In the spirit of positive reinforcement, in this post I’d like to share the things that I think Delta Air Lines does well. In separate posts, I’m taking a look at the things that American Airlines and United Airlines do well, as well as my least favorite things about the “big three” US carriers.
Delta is often regarded as being the best of the “big three” US carriers. I think the airline has lost a bit of its edge since the pandemic, and for that matter, United has started to narrow the gap. However, the airline still has some significant competitive advantages. In no particular order, below are the things I like about Delta…
Free, high speed inflight Wi-Fi
Delta is probably the most improved airline when it comes to inflight Wi-Fi in recent years. The airline has aggressively been retrofitting its fleet with high speed connectivity, and has also been introducing free Wi-Fi for SkyMiles members.
This is already available on a vast majority of Delta’s fleet, though unfortunately completion of this project has been way behind schedule. Still, among the “big three” US carriers, Delta currently wins (though if we consider all US airlines, JetBlue is the winner, for having free Wi-Fi for over a decade now).
This is an advantage that Delta will be losing somewhat in the coming years. American will introduce free Wi-Fi on narrow body planes as of early 2026, while United is starting to to introduce Starlink Wi-Fi, though it’ll take some time before most of the fleet features that.
People, service, and profit sharing
One of the things that most sets Delta apart from other airlines is the people. The employees at Delta are simply more invested in the success of the company than at American and United. Period.
Sure, there are of course some good employees at other airlines and some bad apples at Delta, but Delta employees are consistently the most professional and grateful for their customers. Delta employees view customers as the reason they have a paycheck, rather than as an inconvenience.
This comes down to a couple of factors. For one, Delta has a very clear vision for what it wants to be, and that makes it easy for employees to buy into that vision. Furthermore, Delta has by far the biggest profit sharing of any US airline, and that means employees profit off of the success of the company.
In fairness, I think Delta’s competitive advantage when it comes to service has decreased, even if it is still noticeable. That’s because we saw so much turnover during the pandemic, and a large percentage of Delta employees are relatively new.
Seat back televisions on most planes
Among the “big three” US carriers, Delta is in a league of its own when it comes to the number of aircraft with seat back televisions that have audio and video on demand. The airline offers this throughout a vast majority of its fleet, and it’s an amenity that passengers really appreciate.
To look at the competitive landscape, American has gone exactly the opposite direction, and has removed TVs from most narrow body planes. Meanwhile United is following Delta’s lead, but it will take some time until all United mainline planes feature this.
While Delta’s narrow body fleet is largely outdated, you wouldn’t know it based on the interiors of the jets, as they’re largely quite modern. Compare that to American, which has the newest narrow body fleet of the “big three” US carriers, but the cabins aren’t much to get excited about.
20-minute bag guarantee
For those of us who sometimes check bags, Delta’s 20-minute bag guarantee is awesome, and highly underrated. Delta guarantees your bags will arrive at baggage claim within 20 minutes of your flight’s arrival, or you get 2,500 bonus SkyMiles.
I’ve found bags with Delta consistently arrive a lot faster than bags with American and United. If I had a dollar for every time I’ve waited for 45 minutes at American’s baggage claim in Miami…
Industry leading operational reliability
Among the major global US carriers, Delta has for a long time been the most operationally reliable airline, despite operating out of some challenging hubs. Now, Delta isn’t perfect, and has had its fair share of meltdowns.
Still, it’s clear that Delta understands that running a reliable operation is one of the most important things passengers care about, and it has a lot to show for that. You’re more likely to get to your destination on schedule if you’re flying Delta.
Pricing tickets attractively
In my experience, Delta does a good job at pricing its various cabins and products, at least for domestic and short haul international flights. Delta generally has higher revenue per available seat mile than American and United. This can partly be attributed to the markets the airline serves, and partly to the airline just pricing tickets better than the competition.
This isn’t necessarily good news for upgrades, but Delta sells a very high percentage of its premium seats. When I am looking at fares on Delta, I generally find the price difference between Basic, Main, Comfort+, and First, to be reasonable. Meanwhile sometimes at other airlines, that’s most definitely not the case.
Great lounges that are a cut above
Delta does an incredible job with its lounges, and it’s an area where the airline has improved massively over the past year.
For one, Delta is known for its Sky Clubs, which are the standard domestic lounges, and are superior in quality to American Admirals Clubs and United Clubs, in terms of food and drinks, and largely also in terms of design. There are so many ways to access Sky Clubs, and I think that’s part of what makes some people pay a premium to fly with Delta. The catch is that due to the number of ways to access these lounges, crowding is often an issue.
The area where Delta has massively improved in recent times is with its new network of premium international lounges, known as Delta One Lounges. The locations have opened pretty quickly, and the quality of these lounges is phenomenal, with a la carte dining, and impressive amenities. If you ask me, they compare pretty favorably to American Flagship Lounges and United Polaris Lounges, and are among the best lounges in the United States.
A clear vision of being premium
On balance, I’d say flying with Delta is a bit more pleasant than flying with American and United. The thing is, while the airline may be a bit better, it’ll never be as good as the company’s executives think (or say) it is. However, I think that hubris largely works to Delta’s advantage.
Let’s be honest, for the most part, the US airline industry isn’t very aspirational, and most people don’t have positive thoughts when they hear an airline brought up. But Delta executives always talk about how premium the airline is, and I think along with some aspects of the Delta experience, they’ve been able to convince the public more broadly that Delta is superior.
There’s power to that. That’s what gets people spending on Delta credit cards, wanting Sky Club access, etc. I think Delta also does a good job considering that overall vision with its product investments, as Delta pretty consistently leads when it comes to soft product as well (hard product is a different story).
Impressive profitability over the years
Admittedly passengers don’t directly benefit from this, but you’ve gotta give Delta credit for consistently being the most profitable US airline. United is starting to narrow the gap, but Delta still has a considerable advantage with profitability for the time being.
You have to respect the fact that the carrier is so consistently profitable while still being a brand that’s loved by so many (maybe not those of us who care about miles, but others). It’s nice to see a company be successful for the things it does to take care of customers, rather than the things it does to screw them over (with SkyMiles being the exception).
Cohesive equity investment strategy
This is a double edged sword, but Delta takes a very different approach than other airlines when it comes to partnerships. Basically, Delta only cares about airline partners that it has an equity investment in, and we’ve seen the carrier invest in Air France-KLM, Korean Air, LATAM, Virgin Atlantic, etc.
Those are airlines with which Delta also has joint ventures. While joint ventures are common, Delta does a solid job with reciprocal perks between those airlines. Now, of course the value of SkyMiles is still limited for premium long haul redemptions. Furthermore, I’d argue that Delta’s approach is a double edged sword, since it means that Delta doesn’t care much about its alliance partners that it doesn’t have a stake in.
But we haven’t seen any other US airline essentially create a network of global airlines that it has more than just a partnership with.
Bottom line
Delta Air Lines has a lot of things going for it, from great people and service, to seat back entertainment and free Wi-Fi. If you’re a frequent domestic flyer and are just looking for the most consistently good airline, Delta is probably it. Of course Delta isn’t perfect, and also has quite a few weaknesses, which I’ll talk about in a separate post.
I’m curious to hear what OMAAT readers think — what do you think Delta Air Lines does well?
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