Delta Air Lines

Travel Tidbits

Here are some of the travel tidbits we’ve gathered so far this week.

Delta extends middle seat block

Most other airlines have stopped blocking the middle seats. But Delta Air Lines says it is extending its policy of blocking middle seats on all flights through April 30, 2021. Perhaps others will do the same.

“We want our customers to have complete confidence when traveling with Delta, and they continue to tell us that more space provides more peace of mind,” said Bill Lentsch, Chief Customer Experience Officer, in a statement. He added that the airline will “continue to reassess seat blocking in relation to case transmission and vaccination rates.”

SkySquad partners with At Your Gate

As Valentine’s Day approaches, here’s a nice match-up of airport services.

SkySquad, a service that provides airport assistance services from the curbside to the plane door, and from the gate to the curb, is partnering with airport food delivery company At Your Gate.

SkySquad’s customers include families with young children, seniors,
pet owners, and anyone who needs a helping hand through the airport.

The company currently operates at Washington’s Reagan National Airport (DCA), Dulles International Airport (IAD), and Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG). The partnership with At Your Gate extends the SkySquad services to JFK, Newark, Boston, and Philadelphia airports. At those airports At Your Gate staff will step in to escort SkysSquad customers through the terminals.

Bonus United Miles for donations during Black History Month

In honor of Black History Month, United Airlines, Chase and Visa are giving bonus miles for donations made to select non-profits that provide educational opportunities to Black students and which support human and civil rights policies.

Now through March 15, 2020, United Explorer and United Club cardmembers will receive five miles for every dollar up to $1,000 donated to the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, The Leadership Conference Education Fund, The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and The United Negro College Fund. More details here.

New Centurion Lounge at Denver Int’l Airport

American Express has opened its 14th Centurion Lounge. This one is at Denver International Airport (DEN) on the Concourse C Mezzanine, near Gate C46.

The new lounge is 14,000-square-feet (the second-largest Centurion Lounge location to-date) and has some enticing amenities, including Italian-inspired cuisine, a live-action cooking station, a Craft Beer Bar with seasonal selections from Colorado breweries. The lounge also includes a new feature: a game room with pool and shuffleboard tables, and other activities.


Travel Tidbits from Here and There

As another month of being grounded kicks in, here are some travel tidbits that got our attention.

Delta Air Lines’ “No Mask- No Fly” list is growing

If the rule is “Wear a mask when you’re on the plan,” then we’re all for passengers being put on no-fly lists if they don’t comply.

Delta Air Lines says it now has about 130 people on its “no mask – no-fly” list.

Miss airline food? This company will sell you some

Tamam Kitchen, which provides in-flight meals for Israel’s El Al airlines, Turkish Airlines and some other international carriers that fly out of Tel Aviv, is selling its meals to people on the ground.

The Future of Business Travel

We found some interesting insights about what business travel might look like in the future in a new global survey from SAP Concur, a company that tracks business expenses for companies.

96% of business travelers surveyed expect their employer to make critical changes when travel resumes.

Those changes include mandatory personal health screenings for traveling employees (39%), limiting business travel to only the most business-critical trips (39%), and easier access to PPE like gloves or facemasks (33%).

What is the plan if employers do not make changes?

65% of respondents intend to act if their employer does not make these changes:

Nearly one in five (18%) plan to look for a new role inside or outside the company that does not require travel. That number is higher in the U.S., where nearly one in four (23%) plan to consider new roles that do not require travel if their concerns are not addressed.

Where do you stand on these questions?

Coronavirus brings more bad news for travelers.

The coronavirus (COVID-19) is bringing with it a lot of fast-breaking, bad news for travelers and the travel industry.

Over the weekend, American Airlines and Delta Air Lines announced the temporary suspension of flights to Milan, Italy and United Airlines announced a temporary suspension of flights to Tokyo Narita, Osaka Singapore and Seoul.

And, because travelers are holding back on buying new plane tickets, on Sunday American Airlines announced it will join JetBlue and Alaska Airlines in offering a change fee waiver on new tickets purchased in the next two weeks.

Alaska Airlines also shared some notes about the efforts it is taking to keep planes clean and passengers safe.

The airline says using wipes to clean armrests and tray tables is fine, but they’re asking passengers not to use cleaning wipes on the leather seats because commercial wipes will deteriorate the top coat of leather.

“The wipe might look dirty, ” says Alaska, “but it’s actually the leather dye color that’s coming off.”

Bad news for travelers may keep coming for a while, so it was refreshing to have Saturday Night Live do this silly bit about traveling through New York’s LaGuardia Airport.

Art-filled Delta Sky Club at New Orleans Int’l Airport

Artwork by Skylar Fein

Planning a trip to New Orleans?

Lucky you!

New Orleans is a popular destination for both leisure and business travelers and the old airport terminal didn’t do the city justice.

Now there’s a gorgeous new terminal at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY). And right now the only club lounge open is the Delta Sky Club.

The all-access Club at MSY should open early next year and a United Airlines club lounge is promised in 2020.

Stuck at The Airport stopped into the Delta Sky Club during an opening day tour of the airport. We are delighted to report that in addition to all the features you’d expect in a lounge (comfortable seating and lots of outlets) the 2nd-floor lounge definitely celebrates the New Orleans vibe and culture.

The menu includes regionally inspired snack and meals, including oysters, gumbo and muffuletta sandwiches. Of course, the bar menu includes local beers and cocktails.

And all the artwork is by Louisiana artists.

Delta was kind enough to share images of the artwork. Here are a few more of our favorites.

By Skylar Fein
Artwork by Kelly Mcgee
Artwork by Kelly Mcgee
Artwork by Masy Chighizola

Stay tuned for more details about the amenities at the new terminal at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY). Next up: all the food!

Moving closer to free in-flight Wi-Fi

My story this week for CNBC online is all about the (possible) move to free Wi-Fi in the sky.

Who’s doing it? Should we have it? Will we have it? Give this story a read and let me know if you think we are indeed on our way to having free Wi-Fi in the sky:

It wasn’t all that long ago (2000 or 2006, depending how you measure) that being able to access the internet on an airplane was a pie-in-the-sky idea. 

Once the technology became generally available and airlines began equipping their planes with Wi-Fi service, passengers soon found they couldn’t bear to fly without it.

In 2013, 66% of passengers surveyed by Honeywell Aerospace said the availability of in-flight Wi-Fi would influence their flight selection.

By 2018, Inmarsat’s Inflight Connectivity Survey found that more than half (55%) of all airline passengers considered inflight Wi-Fi to be a crucial amenity. And almost as many (53%) said they’d be willing to forgo an alcoholic drink, tea, coffee, and other in-flight amenities in exchange for Wi-Fi access.

The price of staying connected in the sky

While free messaging is available on Alaska Airlines and Delta Air Lines and Southwest Airlines and on a variety of international airlines, most all domestic airlines levy a charge for accessing the internet for email, streaming and other purposes.

And the cost to access that Wi-Fi varies. Sometimes widely. 

Southwest Airlines charges $8 a day for its Wi-Fi service, which prohibits access to Netflix and other high-bandwidth applications. Gogo, which provides inflight Wi-Fi to airlines such as United, Delta, Alaska and Air Canada, sells a variety of buy-before-you-fly passes. Order ahead and you’ll pay $7 for one hour of Wi-Fi access on domestic flights and $19 for 24 hours of Wi-Fi access on domestic flights.

Wait until you’re in the air to buy Wi-Fi access, though, and on most airlines the cost will be much higher.

How much higher? “Prices will vary,” is all several airlines will tell you. And it is rare, if ever, that purchasing an hour or a full day of Wi-Fi access is cheaper once you’re up in the air.  

But the tide on paid inflight Wi-Fi may be turning.

In 2016 JetBlue became the first domestic airline to offer its Fly-Fi streaming-quality Wi-Fi service free on all its planes.

Now Delta Air Lines is taking its first steps towards offering free Wi-Fi as well.

The Atlanta-based carrier started a two-week pilot test on May 13 that includes free Wi-Fi on around 55 domestic short, medium and long-haul flight segments a day.

“Customers are accustomed to having access to free Wi-Fi during nearly every other aspect of their journey, and Delta believes it should be free when flying, too,” said Ekrem Dimbiloglu, Delta’s Director of Onboard Product, in a statement, “Testing will be key to getting this highly complex program right – this takes a lot more creativity, investment and planning to bring to life than a simple flip of a switch.”

The test flight segments change daily; passengers learn if they’re on a free Wi-Fi flight from a pre-flight email or via a push notification from the Fly Delta app. Gate agents and flight attendants are also making announcements.

Only free ‘basic’ Wi-Fi is offered as part of the test, so passengers who need a more robust service for streaming will have to purchase the paid service. Right now it costs $16 for a North America Wi-Fi day-pass on Delta, if purchased pre-flight.

Is free in-flight Wi-Fi here to stay? And will other carriers follow?  

“It’s nice to see an airline offering a desired amenity on a complimentary basis,” said travel industry analyst and Atmosphere Research Group founder Henry Harteveldt, “But I’m uncertain whether Delta will be able to increase its market share, customer preference or revenue premium enough to warrant offering the free Wi-Fi.”  

Other industry experts expect Delta will continue down the full-time free Wi-Fi path, though, and that other airlines will have no choice but to follow.

“Delta tends to go first with these kinds of customer-friendly initiatives,” said Seth Kaplan, an aviation journalist and author of the book “Glory Lost and Found: How Delta Climbed from Despair to Dominance in the Post-9/11.” Kaplan said American Airlines and United Airlines sometimes match Delta rather than lose customers, even if they’re reluctant to do so. “But Delta’s move makes widespread free Wi-Fi much more likely than it seemed until recently,” said Kaplan.

Another reason passengers might soon enjoy widespread free inflight Wi-Fi: millennials.

“Millennials and younger generations expect free Wi-Fi access everywhere, especially when they are traveling,” said Kelly Soderlund, a travel trends expert with Hipmunk, “Much like hotels, which have been successful in leveraging consumer loyalty through free Wi-Fi, I would expect airlines to follow suit and meet that demand.”