June 6, 2006
On the Road
A Quick Run to Kiev, and Delta Gets It Right
By JOE SHARKEY
KIEV, Ukraine
YOU'RE where?" my friend asked.
"Kiev"
"What are you doing in Kiev?"
"Trying out a new business-class service on Delta. I left New York last night, got to Kiev this afternoon, and fly back home tomorrow morning."
My friend replied, "You have very bizarre travel habits."
True. But lots of business travelers put in this kind of grind — and, unlike me, many do it routinely, as business increasingly becomes global, and the time to get it done shrinks.
Last week's column discussed the thriving trans-Atlantic business-class market and the leapfrog competition by airlines to provide more comfortable seats and amenities.
As I noted, American and United airlines are also planning expensive improvements soon in their long-haul business-class cabins, even as brash all-business-class start-ups like Eos and MaxJet nibble away at market share with discount fares and quality service. And British Airways — whose business-class service is already regarded as among the best in the industry — is also planning to announce another major upgrade.
Meanwhile, Delta Air Lines — still operating under bankruptcy protection, though its finances are improving — has added 11 trans-Atlantic routes since March. This week, Delta proclaimed itself the "world's largest airline between the United States and Europe" as measured by destinations served, seat capacity and the number of weekly flights, and it introduced a business-class product on its inaugural flight between Kennedy International Airport and Kiev.
Which explains why I made the jet-lag-inducing quick trip to sample the newest major business-class improvement introduced by a domestic airline since Northwest Airlines — whose major long-haul routes are mostly over the Pacific — began its World Business Class service three years ago featuring lie-flat seats and an all-digital in-flight entertainment system.
My report on Delta's refurbished business-class seats: not bad. Even if they aren't fully horizontal, they are designed well enough that you can sleep comfortably. The new digital in-flight entertainment system? Excellent, though not up to the level yet of luxury business-class in-flight entertainment products like those available on Singapore and Virgin Atlantic. Food? Best in its class, largely thanks to a menu redesign by the celebrity chef Michelle Bernstein.
Delta said its new business-class service is currently available on three 767's, with an additional eight 767's to be refurbished by the end of June. By next summer, the product will be available on the entire wide-body international fleet, including eight 777's and 51 additional 767's.
"What we're doing now is a substantial upgrade, but frankly it's an interim step," said James M. Whitehurst, Delta's chief operating officer. Unlike American and United, "we're not spending over $100 million to upgrade our seats," he said. Instead, the existing seats, with 60 inches of legroom and a wide-angle recline, were redesigned with higher-rising leg-rests and additional cushioning, leather covering and better headrests and tray tables.
Most of the money Delta is spending on the business-class upgrade (he didn't say how much) is on the entertainment system, which Mr. Whitehurst called "completely state of the art." It's Panasonic's eFX digital system, with 20 on-demand movies, 24 channels of television programs, digitally streamed MP3 programs with 1,600 songs that allow you to customize your own playlist, and 12 interactive video games.
The walk-up round-trip business-class fare on the New York-Kiev flight was about $6,200, but Delta also has a 50-day advance purchase fare at about half off what it usually charges on international routes. Corporations that do a lot of business also negotiate much lower fares as well as upgrades, which are also available to loyal customers paying full-fare coach prices or using frequent-flier miles.
"Depending on the market, typically no more than a quarter of the people sitting in the front of the plane paid a full business-class fare," Mr. Whitehurst said.
During my Kiev flight, I am happy to report, the cabin service was superb, as good as any in its class. In recent years, domestic airlines have sharply cut wages and benefits for flight crews, and anybody who's still doing a great job under trying circumstances deserves a pat on the back.
As United States airlines start to rebound, crews like this are part of the reason.
