A view from the Delta Sky Club at Los Angeles International Airport, Sept. 2, 2022.
AaronP | Bauer-Griffin | GC Images | Getty Images
Delta Air Lines customers are getting used to top quality.
Revenue from the pricier, roomier seats toward the front of the plane could eclipse sales from standard coach seats for a minimum of 1 / 4 or two next 12 months, Delta executives said Thursday.
Within the last quarter, Delta said ticket revenue from its premium cabin rose 9% from last 12 months to just about $5.8 billion, while main-cabin ticket revenue fell 4% from a 12 months earlier to simply over $6 billion.
CEO Ed Bastian said he’s seen no sign of premium-travel demand slowing down, a trend that helped drive the carrier’s upbeat forecast, released Thursday, for the remainder of 2025 and next 12 months.
Airlines from Delta to Frontier have been working to court travelers willing to pay more for seats on board.
During an investor day last 12 months, Delta said that just 43% of its 2024 revenue was coming from principal cabin tickets, down from a 60% share from in 2010. Meanwhile, Delta said that near 60% of revenue last 12 months was generated by premium seats and its lucrative loyalty program.
Delta, essentially the most profitable U.S. airline, has benefited from its customers shelling out more for premium seats. Carriers have raced so as to add more of those seats to their fleets, a few of them so elaborate — with lie-flat beds, ottomans and large entertainment screens — that they’ve delayed deliveries of recent planes as regulators evaluate their design.
