configuration on Delta’s A350. The table below shows the full cab breakdown of the new configuration.
Cabin | Flagship A350 configuration | New A350 configuration |
---|---|---|
Delta One Suites | 32 | 40 |
Select Premium | 48 | 40 |
Comfort+ | 36 | 36 |
Main cabin | 190 | 159 |
Total | 306 | 275 |
A Delta spokesperson confirmed the plans to TPG, but declined to share additional details about the new LOPA or the layout of the passenger accommodations. The airline would not share more about the configuration, nor confirm how many jets will be equipped in this new premium-heavy layout.
This new A350 configuration will depart on Delta’s flights to South Africa this summer, starting June 1, 2024.
Some aviation observers believe Delta is adding more business class suites to the A350 to increase the plane’s cargo capacity on flights from Johannesburg.
The airport’s altitude of nearly 6,000 feet above sea level means Delta’s 8,439-mile ultra-long-range mission to Atlanta sometimes suffers from weight restrictions due to reduced takeoff performance at high altitude.
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By reducing the number of seats on the plane, the airline may be able to avoid these weight restrictions, which could hurt the profitability of the route.
Of course, it’s also possible that Delta is trying to expand the footprint of its business class cabin, which commands a much higher revenue premium than any other cabin on the A350. Because business class often sells for much more than Premium Select, the airline can sometimes make more money selling one suite than two or three (or more) premium economy recliners.
Interestingly, Delta’s business class footprint on the A350 pales in comparison to that of American Airlines and United Airlines on their flagship aircraft. The latter two airlines operate the Boeing 777-300ER as their flagship aircraft, equipping the aircraft with 52 and 60 business class seats respectively.
Until the introduction of this new configuration, Delta’s A350 cabins were approximately 50% smaller than those of its two major competitors. As Delta (and the larger industry) continues to double premium traffic, the shift to a larger business class cabin may make sense.
While this new configuration will be one of Delta’s most premium configurations yet, it is interesting that the airline has not announced a retrofit program for its “35L” sub-fleet of A350s.
Delta inherited this configuration when it took delivery of A350s originally flying for LATAM. Business class is arranged in an outdated 2-2-2 layout and these aircraft do not have a Premium Select cabin.
The airline has been busy installing Viasat internet radomes on these planes, but failed to introduce its signature cabins on board.
These ex-LATAM A350s are primarily deployed in high-leisure markets, where the outdated business-class configuration may not bother some of the most price-sensitive premium cabin flyers.
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