Delta to Outfit Transcon Aircraft with Flat Bed Seats and Three Cabins

Delta Air Lines is introducing flat-bed seats in the BusinessElite cabins of all its transcontinental flights linking New York with Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle from March.

All of Delta Air Lines’ Boeing 757 and Boeing 767-300 aircraft serving these transcontinental markets will be reconfigured over approximately the following 24 months to offer the flat bed seats.

Delta will operate its transcontinental services with a combination of Boeing 757 single-aisle and Boeing 767-300 twin-aisle aircraft types.

Delta Air Lines Boeing 757-200 N647DL is photographed on final approach to Vancouver International Airport

The move by Delta Air Lines to offer flat-bed seats on its transcontinental services from New York follows an announcement by American Airlines in July that it would outfit some of the Airbus A321 jets it has on order with flat-bed seats and three-class first, premium economy and economy cabins to operate transcontinental flights linking New York with Los Angeles and San Francisco. American Airlines plans to take delivery of these aircraft from November 2013 through October 2014.

Delta’s first flat bed-equipped 767-300 will begin flying in March 2013, between New York JFK and Los Angeles. This flight will be timed to provide seamless connections with Delta’s Los Angeles-Sydney flight in both directions, and offer JFK-Sydney premium-class customers a flat-bed product and onboard experience throughout their itinerary.

By June, four of Delta’s seven daily flights between JFK and LAX, and one of five daily flights between New York and Seattle, will be operated by 767-300s featuring flat-bed seats in their BusinessElite cabins.

This is how the seats in Delta Air Lines’ Boeing 767 BusinessElite cabins look

“We are committed to the business customer and offering full flat-bed seats on three domestic markets out of New York will set us apart from the competition,” said Glen Hauenstein, Delta’s executive vice president – network, revenue management and marketing.  “Delta offers a superior product on our transcontinental flights and this move is a game-changer.”

Delta’s new 767-300 transcontinental product features an entirely new interior, which includes 26 full flat-bed BusinessElite seats and direct aisle access at every seat in a 1-2-1 configuration. The 21-inch-wide seats offer an average bed length of 79 inches and each seat has a 10.6-inch video monitor.

These 767s are also configured with 29 Economy Comfort premium-economy seats featuring 35 inches of pitch and 50 per cent more recline, in addition to 171 Economy seats.  Every seat in the Economy cabin features a 9-inch video monitor and USB power.

Standard 110-volt power is available at each seat in the BusinessElite cabin and Economy Comfort sections.

Each aircraft in Delta’s updated transcontinental 757 fleet will feature 16 full flat-bed seats. These will be arranged in a 2-2 configuration and will offer a 20-inch-wide seat and an average bed length of 79 inches. Each BusinessElite seat will feature a high-definition 16-inch video monitor.

Delta Air Lines is the world’s biggest operator of Boeing 757-200s, with 155 in its fleet. The carrier also operates 15 757-300s, which have longer fuselages but shorter range than the 757-200

This fleet modification will also include changes to the Economy cabin, with each Boeing 757 being fitted with 44 Economy Comfort seats and 108 Economy seats.

All seats in the Economy cabin will feature a nine-inch video monitor, with standard 110-voly and USB power ports available at every seat.

Prior to the full cabin modification and by next summer, the number of Economy Comfort seats in each 757 in Delta’s transcontinental fleet will increase to 25, up from 11 today.

Delta says its entire transcontinental fleet, 757s and 767-300s alike, will feature in-flight Wi-Fi and an in-flight entertainment library of more than 1,000 on-demand options. Additionally, the 757s will offer 18 channels of live satellite TV.