Delta Air Lines has just formally unveiled its second Sky Club at JFK, which is exciting and long overdue.
In this post:
Details of the new Delta Sky Club JFK T4-A
A new 14,000 square foot Delta Sky Club has opened at New York JFK Airport’s Terminal 4, in the A Concourse, near gate A7. This complements the carrier’s existing flagship JFK lounge in the B Concourse, and is part of Delta’s terminal expansion at the airport. In 2024 we should hopefully also see the opening of a Delta One Lounge at JFK, which is a new concept for the airline.
So, what can we expect from the new Delta Sky Club JFK?
- The lounge has the capacity for 250 guests, so between this and the existing lounge, there will be Sky Club capacity at the airport for 800 guests
- The lounge features a Sky Deck, allowing guests to enjoy the outdoors; best of all, this lounge has great views of the apron and runways
- The lounge has a variety of amenities, including a 360-degree centerpiece premium bar, a fireplace, and four soundproof booths for quiet work
- The lounge highlights local food, with dishes from Elyssa Heller, founder and CEO of Edith’s Eatery & Bakery in Williamsburg, Brooklyn; you can expect Jewish deli staples like brisket hash sandwiches, vegetarian latkes, labneh parfaits, and a vegan iced café slushie (cold brew, tahini, oat milk, and simple syrup)
Below are a couple of pictures of the new Delta Sky Club JFK.
See this post for Delta Sky Club access policies. In addition to being open to select premium passengers and members, Sky Clubs can also be accessed with The Platinum Card® from American Express (review) and The Business Platinum Card® from American Express (review).
This is a much-needed lounge addition
Delta Sky Clubs are known for having consistent crowding issues, given that the Amex Platinum gets you access to these lounges. The Delta Sky Club JFK T4-B has consistently been one of the most crowded lounges in the system, and there’s frequently a very long line to get into the lounge.
So if there’s one airport where Delta needed more lounge capacity, it was definitely JFK. Therefore it’s great to see this addition.
Keep in mind that for Delta, lounges are no longer really primarily a passenger amenity, or a benefit of booking a particular kind of ticket with the airline. Rather it’s a revenue generating opportunity, as part of Delta’s partnership with American Express.
Delta has the most lucrative co-brand credit card agreement of any US airline, and a significant aspect of that is opportunities to access Sky Clubs through credit cards. So Delta wants Sky Clubs to be packed, because that’s also how the airline is maximizing its co-brand credit card agreement.
Hopefully the new lounge will help with making the lines outside of the existing lounge a bit shorter, though don’t expect that it will suddenly turn Delta Sky Clubs at JFK into a calm oasis.
Bottom line
A new Delta Sky Club has opened at JFK Terminal 4, in Concourse A. The new lounge is 14,000 square feet, with seating for 250 people, so this adds significant lounge capacity at the airport. I’d expect Sky Clubs will still be packed, though hopefully it at least shortens lines a little bit.
What do you make of the new Delta Sky Club at JFK?
14,000 square feet? Isn’t that a little small for a new Delta club in JFK, where crowding has been so bad?
The United Club in EWR terminal C that opened last year is 30,000 square feet and the one that just opened in terminal A is 15,000 square feet. Those two are in addition to a second huge club opening soon in terminal C, and of course the large Polaris lounge.
Am I missing...
14,000 square feet? Isn’t that a little small for a new Delta club in JFK, where crowding has been so bad?
The United Club in EWR terminal C that opened last year is 30,000 square feet and the one that just opened in terminal A is 15,000 square feet. Those two are in addition to a second huge club opening soon in terminal C, and of course the large Polaris lounge.
Am I missing something? Is it because the DL operation in JFK is so much smaller than the UA operation in EWR?
1) United runs as many as ~400 daily flights from Newark, Delta is at ~230 this summer. Delta is in one terminal at JFK, United at several
2) Delta is opening a 36,000 square foot Delta One lounge sometime next year, adding to the two regular SkyClubs
3) There is also a Centurion Lounge for Delta Reserve and Amex Platinum cardholders
One small correction.
Delta's credit card/loyalty program is THE MOST (not just one of the most) lucrative not just among US airlines but for any airline in the world.
Delta said that 1% of the entire US' GDP passes through its cobrand Amex cards - that is simply astounding.
Given that the new Delta One lounge will almost be as large as the TWO Skymiles at JFK combined, Delta has an extraordinary amount...
One small correction.
Delta's credit card/loyalty program is THE MOST (not just one of the most) lucrative not just among US airlines but for any airline in the world.
Delta said that 1% of the entire US' GDP passes through its cobrand Amex cards - that is simply astounding.
Given that the new Delta One lounge will almost be as large as the TWO Skymiles at JFK combined, Delta has an extraordinary amount of lounge capacity coming online for DL in NYC.
NYC is a difficult place to operate for all US airlines - but it is a huge market. Delta's terminal movements and growth have made it hard for support systems like lounges to catch up. Let's not forget that there have been 2 and 3 hour delays to get to a gate at Newark on UA flights. And just because you don't see any bad weather doesn't mean radar and ATC doesn't see it as much as hundreds of miles away or what is forecast to develop - and that is what impacts airlines. If ATC waited until the thunderstorms broke out right over the airport, the airlines would never be able to cope. And data does show that Delta has handled this summer in NYC better than United.
Jewish deli staples like vegetarian or vegan anything aren’t Jewish deli staples.
“Delta said that 1% of the entire US' GDP passes through its cobrand Amex cards - that is simply astounding.”
Typo? Or has your sycophantic booster-age of Delta gone completely off the hook?
to remove all doubt, read Delta's investor documents.
Not a typo.
some people's inability to do basic research before commenting is off the rails.
Delta’s operations are rough in NYC.
LGA is filled and filled with delays, and Delta remains subject to these delays. On a recent business trip, my flight outbound on delta was delayed by 4 hrs on a perfectly sunny day and 3 hrs in bound.
JFK typically operates better, with delta included in that, but Delta still has work to do. On a recent arrival into JFK in may from Athens for an...
Delta’s operations are rough in NYC.
LGA is filled and filled with delays, and Delta remains subject to these delays. On a recent business trip, my flight outbound on delta was delayed by 4 hrs on a perfectly sunny day and 3 hrs in bound.
JFK typically operates better, with delta included in that, but Delta still has work to do. On a recent arrival into JFK in may from Athens for an on time departure we had to wait 45 minutes on the plane for a ramper to pull the Jetbridge over.
I’m not sure what it is, but the Delta experience in NYC, is not consistent with their operations in most other cities.
Unfortunately that's the case with all carriers in NYC this summer. ATC delays have been rough. United is having similar struggles at EWR.
considerably worse, actually.
UA is pulling down flights which they know are not related to ATC.
Part of UA's problem at EWR is ground congestion.
Looks nice. A few things
1) I have yet to either arrive or depart from these A lounges since the T2/T4 consolidation. Delta is also still building out the B concourse. I think we need to see how all these new gates are actually used before we can really see if the main SkyClub can get relief in the short run
2) All Delta elites Gold and above who are flying Delta internationally from JFK...
Looks nice. A few things
1) I have yet to either arrive or depart from these A lounges since the T2/T4 consolidation. Delta is also still building out the B concourse. I think we need to see how all these new gates are actually used before we can really see if the main SkyClub can get relief in the short run
2) All Delta elites Gold and above who are flying Delta internationally from JFK should also have access to the Virgin Clubhouse at all hours. That would actually be a good source of relief for the B Concourse SkyClub, but I don't know if the Clubhouse is honoring that access, or if it is publicized.
3) By early to mid 2024, JFK lounge situation should really be in good shape, with three Delta lounges, one Amex lounge, one Virgin lounge accessible to a wide variety of Delta passengers
I’m a Diamond and was flying KLM to AMS in premium comfort a few weeks back. I was granted access to the Virgin clubhouse. I checked out the sky club later just for kicks, and it was a significant downgrade from the clubhouse. I’ll be curious to check out the DeltaOne lounge when available, but for now I’ll be sticking with the clubhouse as my travel is all international and status/cabin based.
A D1 lounge is not a new concept, they had them years ago back when DL was in T2 and T3. It wasn't called DeltaOne back then but they were lounges specifically for business class passengers.
@ FrequentDeltaFlyer -- Hmmm, how long ago are we talking? This is the first I've heard of that...
Yes, they were the Business Elite lounges. I recall there being one upstairs in the old JFK T2.
Yes, there was one on the mezzanine level in Terminal 2 towards the end of the building and in Terminal 3 I believe it was near the little extension building. There might have been a second smaller one too on the Gate 14 side.
They also had separate Business Class Lounges in ATL & CVG which, at the time, offered significantly better catering than the Sky Clubs (or Crown Rooms as they were called at that time).