Delta CEO Says His Airline Belongs With Emirates And Singapore. That’s Silly, Because The Carrier Is Getting Worse

Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian wants his airline mentioned in the same breath as Singapore Airlines and the best carriers in Asia and the Middle East. That’s ridiculous. Delta has a brand, but product consistency and service still fall short and once-vaunted reliabiltiy has faltered.

On Scott McCartney’s Airlines Confidential podcast, Bastian laid out this ambition:

I like to think of Delta as a leader in the U.S. travel industry, but when people talk about who are the global leaders, I want to make sure Delta is on the tip of their tongue. That’s different for a U.S. carrier. Often, whether it’s the Middle Eastern carriers or the Asian carriers or Singapore or some higher-end premium brands, Delta should be considered in that category.

As the interview ended, aviation consultant Henry Harteveldt nailed the assessment: Delta is a good airline, but it is not a great airline.

• Delta has built a good airline over the last two decades
  
• They may even be 70% as good as they think they are
  
• But Delta’s achilles heel is also what’s help lift them – their claims always outstrip reality.

Bastian rents out The Sphere in Las Vegas during the Computer Electronics Show to boast of his success, and hires Tom Brady to throw around a football, but his airline has been in meltdown.

Their reliability has fallen apart. They blame their pilot union agreement, but negotiations to fix that have collapsed. Executives warned that troubles would continue through the summer, and they did. They cancelled nearly 3% of their flights in July, which was worse than United and American and even about 2.6 times as many cancellations as Southwest.

Delta has built the strongest airline brand in the United States and one of the industry’s best businesses. It has historically been a little more reliable than its domestic competitors, its employees are often friendlier, its lounges are generally better and American Express sends it more than Chase pays United and than Citi pays American.

Singapore would be a useful standard to chase. Saying they want to offer better service than Spirit did, and have a more reliable operation than JetBlue, would truly be the soft bigotry of low expectations. But even their business class hard product on 767s is among the worst across the Atlantic, and on premium cross-country flights. Claiming to be among the best in the world is almost unwell.

Delta Has Built A Better Brand Than Product

Delta convinced customers that it is the premium U.S. airline even when the measurable differences are often modest. That reputation means consumers want to attach to the brand, which helps them acquire Amex cards. Premium revenue and the co-brand relationship help Delta earn more than peers even where its seats and recently reliability are not better.

Delta’s brand halo often outruns the underlying product. Main cabin legroom is not more generous than its competitors. SkyMiles is not a better loyalty currency. Delta’s app isn’t as good as United’s.

But this is how they promote themselves when announcing new meals, which themselves receive mixed reviews.

“Delta is once again redefining the onboard dining experience with its newest culinary collaboration…”

“Delta is a curator of taste experiences. Just like we lead in operational reliability, we are on the leading edge of culinary innovation — offering delicious meals that build a sense of connection to the world we serve while reflecting culture, craft and care.”

“Delta has been quietly transforming its in-flight dining into something that feels more like a restaurant experience than any other, standard airplane meal — not just serving meals but serving moments.”

“Delta’s culinary strategy isn’t just about providing sustenance — it’s about delighting customers. By partnering with chefs like Andrés, the airline is doubling down on its identity as a premium lifestyle brand with purpose.”

“These new offerings are more than just meals — they’re a celebration of flavor, culinary excellence and storytelling, which is something Delta is increasingly weaving into its onboard experience.”

Delta’s food isn’t nearly as good as Alaska’s, and even lags American in my view.

Singapore’s Advantage Is Consistency And Detail

Singapore Airlines doesn’t have the world’s best business class seat. On some aircraft, it can be awkward for lounging and require sleeping at an angle. Qatar Airways Qsuite is better in business. Emirates newer 777 first probably beats Singapore’s A380 Suite.

Yet Singapore’s reputation is not built around just a seat. Their polished cabin crews, incredible catering, disciplined training and service routines and small touches show up even in economy. It’s the thoughtfulness behind the cup holders, foot bars, pillows and blankets in coach.

Before the pandemic Delta really was on a path towards premium, rolling out coursed meals, welcome drinks, and hot towels in economy. That’s long since been abandoned.

Singapore built a model Airbus A380 using manila envelopes and the seats inside the plane even reclined. Dig beneath the surface and all the hidden details get attention. Tag line: “It’s the small details that make giants in the sky.”

It’s an ethic that was emphasized in the Walter Isaacson biography of Steve Jobs, a belief (probably imbued as a young child by his father) that the internal workings nobody sees have to be just as high quality as everything on the surface. It’s no wonder that both Singapore Airlines and Apple are iconic brands.

After declaring the difference between first class (where you pay extra for a specific quality) and world class (where everything is quality), Singapore’s marketing declares “Welcome to World Class” and they don’t show their Suites as emblematic of what that means. Instead they present a flight attendant standing in the aisle of economy. It’s their people and they are proud of their entire product. Delta could never credibly make this claim.

Delta is still very good at selling an identity, but Henry Harteveldt offers this trenchant critique:

Delta is not the airline it was pre-COVID. He keeps saying Delta is great. Sorry. Delta is a good airline, but it is not a great airline. Its reliability has suffered. He did acknowledge that on-time is not where it once was. Again, there’s been bad weather, and some of that’s outside Delta’s control, but there’s some labor stress with the pilots.

Ed did say they want to fly more long haul directly. I think they’ve relied on their foreign partners far too much. American is also guilty of that, but the hard and soft product at Delta are stale. The soft product is frankly inferior to what its top competitors do. So I’m hoping Delta is going to restore some of the magic there. At one point Delta really was a marketing machine. It’s not quite that these days. We’ll see what happens.

What Delta Would Have To Do To Earn The Comparison

Delta has a long way to go to be a real premium global carrier. If they were serious we’d see them”

• Retire or comprehensively replace the worst 767 business-class products faster.
• Make the soft product—food, bedding, service pacing and recovery—consistently excellent, not merely acceptable.
• Give economy passengers the same attention to small details that supports Singapore’s reputation.
• Restore operational reliability to a level where “the Delta difference” is observable, not remembered.
• Offer a stronger SkyMiles value proposition.

Delta’s problem has been that they somehow believed their own marketing hype, ‘got high on their own supply’ and let the underlying product deteriorate. They lost their operations guru Gil West. They lost the real brains behind the operation Glen Hauenstein. And they aren’t the ariline they were on the verge of becoming in 2019.