Delta Flight 763 BusinessElite New York-Los Angeles – Review

What’s known in the United States as the transcon or transcontinental market typically refers to two flagship routes from New York, namely to San Francisco and to Los Angeles.  In past years, these were dominated by two carriers, American Airlines and United Airlines, which competed by offering three-class service (i.e. first class, business class, and coach).  More recent entrants into the fray include Virgin America and Delta, each with two-class cabins. JetBlue recently raised the stakes with plans to offer flights that not only have “premium” seats (the airline won’t call them first or business per se) but also four private suites, each with one seat on each side of the aisle and a closeable door for additional privacy.

Earlier this year, Delta began deploying aircraft with true lie-flat business-class seats on some transcon routes and plans to offer the seats on all such flights by the end of 2014.  On a recent Sunday morning, I arrived at Delta’s new Terminal 4 at JFK in time for a 7 a.m. departure.

The Sky Deck

After walking past Delta’s new SkyPriority check-in area without stopping (my boarding pass was stored in my iPhone), I found there was no line at the security checkpoint for the TSA PreCheck trusted traveler lane although there was about a five-minute wait on the adjacent line for SkyPriority passengers.  Thanks to PreCheck, I was through security and in the Delta Sky Club in minutes, and I stopped to enjoy the morning out on the new Sky Deck terrace.

BOARDING

Coincidentally, flight 763 was actually on what is referred to in the industry as a 763, actually a Boeing 767-300ER plane.  While Delta invites business-class passengers to board first, I took my time getting to the gate so I could enjoy the Sky Deck a little longer.  A separate SkyPriority line allows business-class passengers and those with higher elite status on Delta or its SkyTeam partners to board without having to wait.

Delta aircraft at T4’s new gates

Once on board, I settled in and stowed my carry-on while flight attendants were busy in the aisles hanging up coats for passengers and attending to other pre-flight matters.

SEAT COMFORT

Delta has refurbished its 767-300 fleet with new business-class seats.  On this aircraft, there were 26 lie-flat seats in the business-class cabin in a 1-2-1 configuration.  Each seat can recline to 180° and is a true lie-flat seat horizontal to the deck when in the bed position. Each pod is 80” long, the seats are 21” wide and the layout gives each passenger direct-aisle access.

My seat, 1A, was at the front of the cabin and on it I found something I had been very much looking forward to: Delta’s new Westin Heavenly In Flight bedding.  The airline had started to provide the new in-flight products just a few days earlier and this was my introduction to them.

Click here to continue to Page 2 – Westin Heavenly Bedding, Dining, and Arrival

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