Ben Bearup@TheAviationBeat
I have flown United and Delta a half dozen times each in the past 6 months.
It is my view that United has passed Delta as the America’s premium airline. And the gap continues to grow.
United’s product, aircraft interiors, mobile app, WiFi (Starlink is much better than Viasat) and network are simply better than what Delta has to offer.
This was not the case 5 years ago.
Scott Kirby took a gamble post-Covid to go big on CapEx spending to turn United into a more premium airline. This meant new interiors on hundreds of aircraft, Starlink WiFi, rapid fleet growth, and a major expansion of their network.
Delta chose to play it more conservative and pay off Covid-era debt quickly on their balance sheet. This was a safer (and from a shareholder perspective arguably smarter) decision to take during a time of great uncertainty. This decision, however, shows in a Delta product that is starting to lag behind.
(I say this as a lifetime Delta loyalist)