Delta Air Lines Confirms Unbundled Business Class Is Coming

Delta Air Lines has confirmed that it is considering changing the way it sells its business class tickets — known in the industry as “unbundling.”

Already introduced by other airlines around the globe, this could see passengers having to spend more money to enjoy certain perks that you would normally assume are included with a business-class ticket. This could affect your lounge access eligibility and even mean choosing a seat comes at a cost.

Exact details remain scarce, though Glen Hauenstein, president at Delta, confirmed in the airline’s Q2 2024 earnings call that more will be revealed soon.

Delta Business Class Tickets Are About To Change

Love them or hate them, unbundled tickets are set to be introduced by Delta in the not-too-distant future.

The question was posed by Jamie Baker of J.P. Morgan during the Atlanta-based airline’s quarterly earnings call in July.

“Glen, this concept of unbundling the front cabin is one that I’ve been thinking about, in part because unbundling and segmenting the rear cabin has been such a success for Delta and a few others. I want to be careful about asking about future pricing on that. But I’m curious what the pros and cons are in terms of possibly going down this path? Or is one price for all how we should continue to think about the D One cabin?”

Despite Baker’s best efforts, Hauenstein kept his cards close to his chest but hinted that more details are to be revealed later in the year.

“I think you’re going to have to come to investor day to hear more about that. We’ve talked conceptually about that. I think we’ll be giving you more details as we go, but we’re not ready to talk about the details of those plans moving forward. I think the investor day this year should be very exciting.”

What Delta’s Unbundled Business Class Fares Could Mean For You

As it stands, when you book a Delta One business class ticket from, let’s say, New York to London, you get to enjoy all the perks that come with flying in the pointy end of the plane.

Choosing your preferred window or aisle seat is free, you get 2 free checked bags, and there’s access to the exclusive new Delta One Lounge at JFK.

However, some such perks are likely not to come as standard once Delta’s rolls out its new unbundled business class fares. Think of it like Basic Economy but for business class. You’ll pay for what you want and skip the rest.

For example, British Airways passengers who book a business class ticket only get to choose a seat for free if they have Silver or higher elite status in its Executive Club loyalty program. Thankfully, though, all business class passengers are entitled to lounge access, no matter their status.

This is not the case for Air France-KLM, who charge passengers extra on business class tickets for passengers who wish to visit a lounge on their journey. Similar to the extra perks that BA’s elites get to enjoy, top-level Platinum elite members of Air France and KLM’s joint Flying Blue program are still eligible to use lounges, no matter which fare bundle they purchase.

Final Thoughts

There’s no exact date, but Delta will start charging more for some business class perks, such as seat selection and lounge access.

There’s even a small chance the fares with the fewer perks could become cheaper than current prices for Delta’s full-service business class fares.

We’ll be sure to update you as soon as we learn more.