Yesterday, Delta Air Lines announced a big re-definition of it core products effective March 1, 2015. Here’s the gist straight from Delta –

delta air lines, skymiles, delta one, delta comfort plus

  • Delta One, formerly BusinessElite, is offered on long-haul international routes; also between New York-JFK and Los Angeles or San Francisco
  • First Class is offered on short-haul international and domestic routes
  • Delta Comfort+ offers an upgraded experience on all two cabin aircraft around the world
  • Main Cabin experience is provided everywhere Delta flies offering a high standard of customer service
  • Basic Economy offers Main Cabin service with fewer flexibility options available in select markets

 

There’s even a handy YouTube video about the changes.

MJ’s Take

I don’t get some of the bloviating I’ve seen about this announcement. As far as I can tell, Delta is putting new seat covers on some seats, changing the names of some products – the end. They’re even offering something Platinum and Diamond Medallions (maybe other Medallions) who can usually book Economy Comfort (soon to be Delta Comfort+) something that we didn’t get before – comp drinks that I don’t have to print my stupid boarding pass for (they should have told us they were eliminating HOOU coupons or kept offering them until March 1), and a pass of the snack basket from up front. Granted, Golds are losing the ability to confirm Comfort+ seats at booking. In the end, this is a marketing/branding change that breaks things down into five buckets, and that’s about it. You can read more about the changes from Delta’s perspective at delta.com/firstlook and judge for yourself. Doing the important things right still matters most to me.

-MJ, December 9, 2014