Comments

1. Yaasss!! @Tim Dunn, it’s happening! Keep Climbing!!

2. it was bound to happen.

   and it is certain that dates for the other 3 hubs will be announced soon. DL was never going to allow other interior US hubs (DTW, MSP or SLC) to have an announcement for D1 lounges before ATL.

3. @Tim Dunn — It’ll be worth the wait. Was seriously questioning why ATL wasn’t in the queue. Now, we’re getting some answers! I’ll say, I wish I was Delta 360° (for many reasons) namely so that I could access these incredible DeltaOne lounges more regularly. So far, I’ve been to the ones at JFK and LAX several times, and they’re honestly the best lounges in the country at the moment (yup, better than any Polaris, Flagship, etc.) Second place may be BA/AA’s Chelsea lounge at JFK T8 (but it doesn’t have the views.) Haven’t made it to DeltaOne at BOS yet, but I’ll go out of my way to try it, soon enough. And, DL says ‘summer 2025’ for SEA’s new DeltaOne (was supposed to be open by now.) That’s wise of them to compete ‘harder’ there, because it’s Alaska/Hawaii’s hub; just wish they still flew the 757 with lie-flat from JFK-SEA, because now it’s just a321neos (which are ‘nice,’ but recliner-only).

4. Delta again showing that DL hub captives with fewer competing long-haul airlines serving the airport are captured because DL faces so little long-haul flight competition at them that they can hold back on investments like this.

5. 2028 is laughable. I mean, you can build an entire block of houses and get landscaping done in 6 months.

6. Minos and GU,
   now try doing what you suggest in downtown Manhattan. ATL is the equivalent of Manhattan for real estate purposes.
   The airport concourses are simply built out and there is no easy way to structurally add to them.

   1990
   there are some that say the current SkyClub on E will be converted to the D1 lounge. If true, then I expect that DL will add two new SkyClubs on each wing of the E concourse; they are not going to close all SkyClubs on E.
   It is possible that DL will buyout the leases on some retail stores on E in order to build new SkyClubs or wait until those leases expire.

   let’s still keep in mind that SkyClubs have long been considered higher quality than AA or UA’s standard lounges and DL will manage to get up to 8 D1 lounges opened over 4 years – and match or exceed whatever AA or UA offer.

7. @GUWonder — Yeah, the airline made a strategic decision to invest where there is real competition first (NYC, LAX, BOS, and soon SEA). If we’re going with +70% to define ‘fortress’ hubs, then, sure, DL at ATL/DTW/SLC/MSP, AA at DFW/CLT/PHL, and UA at IAH/IAD/EWR, are less ‘strategic,’ but still, they gotta keep folks happy, so I’m glad they’re ‘getting it done,’ eventually. Likewise, American’s new Flagship at PHL is another example of how an airlines still needs to invest and improve, even if the customers there are somewhat ‘captive.’

8. @Tim Dunn — These are healthy improvements, all-around. I look at it like I would a home renovation; sometimes, you need a fresh coat of paint; other times, a new kitchen or bathroom; then, there’s the ‘gut job,’ where you take it ‘down to the studs,’ and for some of these lounges, all airlines, they need a complete redo. Delta’s standard SkyClubs have been superior; these new Delta One lounges ‘kick it up a notch’ as Emeril would say. Bam!

9. LOL more vapor ware from Delta

   3 years from now…and 12 years from when the first Polaris lounges opened in core hubs

10. @Greg — Oh, so Polaris is getting old… maybe time for a refresh there, too. (Just sayin’, dawg.)

11. 1990, Looking at the already ongoing and, in some cases, already refreshed Polaris clubs before statements like that.

12. “ATL is the equivalent of Manhattan for real estate purposes.”

    lol. sure… ATL is definitely not anything like Manhattan for real estate purposes.

13. @Julie — I have. And I stand by what I said. Let’s take Newark for example. It’s a nice one. Good views. Dining area. Nice showers. Sleeping area. It’s one of the better ones. Still, I’d take DeltaOne at JFK over that, any day.

    As for Tim’s real estate humor, I’d say the main difference between NYC and ATL is that up here we call it a ‘co-op,’ but down there, it’s often a ‘condo.’ Bah!

14. 1990, except that he was comparing the ATL airport to the manhattan real estate market, not condo naming conventions

15. @Julie — And the point was that it’s a metaphor, not ‘too serious,’ yet I still think it’s applicable, because major airports, like ATL, JFK, LAX, even MIA, are all space-constrained. Of course, we can get creative with this, like what they did recently at LGA, complete rebuild. I doubt that for ATL, but should be interesting whatever they do for this new DeltaOne lounge there.

16. Surprised DTW isn’t faster, they built a new lounge across from the main lounge and opened it a year ago.