Luxury at LAX? How Delta is going after the high-end market

Los Angeles Times

20-03-2025

Tucked away from heavy foot traffic and noisy crowds, the Delta One Lounge at Los Angeles International Airport offers a different kind of travel experience.
Customers can enjoy hot towels, zero-gravity massage chairs and caviar-topped ice cream while waiting to board their flights. They also have access to private security lanes and baggage check, eliminating the need to wait in lines.
The lounge opened in October and is part of Delta Airline's most premium offering, an airport and in-flight experience known as Delta One.
Available on several international routes and from Los Angeles to New York and Boston, a Delta One ticket comes with exclusive lounge access, and while in flight, memory foam lay-flat seats and privacy doors (food and drinks in the lounge are included, except for a few premium beverages).
'Customers in general are moving towards premium in booking,' said Ekrem Dimbiloglu, Delta's managing director of onboard strategy and experience. 'The investment in Delta One attracts loyalty. We want to make sure that we are the brand that customers see as the premium airline.'
As airlines look to capitalize on the return to travel after the pandemic emergency, Delta and other carriers are leaning into high-end amenities such as luxury lounges that offer fine dining and wellness areas. The goal is to give people more incentive to fly — and to boost profit margins that have been squeezed by higher fuel and labor costs.
Luxury lounges such as Delta One are popping up at airports around the world, including at LAX, which is attempting to rebuild its image as a desirable travel hub. The British carrier Virgin Atlantic is opening a new clubhouse at LAX this month, available to customers who purchase a premium ticket or are part of the airline's Gold Tier loyalty program, according to a spokesperson.
'There's a lot of data crunching behind the scenes to make sure that this works,' said Alan Fyall, associate dean of academic affairs at the University of Central Florida's Rosen College of Hospitality Management. 'These offers are really important for their bottom line.'
Delta reported a record operating profit of $1.7 billion in the fourth quarter, but, like other airlines, has faced economic headswinds more recently.
Last week, Delta shares fell after the Atlanta-based airline cut its first-quarter profit estimates by half, citing uncertainty in the U.S. economy and the effect on travel.
Delta's stock rose 4% on Wednesday to $47.75 a share, but has fallen 19% this year.
Since 2017, Delta has invested $2.3 billion to redevelop Terminal 3 at LAX, including the construction of the 10,000-square-foot Delta One Lounge and 30,000-square-foot Delta Sky Club.
Company executives did not disclose how much they spent developing the Delta One product, but said they plan to reinvest $5 billion in 2025 toward technology and facilities that support Delta One and other products worldwide.
For Delta, the luxury offerings are a high-margin business, catering to wealthy individuals including athletes, celebrities and executives who might otherwise take a privately charted flight.
A one-way Delta One ticket from LAX to JFK on March 21 costs between $2,500 and $3,000. Delta has offered four tiers of seating since 2015: Main Cabin, Delta Comfort Plus, First Class and Delta One.
'It may mystify some people, but there is such demand for these sorts of things,' Fyall said. 'People want the ease, they want the comfort and the luxury.'
International airlines such as Qatar Airways and Singapore Airlines have been offering luxury experiences for much longer, said Savanthi Syth, managing director of global airlines and advanced air mobility at financial services company Raymond James. Virgin Atlantic offers an 'upper class' product that includes an in-flight bar area, and Emirates' highest class boasts showers on board.
Delta One and United's premium offering Polaris are signs that U.S. airlines are catching up with their own premium products, Syth said, which also reflects a growing demand.
'The trend that you've seen is people wanting to pay up for a better experience,' Syth said. 'You saw that pre-COVID in 2019, and it really strengthened post-COVID.'
Like Delta One, United Polaris comes with an exclusive lounge and lay-flat seats, but does not include private security screening. A Polaris ticket includes priority boarding and baggage check, onboard amenities from Therabody and Saks Fifth Avenue and in-lounge shower suites, said United spokesperson Anoushah Rasta.
At LAX in 2024, Delta was the No. 1 carrier in terms of passengers and revenue related operations. Delta's renovated Terminal 3 handles 161 daily flights to over 60 destinations, said Scott Santoro, vice president of Delta for Los Angeles and the airline's Sales-West operation.
'The premium Delta One experience and the guest hospitality that we offer drives people to travel,' Santoro said.
Even budget airlines are attempting to cater to high-end preferences, including Spirit, which unveiled an in-flight first class option in August. But airlines across the spectrum of luxury can't forget about budget travelers, Fyall said.
'Part of the challenge is that you don't want to alienate everybody else in the cheaper seats,' he said. 'You want to offer the premium end but you don't want to rub it in people's faces.'