Delta One Business Class: Impressive JFK to FCO

In 2017 when Delta launched their fantastic Delta One Business Class Suites, I was super impressed, and intrigued to try them out. Especially since I’ve tried to avoid travelling on American airlines for many years. This was a decision based on (American/Continental/United) bad service, terrible planes, awful food for many years.

I last flew American Airlines last in 2014 heading to Rio. To my horror, they operated an ageing 767 that looked like it came straight back from the 80s. At that point PTV/AVOD were common for at least 7/8 years prior in economy, however even the Business class on this plane had limited selection of entertainment on a shabby old screen. For an 11 hour flight rather outrageous.

 I have heard of good things regarding Delta Airlines. As of now Delta One Suites are not deployed in London (not sure what Delta is thinking!?) or out of any interesting US points yet. This is the product they operate to the vast majority of their long haul international routes. How did I find them?

Flight Details

Route: New York JFK – Rome FCO
Flight no: DL444
Date: 16.05.2019
Departure time: 8pm
Arrival time: 10:50am
Aircraft: A330-300 ( Tail N817NW )
Seat: 3J in Business Class

Breezy Check in

This flight operated out of JFK terminal 4. I arrived at JFK just before 5pm. Delta check-in (shared with Virgin Atlantic) area was at the far end of the terminal.

Flying in international Business Class you off course enjoy the standard priority check -in and security aspects ( something that is a godsend in busy airports like my home airport LHR and this JFK )

There were a fair few people at the Sky Priority/Upper class check in. I decided to use self-check in, which was easy and quick, leading straight through security in front.

SkyPriority generally means fast track security, but on this occasion it certainly was not fast.

I dread to think what sort of lines the economy folks were on. There were at least 100 people before me, so it took about 25 minutes to get through.

Enjoy You Airport Time In The Lounge

Delta Business class passengers have access to the Delta Sky Club lounge in terminal 4. This is reviewed here. In summary it has good facilities with a great terrace for plane spotting, though very busy!

Boarding Delta One Business Class

Conveniently the boarding gate was just across from the lounge. By 7.10pm, it seemed all other business passengers had already boarded, and economy boarding was in full swing, using both lanes.

Since there was no visible Premium boarding lane anymore, I figured the appropriate thing to do was to just head straight up front and check with the agents, who informed me business boarding had already finished, and scanned me through.

Not sure what to make of that. I could imagine, another passenger might be confused and just waited on the economy line to board?

I rarely seem to board early even when I intend to, somehow everyone else has an earlier version of “early”?! Indeed I may have been the last business passenger to board.

As I boarded I was greeted by the purser and offered menus and a pre-departure drink. The choices were juice, prosecco or mimosa. I wanted to sleep so just opted for apple juice.

Delta handled things pretty effectively on that front. The flight left the gate just 10 minutes past 8. The captain kept us informed about timing and flight conditions, mostly expected to be smooth.

We were no 5 for departure from runway 22R.

The seat

The business class seat itself did not conjure up any form of excitement. I was expecting a fairly standard (average) hard product, and that is what it was.

Delta One cabin on these A330s feature 34 flat bed business class seats. I chose a window seat in the front but not too front, 3J.

Its a fully flat reverse herringbone layout in a 1-2-1 configuration, enabling direct aisle access for all. Cabin itself looked well maintained and clean. The entertainment system looked rather dated, though fully functional.

Already in the seat was a clear wrapped Westin Heavenly bedding, a full size pillow, noise cancelling headphones, an amenity kit by TUMI and a bottle of water.

Attentive Service

Within 20 minutes of take-off the service started in earnest with further drinks served alongside warm mixed nuts.  At this time orders were taken for meals too.

Delta offer an express dining service, which they refer to as “Dine and Rest” where they bring all courses at once. This is handy for short over night transatlantic flights, but I figured this flight was long enough for me to enjoy a full service and still get some good sleep.

The Union Square Hospitality group is behind the Delta dining experience, which boasts several loved restaurants in New York. Here is the menu:

My appetizer consisted of poached shrimps, mini salad and croutons with a tomato soup.

I love shrimp and think its hard to get that wrong, they were decent sizes and well seasoned. The carrot soup was nice and creamy, but on the lukewarm side. I would have preferred if they heated that up a-bit longer.

Next came the main, I selected the Maryland crabcake.

It was good, but nothing to write home about. I was actually fairly full at that point.

About half hour after the main, the steward came back to ask if I wanted the dessert or cheese board. I couldn’t decide between having the cherry compot panna cotta or trying the cheese, so she bought me both! Alongside some port to go with it.

She was quite chatty and even asked me what I thought about their service and if I was happy with everything.  She mentioned they finished the economy service long ago, but their Business service is an ongoing thing and they were always at your service.

I certainly appreciated the fact that a crew member even asked, but to show a willingness to be proactive and go beyond, propels the feeling of being really looked after.

The panna cotta went down well as a finisher. Following that, I ordered some mint to just sit back and relax.

Entertainment

As noted initially, the entertainment system is quite dated, with the screen resolution noticeably pix-elated. But once I got past that, the range of programming on offer was fairly decent. Navigation and categorisation was intuitive (totally not the case on a recent Alitalia flight!) and noise cancelling headphones were pretty good also.

I watched Ben is Back featuring Julia Roberts as a mother to a troubled addict who she struggles to keep him clean and safe. I found it quite warming and perfect to get me in sleep mode!

Sleepy Time in Your Comfy 2m bed

About an hour after dinner service, I was ready to get some shut eye. Delta don’t seem to over a turn down service for these flights, which isn’t a big deal for me personally. I found the bedding and bed fairly easy to set up.

I would have preferred a proper mattress padding to lay on, however the seat was in good shape and seemed clean enough.

Once tucked in, I felt super comfortable, it wasn’t apparent that I was actually laying in a seat that turns into a bed. The leather seats and Westin Heavenly bedding sure made a difference here I think, good quality bedding here goes a long way.

Suffice to say, I slept soundly for just under 4 hours.

Pre-landing Service

I woke up naturally with just 1 hour to go to landing. The crew came over promptly to ask if I wanted any breakfast. I asked for the baked eggs with the chicken apple sausage.

This was better than it looked. Also I’m glad this option was pork/bacon free, as that would be off for someone who doesn’t eat pork. In some European carriers this can be the case, where you are then left with boring alternatives for breakfast.

With just 30 minutes to go, the crew back to check on me and see if I needed any further tea/coffee.

Final thoughts

This was a rather pleasant and enjoyable flight. I have to give it to Delta, and think they have cracked the service element here. Of course I have no historical basis to compare, other than amongst their competitors.

All the crew I interacted with were friendly and warm. I seemed to have a slight issue with my seat belt getting stuck and the guy who was serving the other aisle noticed and came over to sort it out before I had even asked. That doesn’t happen everyday.

The catering was good overall, and the soft elements like quality bedding and amenities do add to the premium in Business.

I cant fault anything about the experience. I may have been somewhat inclined to think this was a lucky day, but I’ve seen good recommendations of them around and in the last few weeks, Delta have announced major improvements to even their Economy Service. Once implemented this would surely put them head and shoulders above any other American carrier?

2023 Update: Delta still fly these planes to many destinations. If you want to read about the latest state of Delta Airlines you can find my new Delta One Suites product review here.