Delta unveils new Sky Club in Charlotte, a fortress hub for American

18.12.2024 - 13:51 / thepointsguy.com / John F.Kennedy

Delta Air Lines is hardly the first carrier that comes to mind when you think of Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) — a fortress hub for American Airlines.

Sure, Delta is easily Charlotte's second-place carrier — but it's a distant, distant second.

Yet, the Atlanta-based carrier is making inroads at the southeast hub, nonetheless.

This fall, it gained more than a half-dozen new gates when the airport opened a new, $241 million section of its A concourse.

This year, Delta's planes will depart CLT with about 9% more seats than they did a year ago.

And on Wednesday, just ahead of the holidays, the airline will cut the wrapping paper off a brand-new Sky Club at the airport, raising its game as an upstart competitor on prime "enemy turf."

To reach Delta's new Charlotte Sky Club, you'll first have to make the lengthy trek to the airport's farthest-out, highest-numbered A gates. It's worth the hike: This all-new section of the terminal is far more spacious, modern and serene than any other concourse you'll find at CLT.

Near gate A32, you'll take an escalator up to the second-floor mezzanine to reach the lounge entrance.

Inside, you'll find a beautiful new outpost complete with all of the dining, drinking, sitting and working amenities you'd expect in a state-of-the-art Sky Club.

For some context, at 14,000 square feet, Delta's Charlotte club is roughly the size of the Terminal 4 A gates space it opened last year at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK). However, it's a good bit smaller than some of the other recently opened lounges in its network, such as the Sky Club it opened in 2023 at its Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport (MSP) hub.

Walk into the space and you'll be greeted with a familiar Sky Club entryway look and scent, along with the standard check-in kiosks and customer service desk.

This lounge has 246 seats, more than a dozen of which you'll see as you proceed down a hallway lined with artwork on one side and large windows offering a glimpse of the terminal on the other.

Throughout, this Sky Club invokes the influence of "Queen City" — the nickname of the city of Charlotte, named for Queen Charlotte— displayed through artwork, wallpaper and other design touches.

"We believe it's designed for the Queen City with a neoclassic look and feel," said Tim Genovese, Delta Sky Clubs operations director, speaking to TPG ahead of the opening.

There's also plenty of greenery, Genovese noted, drawing on Charlotte's renowned green spaces.

So often, the centerpiece of a good airport lounge is an eye-catching bar, and that's certainly the case here, with a white marble bar top accented by floral designs — both on the bar back and high above the brown leather seats.

The bar