Delta Air Lines has officially opened two business-class-only lounges after cutting the ribbon last week on the 10,000-square-foot Delta One Lounge inside Terminal 3 at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).
The exclusive space features cocktails and dining based on Delta’s far-flung LAX destinations, plus 100% table service and a wellness spa with massage and zero-gravity chairs.
Atlanta-based carrier John F. of New York. The grand opening of Delta’s high-end LAX lounge comes three months after the concept debuted on the East Coast at Kennedy International Airport (JFK).
Now that both facilities are open, you can easily eat breakfast in the JFK Delta One lounge, take a transcontinental flight in a Delta One suite, then sit down to a high-end lunch at the LAX outpost.
But Delta also has big plans for the concept.
Upcoming Delta One Lounge Locations
In December, the carrier plans to unveil a third Delta One lounge at Boston Logan International Airport (BOS). Its fourth, under construction at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA), is on pace to open in early 2025, officials said late last week.
After Seattle, Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC) will be next, leaders say.
Beyond that?
“Then we have to look further down the line,” Claude Roussel, Delta’s vice president of Sky Clubs and Lounge Experience, told TPG this past week from a LAX lounge.
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ATL?
What about Atlanta? After all, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) is Delta’s home turf and its largest hub – not to mention the busiest airport in the world.
“We’re looking,” Roussel said. “Atlanta is also on the drawing board.”
But, currently there is no concrete plan.
There is no international Delta One lounge plan
It seems unlikely that Delta will deploy this exclusive lounge concept overseas.
“I don’t think so,” Roussel said, pointing to lounges offered by other SkyTeam alliance carriers that are available to high-end Delta fliers.
“We have great partners – Virgin Atlantic, Air France, KLM, LATAM,” Roussel said. “We let those partners operate on their own turf, which they know. And we focus on the US.”
Delta operates only one Sky Club outside the US, at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport (HND).
A look at the opening of the Charlotte Sky Club
Conventionally speaking Sky Clubs, we’re a few weeks away from the opening of Delta’s next one — in rival territory, no less.
As TPG reported last year, the airline is planning its first lounge for Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT).
That facility, Roussel said, is on track to open sometime in December.
Charlotte is a stronghold hub for American Airlines. It’s worth noting, though, that Delta is set to fly 8% more seats from Charlotte this year than in 2023, according to data from aviation analytics firm Sirius.
The American Admirals Club is currently the only airline-affiliated lounge at the airport, although there are several other outposts, including the American Express Centurion Lounge.
JFK Delta One access coming soon
Even before Delta unveils its upcoming Delta One lounge in Boston, it’s enhancing its Delta One experience at JFK.
By the end of this month, the carrier will unveil a dedicated check-in lounge and Transportation Security Administration checkpoint at JFK for travelers flying on tickets marketed as Delta One.
It will mostly replicate the experience Customers now have LAX.
You walk through a semi-private (and very quiet) entrance, grab a drink or snack, and proceed to a dedicated TSA checkpoint. Then, seconds later, an elevator takes you down to the lounge.
“Once you’ve done a dedicated check-in, it’s hard to go back to the regular line,” Roussel quipped.
Mixed results on the JFK Sky Club crowd
Along with offering Delta One travelers an upscale experience, the carrier hoped the opening of the Delta One lounge at JFK would bring thinner crowds to its Sky Club.
So far, Roussel said, the results have been positive — generally.
“I’m not going to tell you that it’s easy to take care of the volume that we do every day,” Roussel said of the Delta One lounge, giving this assessment of the overall lounge crowd at JFK:
“I’m not saying there’s never a line [the Concourse B Sky Club]. Sometimes there are,” he said. “But the line is very short, and goes very quickly, which wasn’t the case before.”
Read more: A look at Delta’s A-Concourse Sky Club at JFK
Full Premium Economy JFK-LAX rollout soon
Tourists too not Flying in Delta’s most expensive cabins will begin to notice some changes in the coming weeks.
This summer, TPG reported that Delta will begin deploying its Premium Select product on some of its high-demand flights between JFK and LAX — a move that Medallions came with pros and cons for elite status members.
Now, Delta plans to offer a mid-tier cabin on all of its flights between those two airports starting in November, executives confirmed late last week.
“As with our international rollout, initial customer reception for Delta Premium Select has far exceeded our expectations,” Delta President Glenn Hauenstein told analysts on the company’s third-quarter earnings call Thursday.
The carrier has already deployed premium economy cabins on all its wide-body, long-haul international flights.
Pain points: First the Olympics, now the elections
In the midst of an otherwise busy summer for international air travel, summer 2024 brought a major demand slowdown for Delta: Paris, around the 2024 Olympic Games.
That said, the trip to Paris resumed, Hauenstein said, “as soon as the Olympics were over.”
But now, it seems, the quadrennial calendar has brought Delta another paint point: the US presidential election.
The Delta is seeing a decline in travel interest for the week surrounding the Nov. 5 election.
“We can see that in our booking data, because October is doing well,” said CEO Ed Bastin. interview on CNBC on Thursday, noted that this tracks with historical trends seen in past election cycles — save for 2020, when low travel demand amid the coronavirus pandemic kept most travelers at home anyway.
“People prefer to stay home during the election period. They don’t want to travel out,” Bastin said. “I don’t think they want to spend money until they understand what’s going to happen.”
All signs point to this “temporary pause,” as Bastian puts it, being short-lived: Delta reports “healthy bookings” for the holidays, promising even busier Thanksgiving and December holiday rushes at US airports.
So, if you haven’t booked your holiday flights yet, now is the time — including those award flights you’re hoping to book with points or miles.
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