I recently flew the Delta One Suites from Los Angeles to Sydney onboard flight DL41 for the purpose of this review. Serviced by an A350-900, it’s one of Delta’s most frequented services for Aussies – a strong indicator of quality given competition from Qantas, Fiji Airways, United, Hawaiian Airlines, ANA and others who fly the same route.
While Delta One is considered amongst the best premium products onboard a United States carrier, it’s not exactly a high bar. It’s well-documented that US carriers aren’t the most beloved airlines in the world. When it comes down to it, the more haughty frequent flyers amongst us would choose a Middle Eastern or Asian airline over an American one. Yet such a preference is based on a sweeping generalisation that has haunted the American aviation industry for many years. I was keen to see just how Delta One Suites stacked up.
DL41 leaves LAX at 10:30 PM and arrives at Sydney International at 6:35 AM two dates later. All up, the journey takes, on average, 15 hours. My flight clocked around 14 hours and 40 minutes.
The flight time seems even shorter when you’re met with excellent service both on and off the ground. That much, at least, is to be expected. After all, Delta’s offerings at LAX have seen a considerable boost in the past year with a US$1.9 billion effort to not only consolidate Terminals 2 and 3 into a 111,483-square-metre, 27-gate complex but also support a seamless connection to Tom Bradley International Terminal without the need for a bus.
Such a hefty investment would be meaningless if Delta’s product weren’t up to scratch.
Delta One Suites (A350-900)
Excellent
83/100
SCOREPROS
- Excellent service with a great sense of humour
- Punctual and smooth flight
- Delta Sky Club is an excellent start
- Smooth check-in process
CONS
- Food can be hit or miss
- Seat could use more storage space
- Sliding door is clunky and hard to move
Delta One Suites (A350-900) Review – Table Of Contents
On The Ground
Check-In
The aforementioned initiative to transform the nightmare fuel that is LAX has been a success. Conceived as Delta Sky Way, merging Terminals 2 and 3 means a more streamlined check-in process with ample self-service kiosks, faster TSA and better queue management.
It also means extra space for Delta to install a dedicated Delta One check-in area, which opened on the lower arrivals level of Terminal 3 in June 2023. I’d never experienced an exclusive thoroughfare in an airport before, with the small area feeling like a mini lounge with snacks, Champagne and a private security lane.
Being greeted with a glass of Champagne before casually walking through TSA? It was definitely a good start.
Not only did this mean I was done with the most frustrating part of the airport experience in a little over a minute, but the direct access to Delta Sky Club meant I was back with another glass of Champagne in hand in just under five minutes. Much like flying Business for the first time, this kind of service is a revelation. One that will be painful to regress from on subsequent international trips.
Special mention must be given to the Fly Delta app. Not only is it well-designed and very straightforward, but a few years ago it introduced the ability to track your baggage via RFID, eliminating the need for an Apple AirTag. I always use an AirTag anyway but decided to test this feature out. The real-time map is bang-on accurate, but it would have made for a better review if they actually lost or delayed my luggage. Thankfully, they did not.
Lounge
The Delta Sky Way project has also boosted capacity at the remodelled Delta Sky Club. The business lounge is now a sizeable 2,787 square metres flecked with just about every type of seating I could think of. Lounges, booths, working pods, stools, nooks, crannies. Delta has done well to balance more space without making the lounge feel overstuffed.
On my visit, the lounge is around half-full, but space is managed so well that I can quickly move away from the crowds and find privacy.
There are eight oversized shower suites managed with a virtual queuing system to make everything much more efficient. Having two separate spaces in each shower suite makes a huge difference, given you have somewhere to easily place your clothes and belongings away from the shower itself so you aren’t awkwardly navigating to try and keep everything clean. It also helps that the amenity kits are generous and genuinely refreshing.
A reasonable amount of local art helps give the lounge some character, but the most attractive feature is a roomy “Coffee Grotto” designed as a nod to Hollywood’s Golden Age with a colourful mosaic mural built of glass tiles imported from Italy.
The pièce de résistance is the open-air all-weather Sky Deck with its retractable roof, ample lounge seating and richly-stocked bar. Views of the tarmac are shaded by downtown LA and the Hollywood Hills, unsurprisingly making this the lounge’s most popular feature. Although I would imagine the view is much more spectacular during the day when the tarmac is more active.
While there are no a la carte options, there are two large food stations with generous hot-cold offerings. Most notably, a live taco station with DIY toppings is featured at each. It helps that they actually taste great as well, almost making me forget the fact that I’ve got a three-course meal waiting for me after takeoff.
I’m told Delta’s food options will also rotate with different local restaurants invited to curate the selection so frequent flyers don’t grow tired of the options. A great idea, of course, but nothing I can personally attest to.
Up In The Air
The Seat
3D is a window seat in a 1-2-1 configuration with the seat closest to the window and the console facing the aisle. With 32 closed suites in total, the cabin doesn’t feel overstuffed and I genuinely feel shut off from the aisle when I close that clunky sliding door. Mind you, it took me a minute to actually slide the door shut after takeoff because it’s not as seamless as similar suite doors I’ve had on carriers like Etihad.
But seeing as Delta was the first airline to introduce a sliding door in business class (although this is a hybrid First-Business product), it’s expected that newer iterations on other carriers would refine the feature.
The suite seats are 24 inches and recline to 81 inches with fully flat beds. The console on the side is modern and intuitive with the transformation from seat to bed notably faster than what I’ve experienced before. While it may lack a visual punch, the design is functional and detailed.
There’s a decent amount of space even if it’s nothing compared to Emirates business. Dedicated compartments feature for headphones, laptops, phones and shoes, while the overhead bins are spacious enough for 2 reasonably sized pieces of luggage. The headphones are especially attractive, displayed with a red fabric backdrop looking like a polished tech showroom; it helps give some personality to the other business-as-usual (pun intended) suite.
In terms of technology, Delta passes with flying colours. Wi-Fi is fast and doesn’t drop out as frequently as I’m used to in the air. USB ports and universal power outlets are easily accessible just below the headphone compartment.
Although it should be common knowledge by now, I highly recommend choosing a window seat if you’re a solo traveller. The two seats in the middle can be turned shut off from the aisle and turned into a couple’s den (although there is also a divider if you don’t know your neighbour), but the window seat feels like it’s slightly more removed from the action despite all seats having direct aisle access.
Do note that Delta Air Lines actually has several iterations of the Delta One cabin. The one onboard this A350 is considered the best of them.
Sleep
A partnership with Mexican apparel brand Someone Somewhere means new amenity kits that are much more attractive and less bulky than what I’m used to. It’s more like a pouch with a bright textured blue and black exterior, fitting a toothbrush, Grown Alchemist products, a sleep mask and earplugs. I actually like it so much that I took it home with me, whereas I usually just bin amenity kits after the flight.
I slept like a baby on the flight. Of course, that’s all because of the lie-flat bed coupled with the sliding door. As I’ve said in-flight reviews before, a sliding door may not seem like much on paper, but it can spell the difference between a slight bump in the aisle waking you up and an authentic private sanctuary.
Food & Drink
My baked rigatoni is decent but the firm taste and weak bechamel make it one of the more forgettable Business Class meals I’ve had in my time. Still, the Delta One menu earns its chops. You get lentil soup on the side, a salad of mixed greens and a moreish rosemary red onion focaccia. While I could have selected a better main – the meatballs were probably more my style – everything else is nice and serviceable. The mid-flight snack of a zucchini and red pepper French bread pizza hits all kinds of spots.
On the drinks side, you’ll get to choose from several American bourbons as well as other spirits. The wine list changes regularly but for Champagne sippers, the Canard Duchene Brut Cuvée Léonie is crisp, candied and has a hint of gingerbread on the finish – divine.
Entertainment
Slick LSTN noise-cancelling headphones are the perfect size for me when I scoop them out of their dedicated compartment. Noise cancelling is sufficient enough but volume is quite average as I work my way through Delta’s impressive entertainment system.
Delta seems to have a perfect balance between indies and blockbusters as well as a host of TV shows and wellness content from partnerships with Peloton and Spotify. I’m not very focused during the flight, so shy away from the wellness stuff and binge HBO show Barry.
Still, scrolling through I get the impression that one of Delta’s strongest hands is its entertainment system. Having flown both Emirates and Etihad recently, this is easily the more comprehensive and discerning of the three.
Service
Service is never uniform onboard any carrier, so any nuances wouldn’t hold any value for readers of this Delta One review. However, I will say that having flown Delta numerous times, and now in all three cabins (Economy, Premium Economy Select, Delta One), I’m reminded of how a good sense of humour can make a flight that much more enjoyable.
In Business, there’s always the sense that you’re all in this together and that this is more of a community than what you’d get in cattle class. The staff-to-guest ratio also helps, ensuring service is personable and efficient.
There’s no overbearing attention, nor a lack of it. When I’m done with my food, the tray is collected promptly. I’m not just sitting there, awkwardly staring at a napkin, and I can go to the bathroom straight away. Whenever I want another drink, I don’t have to wait long before I’m sipping on a glass of Canard Duchene Brut Cuvée Léonie while browsing the system’s stellar entertainment lineup.
There’s nothing robotic about the service, which is more than I can say about a lot of other flights I’ve taken in the past few years. It doesn’t feel stiff, and even if I’m being naive here, I felt like a guest rather than a number. That’s the number one metric I always use for service, so I’m confident that any reader looking to book into Delta One will also be treated well from takeoff to landing.
Verdict
Delta One, conceived as somewhat of a hybrid between First and Business (definitely leaning toward the Business end of the scale), is by and large a good product. The suites lack any kind of visual punch and some of the food could be tastier (tip: fill up at the Delta Sky Lounge instead), but those are really the only complaints for what was otherwise a very pleasant, easy flight back home from Los Angeles.
Delta’s pioneering status has meant that subsequent all-suite business classes were able to refine and build better aesthetics with a firmer grasp on ambience. Yet, Delta One doesn’t feel dated. Coupled with the excellent service both on and off the ground, I’d say it’s easily one of the better pointy-end offerings on this popular route.
The author, Chris Singh, flew as a guest of Delta Air Lines.
