Delta Removing Seats To Allow Crews To Provide Better Service

DL Plat here. (And almost Diamond for next year!!!! Yay me.)

I do think it may have customer benefits. The crews are generally happy, but I have heard a bit of sniping about how hard it is to do the service properly on some of these planes. Especially maneuvering carts around, etc. Happier crew, happier service, better experience. To a certain extent.

A good friend of mine is a DL FA based in NYC, and he bids against some of these aircraft types to avoid this issue. So it may also help DL a bit with assigning crews.

Would love to see the 739ERs added to this list, because that plane is tight everywhere - seats, galleys, lavs.

Yeah, I don't know what it means for fares, but I don't get the sense we'll be paying massively more because of this.

Call me cynical but as a long time DL customer I think this will prove out to be a revenue neutral move. They will find some other way to increase fares or fees to make up for it. The kicker is they will then announce the changes and tell us that we asked for it.

There is no doubt in my mind that happier workers means a happier workplace and better service and lower turnover. Anyone who doesn't think that's true just needs to look at their own job, as well as the benefits many companies give today. This doubly goes for startups and tech companies.

LOL. I seriously doubt 'giving more room' is going to help the deplorable service received on domestic airlines. Unless it involves $$ to their pocketbooks, they won't care. They need to invest in how to treat customers like human beings.

I don't know how they chose this set of planes but it seems like there must be some other conveniences involved (like the A321s not even having delivered yet), because the 739 is the real plane where there has been a lot of valid FA grumbling about lack of work space, and no changes announced there. Despite this minor takeback, most of Delta's fleet is still much more crowded than it was a few years back.

Sounds like a good way to increase capacity for inflight food sales. More room means more inventory and thus greater selection. Though DL often has 'revenue sharing' for airport concessions in locations such as here at MSP, there is a distinct incentive to capture that spending on the plane.

It the words of DJ Quick, "if it don't make dollars, it don't make sense."

+1 for the comments re the 739

DL Diamond. Plenty of travel this year, and several transcons recently on the 739. That is super tight. Esp the forward galley.

Always try to get on a 757 over the 739's.

I am an FA and I can confirm that extra room in the galley is what we need to make service faster, better and more efficient... I work on high density 767 doing transatlantic flights and setting up and preparing for service is a nightmare because of our tiny galley space. We also need room to move for the 10 hr flight as we do not have crew bunks! I also work 319 and 321 and the new smartlav idea is a horrible idea. It produces extra pressure on fas, we have no where to sit or eat our meal during those 13 hour duty days without someone moving in us to use a lav.