Delta Air Lines, one of the world’s largest airlines, today debuted the first business class suite with a door flying between Australia and the United States with the launch of its upgraded Boeing 777 aircraft on Delta’s daily Sydney-Los Angeles flight.

The upgraded Boeing 777 brings more luxury, comfort and choice to the Australian skies and gives customers the ability to create the travel experience they want. The aircraft features:

• All four branded seat products offered by Delta – including Delta One Suites, Delta Premium Select, Delta Comfort+ and Main Cabin – giving customers the ability to choose the product that best suits their needs and aligning with partner Virgin Australia’s offerings.
• The Crystal Cabin Award-Winning Delta One suite – the first business class suite with a door available between Australia and the United States.
• Delta Premium Select, the airline’s new premium economy cabin offering greater recline, a foot and leg rest and elevated onboard service.
• Nine-abreast seating, rather than the industry-standard ten-abreast seating, with 47 cm wide Main Cabin seats, the widest Main Cabin seats of Delta's international fleet
• Seat-back entertainment screens at every seat with access to Delta Studio, the airline’s award-winning suite of onboard entertainment.
• State-of-the-art interior with full-spectrum LED ambient lighting, Gogo Ku Wi-Fi connectivity, free mobile messaging and power ports available at every seat.
• Photos, video and more information on Delta’s upgraded Boeing 777 fleet are available here: https://news.delta.com/delta-emphasizes-customer-comfort-first-refreshed-777-200er

“Ten years since the launch of our service to Los Angeles, we’re upgrading the customer experience in a big way with our Boeing 777 aircraft and the Australia-U.S. debut of the award-winning Delta One suite,” said Scott Santoro, Delta’s Vice President – Los Angeles and West Sales, whose responsibilities include oversight of Delta’s business in Australia. “Along with the suite, we’ve invested throughout the aircraft with the addition of Delta Premium Select and our commitment to offer nine-abreast seating in Main Cabin, so our customers will have a great experience no matter which product they choose.”

The Delta One suite features a full-height sliding door at every suite, with sliding privacy dividers between centre suites, 180-degree flat-bed seats, customisable ambient lighting, and a high-resolution in-flight entertainment screen. Customers seated in Delta Premium Select will benefit from dedicated service, additional space with retractable foot and leg rests, seat-back in-flight entertainment, plated meals and distinguished amenities like LSTN noise-cancelling headphones and a TUMI amenity kit.

Investing in the customer experience in Australia and beyond

The Boeing 777 upgrade is the latest enhancement on the Sydney-Los Angeles route as part of Delta’s multi-billion dollar investment in the overall customer experience. In 2018, Delta launched meals curated by celebrated Los Angeles chefs Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo in the Delta One cabin after customer satisfaction scores skyrocketed in response to their menus on the LAX-JFK route. Highlights from the upcoming menu launching June 1 for the U.S. summer season include marinara braised meatballs with Bianco DiNapoli tomato, garlic bread, and Gioia ricotta; pan seared chicken thigh with arrabiata sauce and Thao’s Farm broccolini; marinated shrimp with Anson Mills polenta; and three cheese lasagna with pomodoro.

In the past several years, the airline has made significant enhancements to the customer experience across its network, including:

• Free mobile messaging, free in-flight entertainment, and access to Wi-Fi on nearly all flights
• Free Main Cabin meals on select coast-to-coast routes in the U.S.
• Upgraded Main Cabin snacks and refreshed Flight Fuel food-for-purchase options on certain U.S. routes
• The addition of sparkling wine in Main Cabin
• Enhanced blankets in Main Cabin
• Refreshed TUMI amenity kits with Kiehl's products and an Alessi-designed collection of serviceware in Delta One

Delta’s service in Australia and joint venture partnership with Virgin Australia

Delta launched its flight between Sydney and Los Angeles in 2009 and will celebrate the 10^th anniversary of its service this year. Delta and Virgin Australia began partnering in 2011. Together, Delta and Virgin Australia have served more than 5 million customers on the route with a shared vision of excellence in customer service and the customer experience. Delta’s upgraded 777 aircraft means that the Delta and Virgin Australia joint venture offers a more consistent customer experience, with fully flat-bed seats with direct aisle access available on all flights across the Pacific as well as a premium economy option, an economy comfort product with more legroom, and nine-abreast seating in main cabin.

Delta and Virgin Australia offer 25 weekly flights between Australia and the US and the ability to connect from more than 45 destinations across Australia and New Zealand to more than 250 destinations in the Americas. Delta operates a daily non-stop flight between Sydney and LAX and offers customers service from Melbourne and Brisbane to LAX through its Virgin Australia partnership.

At its hub in Los Angeles, Delta has been the fastest-growing carrier since 2009 and operates 170 peak-day flights to 70 destinations. The airline is investing $1.86 billion to build the Delta Sky Way at LAX, which will modernize and upgrade Terminals 2 and 3 at LAX and connect them to the Tom Bradley International Terminal (B). When completed, the modernized facility will offer a convenient bridge connecting Terminals 2, 3, and B on the secure side of the airport, as well as a dedicated baggage recheck and security checkpoint for seamless connection of international to domestic transfers, enabling significantly faster connections to Delta and partner flights. The facility will also offer more security screening capacity with automated security lanes, more gate-area seating, more access to power in gate areas, a world-class concession program in partnership with Westfield Corporation, a Delta ONE at LAX check-in space, new Delta Sky Club; and an integrated in-line baggage system, among other features.