Luxury travel is an ongoing concern for any airline. Carriers often try to ease us out of economy seats and into more plush accommodations. For Delta Air Lines, that goal with some brand-new jets is becoming an interesting problem of sorts.
As reported by The Points Guy, their new Airbus A321neo jets—spacious with just one aisle—have been sitting unused while the airline Awaits aviation authority permission to proceed with lie-flat, hyper-premium business class pods. The planes have been sitting in the desert lonesome and forlorn without any seating installed at all—and no chance to ascend into the sky with paying passengers. But recently, Delta decided to temporarily convert the Airbuses to a generously-sized first class seating area while waiting for the go-ahead for the pods configuration. What does that mean for passengers? An eyebrow-raising 11 rows of first-class seating.
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Starting next summer, up to seven of these planes will wheel out from their desert parking lot and fly their routes with an oversized first-class seating area: 44 recliners, to be precise. There will also be 54 Comfort+ extra-legroom seats and—yeah, we'll see you there—66 standard economy seats.
Right now, Delta doesn’t know exactly where the planes will fly. And it turns out that the space built to accommodate those hyper-premium pods might not be large enough to include the ovens necessary to serve hot meals to those 44 reclining first class folks. Oops! Hey, a room temperature meal is still a meal and way better than a handful of airplane pretzels.
Currently, Delta has 75 of the neo jets in its fleet with just 20 first-class recliners, 60 Comfort+ extra-legroom seats and 114 standard economy seats.
“Delta continually explores new ways to make the most of our fleet to better serve our customers and support our business. Select A321neo aircraft are expected to begin their entrance into service next year with an updated seat configuration designed with comfort in mind. We look forward to sharing more in 2026," a Delta representative told Time Out in an email.