Delta is launching a new premium transcontinental flight, which will no doubt put some pressure on American… though maybe it’s a route American was planning on cutting anyway?
In this post:
Delta adding JFK to SNA Boeing 757 flights as of May 2026
Delta has it announced that it plans to offer 6x weekly nonstop flights between New York (JFK) and Orange County (SNA) as of May 7, 2026. The 2,454-mile route will be operated every day except Saturday, and will be flown by a Boeing 757-200.
Delta will use its most premium configured 757 for the service, featuring 16 Delta One business class lie flat seats (in a 2-2 configuration) plus 152 economy seats (in a 3-3 configuration). Because the premium cabin will be marketed as Delta One, passengers will get access to the excellent Delta One Lounge JFK, including the premium check-in facility.
This will be Delta’s third premium transcontinental flight out of New York, complementing service to Los Angeles (LAX) and San Francisco (SFO).
Delta last launched this route in late 2018, but then cut it in early 2019, so the route only lasted for a matter of weeks. The airline claimed that decision came because of issues with slot allocation awards at Orange County Airport, as the airport awarded the airline fewer slots in 2019 than in 2018. So the airline opted to cut that route, over other routes from the airport.
The competitive dynamics here are interesting
What makes this new route most noteworthy to me is that it’s currently exclusively served by American, with once daily flights, which launched back in 2021. American operates the route with its specially configured 102-seat Airbus A321T, featuring 10 first class seats, 20 business class seats, and 72 economy seats.
We know that American is slowly replacing its A321Ts with A321XLRs, so one wonders what the long term future for this route holds. That’s because the A321XLR is heavier than the A321T, and Orange County has a very short runway, so it’s unlikely American could operate this route once it fully transitions to A321XLRs, at least without some major seat blocking.
For the time being, I’m curious to see how American and Delta compete in this market. Generally, I’d say American’s A321s (whether the A321T or A321XLR) are a bit nicer than Delta’s 757s. That being said, Delta of course has the advantage of a much better check-in experience and lounge at JFK, at least for those in business class, and a generally better onboard soft product. Delta could eventually put its new premium A321neos on this route, if/when the business class seats are certified.
American has the advantage of being the established player in the market, while Delta has the advantage of having a much loyaler following in New York.
Can this market sustain both airlines, or is Delta just expecting that American will cut this route anyway, and it’s making the move now? For what it’s worth, United operates up to three daily flights to Orange County out of Newark (EWR), though not premium configured aircraft.
Bottom line
As of May 2026, Delta will be launching a new 6x weekly flight between New York and Orange County. The flight will be operated by a Boeing 757 featuring flat beds, and the forward cabin will be Delta One branded, meaning passengers will get access to the excellent Delta One Lounge at JFK.
American currently has this market to itself, so let’s see how this all plays out, especially with the airline transitioning to A321XLRs, which may pose a challenge for continuing this route.
What do you make of Delta’s New York to Orange County route, and how do you see the competitive dynamics playing out?
AA Advantages: AA has a lounge at SNA whereas Delta has no lounge. Also the A321T and A321XLR are better planes than the 757. The A321T has F with direct aisle access and affords you access to the Chelsea lounge. While J on the A321T is 2x2 and gets you into the still very nice Greenwich lounge, the A321XLR will provide all passengers up front with lie flat, direct aisle access. Delta's 757 2x2 configuration...
AA Advantages: AA has a lounge at SNA whereas Delta has no lounge. Also the A321T and A321XLR are better planes than the 757. The A321T has F with direct aisle access and affords you access to the Chelsea lounge. While J on the A321T is 2x2 and gets you into the still very nice Greenwich lounge, the A321XLR will provide all passengers up front with lie flat, direct aisle access. Delta's 757 2x2 configuration is entirely outdated and lame unless you're travelling with someone.
Delta Advantage (singular): The Delta One lounge at JFK is nicer than AA's Greenwich lounge. Thus, if you're not flying F on AA to get into Chelsea, or when the A321T goes away entirely, Delta has the better JFK lounge experience.
But here's the problem: Delta is going to be more expensive than AA because, well, Delta. So then you're paying even more and only getting the Delta One experience at JFK, and you're on a worse plane. Or you could just fly Delta out of LAX with a cheaper fare and get the entire Delta One experience on both ends.
Oh, and of course, AA miles are far better than Sky Pesos.
Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to see this additional flight, but I don't see how charging more but offering less is attractive. What's the competitive case to take Delta over AA here?
you need only look at DOT operational and customer service metrics to see why DL gets a revenue premium to the industry and esp. AA.
AA consistently gets more than 2X more complaints to the DOT than DL; AA's on-time and cancellation performance trails DL's.
and DL carries far more corporate travel esp. from NYC than any other airline at LGA and JFK
DL let AA have a unique advantage on JFK-SNA for...
you need only look at DOT operational and customer service metrics to see why DL gets a revenue premium to the industry and esp. AA.
AA consistently gets more than 2X more complaints to the DOT than DL; AA's on-time and cancellation performance trails DL's.
and DL carries far more corporate travel esp. from NYC than any other airline at LGA and JFK
DL let AA have a unique advantage on JFK-SNA for a couple years but DL has clearly decided that day is over. AA has never succeeded in a NYC market where DL decides it wants to be the dominant carrier
Real question: Is it marketed as DeltaOne, as in, those departing/arriving JFK get D1 lounge access if seated up-front, or is it lie-flat but merely ticketed as First, meaning, no D1 lounge? Running into this issue with SEA, SAN on D1 metal (lie flat, 75S, 763, 330 even), for a transcon 5-6 hour flight, but, technically not D1, which us ‘cheap’ of Delta….
I see Ben's "passengers will get access to the excellent Delta One Lounge JFK" but where this gets interesting is if you use a Companion Certificate, which are typically not eligible for D1, so it technically tickets as 'First' (even though it is marketed as D1, and is transcon, and is lie-flat)... so, help me out there. Is it like a negotiation at the lounge? "Welp, it is a D1 flight, but your boarding pass says F, so... regular SkyClub. Sowie."
We're over blowing the XLR weight issues here.
Yes, it weighs more. But it substantially burns 15-20% less fuel which is also weight.
AA A321T DOW is usually about 49-50t (heavier than standard A321-200 due to higher premium seats). The 102 seats will probably bring in about 12t in passenger load. The roughly 6hrs flight will have a burn of about 21t (include reserve). That will be a TOW of about 82-85t
Now the...
We're over blowing the XLR weight issues here.
Yes, it weighs more. But it substantially burns 15-20% less fuel which is also weight.
AA A321T DOW is usually about 49-50t (heavier than standard A321-200 due to higher premium seats). The 102 seats will probably bring in about 12t in passenger load. The roughly 6hrs flight will have a burn of about 21t (include reserve). That will be a TOW of about 82-85t
Now the XLR, if AA can keep the DOW under 53t (most LR that I have seen are about 52t). The 155 seats will be about 17t in payload. Fuel should weigh substantially less at about 18t for the same 6hrs flight. The TOW will be between 87-89t not that higher than the A321T.
Not that the XLR engines are slightly more powerful than the A321T. Even if seats are to be blocked, it will be about 5-10 seats, not a lot of seats (less than 10% of total seat count)
this isn't about fuel efficiency. Getting out of SNA to the east coast is solely about performance
the 757 has the most powerful engines on a narrowbody. Even though the 757 is heavy, it can do what other airplanes cannot.
And this is all about DL using a performance advantage it has with the 757 while AA is focused on the battle at ORD.
DL could financially outlast AA in most any battle but...
this isn't about fuel efficiency. Getting out of SNA to the east coast is solely about performance
the 757 has the most powerful engines on a narrowbody. Even though the 757 is heavy, it can do what other airplanes cannot.
And this is all about DL using a performance advantage it has with the 757 while AA is focused on the battle at ORD.
DL could financially outlast AA in most any battle but with the ORD fiasco going on, AA can't sustain much.
IN contrast, DL's only major competitive battles for 2026 are LAX-HKG and LAX-ORD.
JFK-SNA is easy in comparison to what AA and UA have to fight
I'm not comparing to the B757 here.
There's long been talks that the A321XLR can't takeoff to the east coast from SNA. I'm just trying to say if AA can operate the route with their A321T, then the XLR can also handle it just fine with little limitations on some days.
Since the A321XLR isn't going up to max TOW, the 35,000lb thrust engines won't have to work as much to lift the aircraft from a shorter runway.
Granted the Admirals Club at SNA is about the size of my apartment and not a great experience, but it's better than what Dulltah has at SNA, which is their D1 passengers can enjoy the gate or the local airport bar.
Not sure when AA would be moving this to the XLR, but at least for the short term, AA F class passengers can still use Chelsea. Flying SNA-JFK in AA F for my 2MM...
Granted the Admirals Club at SNA is about the size of my apartment and not a great experience, but it's better than what Dulltah has at SNA, which is their D1 passengers can enjoy the gate or the local airport bar.
Not sure when AA would be moving this to the XLR, but at least for the short term, AA F class passengers can still use Chelsea. Flying SNA-JFK in AA F for my 2MM last year and getting to enjoy a complimentary dinner of grilled lamb chops with complimentary bottles of Krug Grande Cuvee 2016 and Laurent Perrier Grande Siecle was an experience you'd never experience on Dulltah. Plus the direct aisle access was nice, which you'd still get on AA (even if the XLR isn't the best experience).
AA ALREADY FLIES JFK TO SNA.
NEW A321XLR
Not yet...still 32T
When AA eventually / begrudgingly does this route with an XLR with blocked seats, if only they designed an XLR product that would still let them charge extra for a segmented product. Something like, oh, I don't know, a product that provides economy legs with additional room. One that is not just exit row seating and can accommodate families and those that cannot sit in an exit row. Hmm... if only such a product existed.
Lol - AA can't fly the XLR to SNA but Delta will fly their premium neos? By the way, AA flies SNA-CLT with regular plain jain A321neos, and apparently/allegedly generally just blocks 13 of the 194 seats. So the XLR may really have no issues at SNA. I think AA will keep it.
I'm really curious - what are the market conditions that let SNA work as a premium route but BUR, with all the...
Lol - AA can't fly the XLR to SNA but Delta will fly their premium neos? By the way, AA flies SNA-CLT with regular plain jain A321neos, and apparently/allegedly generally just blocks 13 of the 194 seats. So the XLR may really have no issues at SNA. I think AA will keep it.
I'm really curious - what are the market conditions that let SNA work as a premium route but BUR, with all the valley traffic, not work? I don't know the greater Burbank vs greater Anaheim demographics
sna has some of the wealthiest zip codes in california surrounding it so premium demand is high along with heavy white collar and corporate traffic between irvine/newport/costamesa and nyc
SNA works because their is corporate money in that part of OC along with insane wealth in Newport south OC. And the other reason is the airport of SNA offers premium service.
valet, lounges and more.
“Insane” wealth doesn’t fly commercial domestic lmao
Both AA and DL will fly their 321neos to SNA when they can...SNA works as a premium market due to the business/wealth in Irvine/Newport Beach and beyond. BUR is much closer to LAX...it is smaller and easier, but you're talking about a matter of 15-30 min vs 60-75 min or more from many cities best served by SNA. SNA is much more a distinct market vs BUR.
this is precisely the type of route launch that DL will do while AA and UA beat eat other out at ORD.
Ben is correct that the A321XLR might not be able to do this route without significantly blocking seats.
The DL (and UA) premium 757s are the worst premium product but it can do the route from an operational standpoint because of the very powerful engines on the 757.
Even if DL doesn't...
this is precisely the type of route launch that DL will do while AA and UA beat eat other out at ORD.
Ben is correct that the A321XLR might not be able to do this route without significantly blocking seats.
The DL (and UA) premium 757s are the worst premium product but it can do the route from an operational standpoint because of the very powerful engines on the 757.
Even if DL doesn't maintain the route on a premium 757 - the A220-300 could probably operate the route but with fewer seats - they might eliminate AA on the route, one of the few route advantages AA has in NYC
and DL's presence on the route might force UA to upgrade its EWR-SNA flight to a 757 or face the possibility that they will not be product competitive with DL.
I really think an a321xlr or Neo can handily do the route. the flight is eastbound, and with the jet stream needs significantly less fuel than going westbound. landing wont be a problem obviously, and with a smaller fuel load going east, I see all 3 carriers operating these on this route
I should add that all these planes obviously must be in a very premium heavy config
if your going east with the jet stream, I dont see why united and delta cant swap out their planes with the new lie flat neos here. sure sna is heavily weight restricted but they will also need less fuel going east. a lot less.
UA won't upgrade their aircraft to SNA. UA hasn't put a 757 on this route in over 10 years. If they put a 757 on this route it would have to get airport approval and testing before throwing a 757 from UA. DL is the only carrier to fly 757s to this airport AA offered it before COVID to only PHX.
How many of this configuration do they have ? And where do they fly?
“This is exactly the type of route launch DL will do while AA and UA beat each other out at ORD”
You mean a normal route launch because DL is losing in NYC? DL is also getting its teeth kicked in at SEA by Alaska. But DL got destroyed by UA in NYC (remember how you posted all over here about how Delta would beat UA in NYC because of the EWR issues but UA...
“This is exactly the type of route launch DL will do while AA and UA beat each other out at ORD”
You mean a normal route launch because DL is losing in NYC? DL is also getting its teeth kicked in at SEA by Alaska. But DL got destroyed by UA in NYC (remember how you posted all over here about how Delta would beat UA in NYC because of the EWR issues but UA still beat them in 2025?) you are seriously delusional. United had 4.6% fewer flights in NYC to only reduce pax by 1.7% whereas Delta reduced flights by 0.6% and lost 1.6%, so UA increased yields while Delta lost them. Sorry I forgot I’m presenting facts and you hate using those don’t you Tim.
just like the rest of the UA internet fan nuts, taking their cues from Scott Kirby, you measure strategies in hours when DL has and will continue to build its strategies in years - because that is what it takes to win.
If you would bother to look at Port Authority data through more than just a lens of DL vs UA, B6 share is down by double digits. NK and WN are both down...
just like the rest of the UA internet fan nuts, taking their cues from Scott Kirby, you measure strategies in hours when DL has and will continue to build its strategies in years - because that is what it takes to win.
If you would bother to look at Port Authority data through more than just a lens of DL vs UA, B6 share is down by double digits. NK and WN are both down by large double digits at LGA.
DL doesn't need to flood the market with capacity when its LGA and JFK competitors are neutered and DL is the largest carrier at each of those two airports which are the largest in the NYC for the markets they serve - LGA for short haul domestic inside the perimeter and JFK for longhaul domestic and international.
DL also is smart enough to realize that the battle for NYC will go for another round. putting a bunch of capacity into the market as weaker competitors fail is not the look that will allow DL to pick up additional assets when they become available - as they most certainly will.
UA isn't run by people smart enough to realize that when you trash talk competitors and flood the market w/ capacity, it doesn't bode well for asking for access to even more of the US' and world's largest air travel market,
and I have often said that the real change in NYC will come when DL decides to re-add flights from JFK to E. Asia, the Middle East besides TLV, and India - and those are all coming.
The 350 will do things that UA cannot do from LAX w/ the 787 but even more so from JFK.
DL is methodical enough to win one market at a time - and DL has already added more capacity to the S. Pacific than UA from LAX; now the focus is on E. Asia - DL is adding 2 more flights/week on LAX-PVG. LAX-ICN is a guarantee as is LAX-SIN and LAX-MNL.
After DL kicks UA's backside from LAX and ensures a permanent advantage, DL will shift its focus to NYC to Asia.
Feel free to count passengers; DL is counting revenue and profits. DL handedly beat UA's profits even while paying its people more and delivering a better operation and the gap will only widen in 2026.
and, specific to this discussion, DL will have a competitive advantage over UA in SNA-NYC unless UA puts its 757 on the route - which some say won't happen because DL is already approved to use the 757 out of SNA while UA is not.
and your wet dream about DL losing in SEA is as delusional as your belief that UA is winning when it flies 10% more ASMs and gets just 2/3rd of the profits DL gets.
AS' profit margin for 2025 was a fraction of DL's.
you have proven over and over again that you are driven by emotion and testosterone rather than intelligence and reason.
Thank you for confirming that yet again.
tim is such a sad weird little man
apparently, someone he has never seen here is driven by emotion and Testosterone and only delta thinks in years for strategy. Nevermind that United started their fleet and entire network strategy years ago and was widely mocked in ~2016-2017 when they did despite it now appearing to be genius
No mention of UA’s three daily flights from EWR to SNA?
@ Mark -- Fair, I added a mention, thanks. I initially left it out because UA just operates it with a standard domestic configuration, so I'd view it a little differently, competitively. But yeah, it's worth mentioning.
However, there are expectations that it is a leading reason for the 737-700s getting retrofitted with 24 F seats.
AA lounges at JFK are much better than DL, including new DL lounge. AA terminal vastly better than DL terminal, which is awful
@ mark -- You think the Greenwich Lounge is better than the Delta One Lounge?
Certainly Greenwich is better if D1 has a line to get in. SoHo is very nice and competes well H2H with D1, regardless. D1 has some great benefits and otherwise does things none of the AA JFK lounges do, but based on core lounge amenities for top tier lounges, not basic clubs, AA has a very competitive offering at JFK. I would love to see NPS for lounge experience between AA and DL at JFK.
At JFK, D1 is better than Greenwich, and kind-of on-par with Soho and Chelsea, depending on crowds. Chelsea feels more intimate; D1 has the special dining area. Recently United opened a dining area within Polaris at EWR Terminal C which feels like a knock-off of the D1 brasserie.
lol no. AA doesn’t allow J passengers into Flagship F check-in, which is actually not as good as DL One Check-in, as AA does not have a dedicated TSA Lounge. And alcohol selection aside, the DL One Lounge is vastly superior to AA Greenwich Lounge
Uh no D1 lounge is much better than the AA lounges. I have flown them both not even close.
"Most premium" and Delta's ancient 757-200 with circa 2009 seats in Delta One — yeah. No. Marketing copy is doing a lot of heavy lifting there.
this is hands and shoulders better than any domestic configuration. I HATE having to drive up to LA so this is a major win.
Ben is using "most premium" there in the context of number of premium vs. economy seats, not in terms of product quality.
This blogger doesn’t even know that Delta offers lie flat seats out of Seattle on their mid morning flight. Obviously he doesn’t do his research.
I'm not a big Delta person, so may not be up to date, but remember also lie-flat DL flights to JFK from SLC, LAS and PHX (?) in recent years.
But a key difference is that they were marketed as domestic F, not flagship transcon or whatever the name is.
@Dave Actually, Ben is one of the better bloggers out there. He is much better than TPG. At least, Ben tries his best to acknowledge any mistakes he made. I remember when Ben wrote that Starlux was the first airline from Taiwan to offer first class but I pointed out that was not true. BR and CI had first class many years ago and it was a separate cabin unlike what Starlux has now with...
@Dave Actually, Ben is one of the better bloggers out there. He is much better than TPG. At least, Ben tries his best to acknowledge any mistakes he made. I remember when Ben wrote that Starlux was the first airline from Taiwan to offer first class but I pointed out that was not true. BR and CI had first class many years ago and it was a separate cabin unlike what Starlux has now with its configuration. He updated that article unlike TPG which still has Starlux as the first airline from Taiwan to offer first class. Ben does his best to recognize errors whereas TPG is only in it for the money.
@ Dave Stafford -- It's about Delta One branding, which isn't available on any New York to Seattle flights.
Ben, I’m seeing D1-marketed flights on SEA-JFK certain Saturday mornings this July-August (2026), which, is very interesting to me (it’s also on 75S with the 2-2 lie-flat). Wonder if those passengers get D1 lounge access at both JFK/SEA.
Dave, if that’s really even your name, you realize those 75S with lie-flat to/from SEA are seasonal and rare, usually to JFK; sometimes DL operates a 767, 330, even 350 to ATL; similar oddities happen from SLC, MSP, and other hubs. Even randos like FLL, MCO, CVG gets an occasional 767 to ATL.
2x2. No thanks.
Better. Than. A. Recliner. Dawg.
But not better than AA's A321XLR with lie flat, all aisle access in J.
American’s 321 XLR will probably not be able to operate SNA-JFK based on the configuration being too heavy. Delta is launching this route because they know that AA will have to either downgauge it to a MAX with an oasis product or discontinue all together.
its been already said that they're replacing the flight with the a321xlr. if American can do that delta will immediately change this to their Neo once certified to compete
If they use the 321xlr they will probably block off seats. DL will also probably be blocking off seats with their 757-200 on this route also for sna-jfk. The other way shouldn't be a issue at all
Fuel consumption from SNA to JFK is substantially less. No need for full gas tanks. T/O might well be 20k or so pounds lighter. Balanced field at that weight might be doable.