Delta to segment airplane cabins into five sections

Delta Air Lines has requested the travelling public to not confuse the bespoke airfares available on their airplanes as anything like what the carrier's rivals had to offer, Bloomberg reported.

Starting next year, Delta intends to segment its airplane cabins into five sections on the basis of price and service, with three categories of the economy segment and two in the premium.

The marketing scheme announced yesterday was aimed at identifying certain products and services with particular fare classes. The initiative is seen as a bid to create brand recognition inside the airplane cabin. Delta wants travelers to consider the distinctions between Main Cabin and no-frills Basic Economy, or even avail the luxury of Delta Comfort+, where they would get extra legroom and a free alcoholic beverage.

Delta was not alone in announcing new amenities, with American Airlines announcing plans on Monday to spend $2 billion to raise its fleet up to the same standard as its domestic rivals. The money would get new seats, Wi-Fi, and electrical power outlets at seats across American's fleet.

Part of the change at Delta, the third-largest airline in the US, meant rewriting the vocabulary of status with Business Elite, the old name for Delta's top-of-the-line cabin for long-haul international and cross-country flights, to be replaced by Delta One, which sees seats with linens from the Westin hotel chain.

Additionally, the service, on long-haul international flights and coast-to-coast domestic flights would include Sky Club access, boarding priority, chef-curated meals, as also a number of first-class perks, startribune.com reported.

According to chief revenue officer, Glen Hauenstein, the carrier was providing Delta customers with a thoughtful, well-defined spectrum of options as they made decisions about travel.

According to airline analysts, Delta already offered most of the services touted in its five-class system.  Steve Loucks, a spokesman for Plymouth-based Travel Leaders Group, said basic economy was really the only area where the carrier had seen the biggest change.

He added, there was a lot of competition for those people in the front of the plane [in first class, adding Delta was basically rebranding the Business­Elite name to Delta One.

He said, but the change in that class was pretty dramatic from what it was just five years ago.