Delta One JFK lounge opens. Here’s what’s inside

Delta Air Lines’ most exclusive airport lounge opens this week to travelers flying on the proper ticket.

The Delta One lounge on the carrier’s hub at Latest York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport will open Wednesday to customers departing or arriving within the Delta One cabin, the airline’s highest tier of service. It’s the most recent effort by a U.S. airline to win over top-paying customers. CNBC got a peek inside.

The greater than 39,000-square-foot space contains a high-end restaurant, in addition to a quick-bite bakery and walk-up food counter. It also contains a full bar and a terrace overlooking the airfield.

The lounge, Delta’s largest, is a step up from its more accessible Sky Club lounges, with recent areas to loosen up. Travelers are offered complimentary spa treatments for the eyes, hands and arms and what it calls “recovery treatment,” a 10-minute shoulder, scalp and temple massage.

There are eight shower suites complete with robes and slippers, and travelers can leave their clothes out to be steamed by staff inside minutes, Delta says.

For travelers who wish to proceed to work, the space includes eight soundproof booths. In total, the lounge seats 515 people.

Delta last 12 months said the common age of its SkyMiles members has dropped from 44 in 2017 to 39 in 2022.

“It is important to notice that not every recent member starts out as a Million Miler,” Dwight James, Delta’s senior vp of customer engagement and loyalty, said in an interview. “This notion of premium that we speak about can be aspirational.”

James declined to say how much Delta is investing within the lounge.

Delta has struggled with overcrowding at a few of its other Sky Clubs, even long lines to get in at a few of them. Last 12 months, it unveiled more restrictive entry requirements, only to walk a few of them back weeks later.

“I feel really confident that the road issue might be addressed once this lounge opens,” James said.

Along with travelers on Delta One tickets, the lounge may also be open to travelers with the secretive, invite-only “360” status Delta hands out to a select few. Travelers on Delta’s partner airlines’ equivalent cabins may also have access.

The Delta One lounge may also feature a dedicated security checkpoint starting in September or October, a perk the airline offers at Los Angeles International Airport for Delta One travelers.

The airline is planning to open Delta One lounges in Boston and in Los Angeles later this 12 months. James said the corporate is studying Delta One lounges in other cities like its major hub in Atlanta and in Seattle.