In early 2022, Delta Air Lines started taking delivery of the Airbus A321neo. The airline has 189 of these jets on order, and so far, the airline has taken delivery of about half of those. For all practical purposes, these are Delta’s new “flagship” standard domestic aircraft, featuring the newest cabin designs, and overall great economics.
We’ve known that Delta plans to introduce A321neos in a more premium configuration, featuring flat beds in business class, premium economy, and more. We’ve known that these planes are massively delayed due to certification issues, and we now have even better of a sense of just how bad the delay is. Let’s cover the basics of these planes, and then talk about the latest on the delays, as there’s quite the update.
Delta’s three-cabin, 148-seat Airbus A321neos with flat beds
As we’ve known for quite some time now, Delta is planning on operating a fleet of 21 Airbus A321neos with a special configuration, featuring just 148 seats (compared to the standard 194 seats). This includes:
- 16 Delta One seats (business class), which will be fully flat and in a 1-1 configuration, with each seat having a privacy door
- 12 Delta Premium Select seats (premium economy), which will be in a 2-2 configuration, similar to what you’d usually find in domestic first class
- 54 Comfort+ seats (extra legroom economy), which will be in a 3-3 configuration
- 66 Main Cabin seats (economy), which will be in a 3-3 configuration
While Delta has officially said little about these new planes, we do know the airline plans to have reverse herringbone seats in business class. That’s exciting, because as airlines are increasingly installing flat beds on narrow body aircraft, we’re frequently seeing herringbone seats rather than reverse herringbone seats, which is really a step back in terms of passenger experience. The challenge is, actually getting these planes into service isn’t actually so easy…
Delta’s flat bed A321neos won’t fly until 2028, best case scenario
In October 2024, Delta started taking delivery of its first Airbus A321neos intended to be in a premium configuration. However, due to issues with certifying the new business class seats, the planes were immediately put into storage. Where they stayed for around 18 months.
This is reportedly because of issues with getting the new business class seats certified. With those problems continuing, Delta ultimately made the decision to temporarily put these planes into service with a modified configuration.
As I wrote about separately, these planes are now starting to fly around with 44-seat first class cabins. The idea is that these are just standard first class seats, taking up the space of the entire planned business class and premium economy cabin.
We know that this is a temporary solution, but the question has been how long it will last. Well, we now have an answer. In a recent interview with Business Traveller, Delta Chief Commercial Officer Joe Esposito said the following regarding this new A321neo concept:
“There’s a new product coming in a couple of years: a lie-flat bed on the A321neo. The seat is in development and getting tested right now, but that product will be in service in about two more years.”
So year, it sounds like we can expect this A321neos to be flying around with 44 first class seats until some point in 2028, best case scenario. That’s a massive delay, when you consider these cabins were supposed to be in service in late 2024. Aircraft seat certification issues are common nowadays, but this is especially bad.
What are the seats that are giving Delta such a headache? The expectation is that Delta has selected the Safran VUE product for its A321neos. This is the same business class product that FlyDubai will have on its 737 MAXs at some point. However, that was announced in early 2023, and there’s still not a plane actually flying with this configuration.
Currently the reverse herringbone narrow body seat in service is the Stelia Aerospace OPERA platform, which you’ll find on Etihad Airways’ A321LRs and ITA Airways’ A321neos. So there is another option that seems to be easier to get certified.
One certainly wonders if the Safran VUE product might have certification hurdles that can’t be overcome, because the fact that it’s taking years and years to get this seat certified isn’t a great sign.
Expect these planes on premium transcon routes
Delta plans to specifically use these Airbus A321neos for operating premium domestic routes. However, I think the question is exactly which aircraft they’ll replace, and which routes the planes will be placed on.
Historically Delta has typically used a combination of Boeing 767s and Boeing 757s for these premium routes, though we knew that eventually there needs to be a replacement, especially if Delta wants to compete with a leading product:
- The 757s don’t have a very competitive product, as business class is in a 2-2 configuration, and the planes aren’t great in economy
- The 767s are getting old, and if you’re focusing on a premium market, there’s something to be said for a lower capacity aircraft (so that more frequencies can be operated with more premium seats)
While back in the day most airlines operated wide body aircraft on premium transcontinental routes, that’s no longer the case:
I think the configuration Delta is planning is roughly what we would have expected. It’s interesting how premium economy is increasingly being offered by US airlines on premium domestic routes. It’s basically like domestic first class, and for a daytime flight it’s very comfortable, in my opinion. For that matter, Delta is already selling this cabin on select transcontinental flights.
So, what does Delta plan to do with the 757s and 767s that it takes off these routes? Look, these vintage aircraft should be retired, as far as I’m concerned, but we’re talking about Delta here. The airline would add the Wright Flyer to its fleet if it had the capacity. With that in mind:
- Delta is actually reconfiguring some 757s in standard domestic layouts, so that they can be used to add capacity elsewhere
- Delta currently operates a lot of 767-400ERs on domestic routes, so I suspect we’ll see those taken off more domestic routes, instead being flown on international routes, with more focus on A321neos and 767-300ERs operating domestic flights
I do question if Delta will actually put A321neos on routes like New York to Los Angeles, though. I can’t imagine that Delta wants to give up the capacity offered by the larger aircraft (in both business class and economy), and it’s not like Delta has any shortage of frequencies in the market.
Bottom line
Delta is configuring 21 Airbus A321neos in a premium layout. These planes will feature 148 seats, including flat bed business class, premium economy, and lots of extra legroom economy seats.
While the planes were supposed to enter service in Q3 2024, there have been serious issues with getting the business class seats certified. The situation is so bad that the airline has now put these planes into service with different interiors, and the expectation is that it’ll take at least a couple more years until the intended cabins are in service.
I’m happy to see that Delta plans to introduce reverse herringbone seats on narrow body aircraft, but a delay of well over three years isn’t ideal.
What do you make of Delta’s premium A321neo certification issues?