DELTA AIR LINES Business Class Seat reviews

TLV-ATL. The seat doesn't recline so far back and the sleeping position was barely flat. Service was nice and food satisfactory. IFE Screen too small for Business Class.

The new business elite ATL-LHR is a vast improvement over the existing product offered on the 767 aircraft. The seating configuration is 1-2-1 with a completely lie flat bed. I hope that they roll out this configuration on all of the 767 aircraft.

The new seats in business class are among the worst business class seats available for tall men (6" 2" and taller and weighing 225 or more), because of the narrowness of the seats and the restrictiveness of movement when the seat is fully reclined. In addition, the lack of space around the seat when not sleeping precludes putting a computer bag or other briefcase on the floor for easy access as you work. You must keep the bag in the overhead luggage area, thereby necessitating getting up every time you need something from the bag. The narrowness of the space where one gets in and out of the seat makes numerous moves to retrieve materials from the luggage area quite inconvenient. The seats are truly dysfunctional. In addition you do not have full control over movement of the various parts of the seat. The seat as a whole tends to move to different configurations, rather then allowing the passenger configure the seat to his/her preference.

MAN-ATL in an old 767-300ER in BusinessElite. Unfortunately, Delta's BusinessElite cannot compete with the likes of British Airways or Virgin Atlantic. The seat is at an awkward angle for sleeping causing you to continually slip down, IFE leaves much to be desired. To add insult to injury, the seat is of an inadequate width due to the ridiculous 2-2-2 arrangements of the seats when economy is 2-3-2.

Business Elite has been going slowly downhill for many years and it is a very good thing that the current product is being phased out. The Business Elite cabin of the 767 is just about the worst possible transatlantic business class and offers bad value all round. The seats at a width of 18.5" are barely acceptable for economy class and the 2-2-2 configuration is a big DL mistake. There is not enough shoulder room and the space between seats is inadequate since there is not enough room for two drinks to co-exist on the mini table between the seats. It is unfortunate that DL chose to redeploy the 777-200 on other routes leaving no choice for LGW/LHR. Skyteam members did have the option of booking award seats on VS or earning miles on CO with a better than DL Business First service on the 777 to Newark, however with CO pulling out of the alliance this will no longer be possible.

JFK to Bombay and back recently. It was my first experience with the 180 degree lie flat seats. The seat lies flat and sort of connects with this little ledge across from you so that it provides a 180 degree flat bed. The flight was about 15 hours long, but the food and entertainment were top notch, so time was not an issue. In fact, I was waiting for the return flight to catch up on some of the movies I had missed on the first round.. Service was also very attentive and friendly. I was travelling alone, so the relative privacy of the pods was not an issue, however for couples etc. there is no possibility of interaction unless you get up and walk right up to your companion. The take off and landing experience take some getting used to because you are angled slightly away from the straight axis of the plane. Comparing Air Canada and Delta, I must say that the AC cabin seems a bit crowded with a lot more of the pods and Delta seems a bit more exclusive.

BusinessElite Class Prague to Atlanta on 767-300. Old plane and uncomfortable for the 10.5 hour trip. Seats are narrower than A320 coach seats used for Business Class if you can believe that! Sat in the Bulkhead center aisle seat E1, not recommended. The wall restricts leg room and space especially in the recline position my feet hit and were up against the wall (I'm 6'2", 188cm). Service was awful and menu sounded in print a lot better than it turned out to be. Very tiny screen, entertainment and movie selection was extremely poor and disappointing so I didn't watch anything. Inferior Business Class product compared to most carriers. I will avoid flying Delta at all costs from now on!

I used miles to upgrade to business elite on a flight from Cape Town to JFK via Dakar at the end of September. I was certainly more comfortable than in economy but disappointed in the rather old, shabby, lumpy seat which didn't fully recline or function optimally. There was no privacy whatsoever from my neighbor. Service was attentive but food ordinary.

I recently flew in the reconfigured 757 Business Elite from Cincinnati to Amsterdam. I have to say, very sad that Delta has resorted to flying a 757 on an eight hour flight. Overall, the seats were nice and pitch was sufficient. Sleeping can get a little uncomfortable because you will have to somewhat curl up since the footrest isn't quite long enough. The seats themselves are nice for sitting and watching a movie . It's nice to have the electronic controls and lumbar support, but accessing the controls which are on the armrest can get a little annoying.

Although the seat itself is better than the old 767 seats there is a lot to be desired. If you are traveling by yourself you will love this seat. Due to the angled placement of the seats it is impossible to talk to anyone else in any other seats. Delta suggests across the aisle, however you're ten (10) feet away from your seatmate. If you sit beside each other in the center section there is a privacy screen which prevents conversation. Yelling across the aisle is the only option. TV screen, while quite large, folds out of its holder next to you and goes away from you. It is so far away when it is in the viewing position that it might as well be a 7" screen. The armrest, which is circular at the front of the seat and makes a shelf for drinks, extends back too far into the seat and cuts down the seat width when in the full recline position. It hits right in your side and could be eliminated. When fully flat, the seat is somewhat confining as there are walls on both sides which extend up about 24 inches. Additionally, when fully flat your feet are supposed to go into a cubbyhole or compartment at the end of the seat. The biggest problem I had was that there was not enough room for both feet to fit into the cubbyhole as it is only about 12" wide, about half the size of the seat. This was very disturbing when trying to sleep. On the plus side, the seat is comfortable in the sitting position and not too bad for sleeping if you don't recline it fully flat. Eating is OK, the tray comes out of the side of the seat and is in the correct position for eating. However, unlike Virgin, the footrest can not tbe used as a seat so you cannot have a companion eat with you. I really think Delta could have done a lot better with this new seat.

180 degree lie-flat seats with AVOD in a "fishbone-style" configuration. This arrangement gives access to the aisle and privacy, but it would be difficult to travel with a companion. Also, window access is nearly impossible even for those with window seats, as the "shell" of the seats largely obscures the windows and the seats are angled towards the aisle. As for the seat itself, the 180 degree lie flat bed is comfortable. Although it does taper toward the feet, I found it easy to find a good sleeping position for my 6'1" frame. For upright sitting, the seat is much less impressive, largely due to the stark flatness of the cushions as required for the comfortable sleeping position. Though the malleable cushions do a fairly good job at adapting to body shape, the sensation is reminiscent of the vinyl-clad rear-seat benches on 1970s American made vehicles. I found the crease between the headrest and mid-section cushion especially annoying, as it was around the level of my shoulder blades and therefore highly perceptible. The comfort level improved considerably when adding a pillow behind my back, and the footrest "mini-seat" is great for stretching out one's legs when the seat is in slightly reclined. In short, for sitting/relaxing the seat is tolerable but disappointing.

Recently flew on the new B777-200LR in Business Class. The angled configuration is a horrible idea. I could not talk to my wife without getting out of the seat. The seats were designed for very thin and small people. If you do not fit into the 1.7m (5'7") or smaller range, be prepared for a very uncomfortable trip. The service rates just as poor as this configuration and seat.

ATH-JFK. I have traveled on Delta's Business Elite extensively, and their seats, are not up to standard with the bigger European carriers. They really need to do something about that menu. They keep re-cycling the same old menus. On this particular trip, I had the steak, again, but it was like rubber. I have to hand it to the crew though, because they go through a very extensive service. Overall, it is the better choice out of Athens to JFK as compared to Olympic.

 
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