Delta Air Lines has all but officially confirmed that it will introduce “basic” business class fares that will unbundle premium cabin tickets. However, what that product will look like and whether it will go over with its most important customers remains an unanswered question.

Delta’s Bold Plan To Unbundle Business Class

During the Q2 investor call yesterday, CNBC reporter Leslie Josephs asked about whether a basic business class was coming soon to Delta Air Lines:

“Just curious on the segmentation at the front of the plane. Is that something that you plan to roll out in 2025 or 2026? And would it look something more like a basic business where you the customer doesn’t have a seat assignment or something like that? Or do you plan to have kind of a fancier or more desirable seat within Delta One or one of the other first class cabins?”

Delta President Glen Hauenstein responded:

“I think we’re gonna reserve comments on that until we roll it out. I think we’re testing it with customers today, and we’re doing a lot of surveys. And we haven’t rolled it out yet, not because we don’t have the technological capability, but we wanna make sure that customers understand what we’re putting in market and that they find value in it.”

Josephs pushed Hauenstein for more info:

“Could you tell us what you’re testing exactly currently?”

Hauenstein was not willing to say anything more:

“No. No. We can’t. But thank you for the question.”

That question was not without context. Last year (during the Q2 2024 earnings calls), JP Morgan Analyst Jamie Baker asked:

“This concept of unbundling the front cabin is one that I’ve been thinking about in part because unbundling and segmenting the rear cabin has been such a success for Delta and a few others. I want to be careful about asking about future pricing and all that, but I’m curious what the pros and cons are in terms of possibly going down this path, or is one price for all how we should continue to think about the D1 cabin?”

Hauenstein responded:

“We’ve talked conceptually about that. I think we’ll be giving you more details as we go, but we’re not ready to talk about the details of those plans moving forward.”

> Read More: Delta Plans To Unbundle Business Class…Will American + United Follow?

What Could Basic Business Class Look Like?

One Mile At A Time thinks that unbundling will be focused on domestic first class fares and a roundabout way of re-introducing change fees by limiting changes on the cheapest premium cabin tickets.

I hate the thought of that…the lack of change fees has revolutionized the way I book travel. But I also think he’s right…and unfortunately, Delta and others will follow.

But I also think that we could see an international Delta One basic fare that might resemble the way Qatar Airways sells “basic” tickets, including:

• restrictive change fees
• no lounge access
• no advance seat assignment
• limited mileage earning

I do think is “penny wise, pound foolish” to sell a $5,000 seat and then ask for another $200 each way for a seat assignment or lounge access, but this is not about my (consumer-driven) preference but more about what the market will bear.

Will people gripe? Of course. Will they still buy Delta One tickets? Of course.

And we’re seeing an increasing spread between basic economy and regular economy tickets. We might well see the same thing with premium cabins. Delta would spin this as an antidote to inflation: rather than raising prices, it is just unbundling.

That greed is not appreciated, yet it is understandably driven by a goal of maximizing shareholder return.

And let me put it this way: if suckers continue to rack up spending on SkyMiles co-branded credit cards instead of far wiser cashback or flexible currency alternatives, they won’t hesitate to pay more for business class tickets.

Other Carriers Will Follow

When I asked Andrew Nocella, the Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer of United Airlines, about basic business class he readily admitted that United is carefully studying it and suggested that it was only a matter of time before United introduced this too.

I’m certain American Airlines would follow and probably Alaska Airlines too.

Delta is the industry bellwether and other carriers will try to mimic its success.

CONCLUSION

Delta Air Lines is moving closer to unbundling its premium cabin tickets with “basic” fares. While I may be personally opposed to such nickel and diming, my prediction is that Delta is probably going to get away with it and others will match.

No one really thought that airlines were serious when they said, “Change fees are gone forever.” Soon enough, that will likely impact premium cabin tickets too, as is already true in many markets outside the USA.

image: Delta Air Lines