Future Delta One lounges, the next Sky Club and more about Delta's plans for premium

15.10.2024 - 16:57 / thepointsguy.com / John F.Kennedy / Delta I (I) / Claude Roussel

Delta Air Lines officially has two business-class-only lounges open after cutting the ribbon last week on its dazzling 10,000-square-foot Delta One Lounge inside Terminal 3 at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).

The exclusive space features cocktails and meals based on Delta's far-flung LAX destinations, plus 100% table service and a wellness spa with massage and zero-gravity chairs.

The grand opening of Delta's high-end LAX lounge came just over three months after the Atlanta-based carrier debuted the concept on the East Coast at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK).

With both facilities now open, you could easily eat breakfast at the JFK Delta One Lounge, fly transcontinental in a Delta One Suite, then sit down for a high-end lunch at the LAX outpost.

But Delta has even bigger plans for the concept.

In December, the carrier plans to unveil a third Delta One Lounge at Boston Logan International Airport (BOS). Its fourth, under construction at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA), is on pace for an early 2025 opening, executives said late last week.

After Seattle, Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC) would be next, leaders say.

Beyond that?

"Then we have to look further down the line," said Claude Roussel, Delta's vice president of Sky Clubs and lounge experience, speaking to TPG from the LAX lounge this past week.

What about Atlanta? After all, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) is Delta's home turf and its biggest hub — not to mention the world's busiest airport.

"We're looking," Roussel said. "Atlanta is also on the drawing board."

But, no concrete plans as of now.

Less likely, it seems, is the possibility that Delta might deploy this particular lounge concept overseas.

"I don't believe so," Roussel said of that notion, pointing to the lounges offered by other SkyTeam alliance carriers, which are available to high-end Delta flyers.

"We've got great partners — Virgin Atlantic, Air France, KLM, LATAM," Roussel said. "We let those partners work on their own turf, which they know. And we focus on the U.S."

Delta operates just one Sky Club outside the U.S., at Tokyo's Haneda Airport (HND).

Speaking of traditional Sky Clubs, we're just several weeks away from the opening of Delta's next one — in competitor territory, no less.

As TPG reported last year, the airline is planning its first lounge for Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT).

That facility, Roussel said, is on track to open sometime in December.

Charlotte is a fortress hub for American Airlines. It's worth noting, though, that Delta is set to fly 8% more seats from Charlotte this year than it did in 2023, according to data from aviation analytics firm Cirium.

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