Like all airport lounges, Delta’s Sky Club network focuses squarely on business and first-class travelers who have things to do, places to be, and need a good cup of coffee or tea along with their peace and quiet — all scarce quantities at airports.
Travel executives projected 2x growth in the luxury segment from 2022-28. Now that airlines are placing their bets, none has been more aggressive than Delta. Their approach to building out the best lounge game in the U.S. emphasizes quality and quantity.
Amenities Inside The Exclusive Delta One Lounge At New York’s JFK Airport
Delta Air Lines
Start with the world’s first Delta One Lounge, unveiled last June at New York’s JFK Airport. The 38,000-square-foot space features a full-service brasserie and a casual, chef-assisted market with open kitchens. Ambassadors greet guests with a beverage cart, ensuring no one needs to leave their seat for a quick refreshment. Its nine reservable relaxation pods feature full-body massage chairs and nap chairs and treatments from Grown-Alchemist certified therapists. Its eight shower suites are eight more than the last domestic airline lounge you visited. The reported price tag for Delta’s JFK expansion: $1.5 billion.
Subsequent Delta One Lounges debuted last year at LAX and Boston’s Logan Airport. They exclusively serve passengers traveling on Delta One, Delta 360 members flying first-class, and those flying via other partners like Air France, KLM, Virgin Atlantic, Korean and LATAM.
At LGA, Delta’s Terminal C club expanded to add an all-weather Sky Deck, a second bar, and seating for more than 100 additional guests. Delta also opened a new Sky Club in Charlotte Douglas International Airport — its first at CLT — and expanded its Sky Club at Miami International Airport to 12,000 square feet with seating for 320 guests.
Delta Air Lines Delta One Lounge Expansion Plans
Delta Air Lines
The plan for 2025 calls for more, more, more. Delta is planning to roll out new clubs in Atlanta (spring), Seattle (June) and Salt Lake City (later this year) in addition to expanding two clubs in Atlanta and one in Philadelphia.
Airport lounges were overdue for a re-think, and a logical place for Delta to start catering to luxury travelers. A Delta Executive Membership costs $1,495 (or 149,500 Delta SkyMiles) for one year, while an Individual Membership costs $695 or 69,500 SkyMiles. The race to deliver more bang for those bucks put pressure on other domestic carriers (including, reportedly, United), for whom luxury amenities such as showers and roomy suites on board are literally foreign concepts.
Delta isn’t limiting its plans to lounge expansions. It’s partnered with Italian luxury brand Missoni to offer complimentary amenity kits featuring high-end skincare products, toothbrush, toothpaste, eye masks, ear plugs, socks and a pen. The kits are also available gratis for visitors to the Delta One lounges.
Delta Air Lines Highlights Menu Items Inside The Delta One Lounge
Delta Air Lines
Meanwhile, Delta Sky Club’s new “local flavor” program showcases a quarterly rotation of chefs in each city, highlighting their recipes for Club customers passing through. The program launched in Boston (featuring chef Jeremy Sewall of Row 34) and La Guardia (Silvia Barban of LaRina). Delta also announced a first-of-its-kind partnership with Shake Shack to begin serving burgers on flights in First Class out of Boston on Dec. 1, with plans for expansion to other U.S. markets throughout 2025.
The hope is that Delta can expand its network of Delta One Lounge amenities to other U.S. airports in the years to come. Look for other domestic operators to do the same, elevating the luxury experience at the airport for the most frequent fliers and highest rollers.
*Originally published on Forbes.com
