With Delta’s latest press release in the books, we wonder if the new Delta business suites will chart a new course for the airline.

On April 13, 2026, Delta publicly announced its latest vision for the Delta One cabin. If you follow those with insider knowledge, you would know this has been on the way for quite some time.

New suites are coming to Delta One on the A350-1000

Delta is taking delivery of 20 new A350-1000 planes. When these planes come into service starting “early 2027”, they will have the new Delta One suite concept installed.

Some of the technical specs of Delta’s new product include:

• 50% premium seat mix on the A350-1000 (including Delta One and Premium Select)
• 24″ monitor at each seat in Delta One on the A350-1000 with 4K resolution
• A flat-bed seat that extends 3 inches longer than their current product (over 6.5 feet in total)
• Pillow-top cushion on top of the memory foam level in the seats
• A cubby area for shoes
• Bluetooth connectivity for pairing headphones
• Wireless and USB-C charging capabilities

The A350-1000 Delta One cabin will be in a reverse-herringbone configuration. Airlines have been tending towards this design to boost privacy since customers face the windows rather than the aisle.

Delta’s announcement photos for the new A350-1000 business suites:

Delta A330s also getting updated cabins

The good news is that Delta isn’t just touching up its new deliveries. On top of its updates to the A350-1000, Delta will also be retrofitting its A330-200 and A330-300 fleets with refreshed cabins. And the good news is that all cabins will be getting updates–not just up in the front.

Delta One will get business suites

Many of the same technical updates that apply to the A350-1000 are also coming to its A330s:

• 24″ monitor at each seat in Delta One on the A350-1000 with 4K resolution
• Pillow-top cushion on top of the memory foam level in the seats
• Bluetooth connectivity for pairing headphones
• Wireless and USB-C charging capabilities

The A330 is narrower than the A350, so it makes sense that some of the same features can’t translate the same way over to the A330. One of the most noticeable differences is that the A330 will not be in a reverse-herringbone configuration. Instead, all seats will face forward.

Delta’s announcement photos for the new A330 business suites:

Both the A350-1000 and A330s will get a self-service area for Delta One customers. If you listen to Delta’s PR on this, it would sound like this is a revolutionary inclusion.

“This snack station gives customers control over their time – small choices like when to grab a snack can feel meaningful,” said Mauricio Parise, vice president of Brand Experience. “We are deliberate about making it easy for customers to get what they need when they need it and offering a flight experience that best meets the needs of each customer. Whether you’re working, traveling with kids or simply awake when others are sleeping — it’s there for you.”

The Premium Select cabin will be refreshed as well

Premium Select is Delta’s premium economy product. You can think of this cabin as mostly equivalent to what Delta considers first class on domestic flights within the United States. This cabin will also be getting some technical improvements:

• Memory foam cushions to help comfort on long-haul flights
• USB-C charging at each seat
• International AC power outlets at each seat
• Seat-back monitors with 4K QLED resolution

These aren’t lie-flat seats, but should be comfortable enough for longer flights.

Delta’s announcement photos for Premium Select on the A330:

New cabin feel will also arrive in Comfort+ and economy

Meanwhile, Comfort+ (which is just economy with extra legroom) and regular economy will get some light touch-ups. The same improvements heading to the Premium Select cabin will come to these cabins as well:

• Memory foam cushions to help comfort on long-haul flights
• USB-C charging at each seat
• International AC power outlets at each seat
• Seat-back monitors with 4K QLED resolution

Delta’s announcement photos for Comfort+ and economy on the A330:

You have to cut through the fat on Delta’s claims about its product

Delta makes a lot of bold claims in its PR releases, including things that make you think it’s the innovative leader. But it’s careful to word them in a way that’s still technically correct. For example:

Delta has long been the leader in elevating the customer experience, introducing the first all-suite business class cabin in 2017. It would be four years before any U.S. carrier followed Delta’s lead with an all-suite business class cabin. Delta continues to lead the industry today with the most suites in the sky of any U.S. airline. The airline anticipates 90% of Delta One seats will be suites with sliding privacy doors by 2030.

Let’s see:

• JetBlue first introduced suites to the U.S. market in 2014. However, this cabin only had 4 seats with doors. The rest were not considered private suites. See why Delta said “all-suite”?
• Singapore Airlines introduced its Suites Class way back in 2007. Hence why Delta focused on the word “business”.
• Qatar Airways’ Qsuites actually beat out Delta. The Qsuites cabin was announced in March 2017 and first went into service June 2017. Delta announced their cabin in August 2016 but went into service October 2017. “Introducing” here can represent the announcement of the cabin. And then notice how they follow it with the qualifier “U.S. carrier” afterwards.

Will this be a game changer?

The cabin finishes look impressive in their photos, but we’ll have to hold our full assessment until after we fly. Based purely on the announcement, we think it’s a nice continuation of what Delta has done with its Delta One cabin. There’s only so much you can do with business class seats, and so that’s why you see airlines focusing on things other than seat comfort (like wireless charging).

Speaking of wireless charging, that never works as promised. Phones move in the air due to turbulence or accidentally bumping them midflight. I get it seems hi-tech, but I feel it doesn’t add much.

I also feel like there’s too much emphasis on having doors on planes. Maybe I’m in the minority, but doors are simply not necessary on a reverse-herringbone configuration. Everyone is already facing away from the aisles, so doors don’t do much at that point. If someone is walking through the aisle, they can easily see into your cabin anyways since the doors don’t extend to the ceiling.

Reverse-herringbone design works well for individuals traveling but not for families

I just want to touch a little more on the topic of reverse-herringbone business class cabins for a moment. They’re great if you’re traveling solo because everyone is facing away from the aisle. But if you are a couple seated in the center seats, it’s actually tough to have a conversation midflight. Maybe you want the alone time to recharge your batteries, but it’s not exactly easy if you need to chat, especially during taxi, takeoff, and landing.

But where this is more of a problem is if you’re traveling with a young child (especially toddler). Young children need tending to on flights. It’s a simple fact. But good luck doing this from the comfort of your seat. You might have a better chance if the child sits in the window seat and you’re right across the aisle. This isn’t just a problem with Delta’s particular setup–it’s a problem with all cabins like this across all airlines.

You might wonder if that is just a deterrent for families to not fly in this cabin. But consider this:

• There’s often a single plane configuration flying between international city pairs with Delta One
• Families might not know it’s difficult to take care of their kids when choosing a flight

If anything, finding out while midflight that they are having trouble tending to their children is going to be stressful. We were stressed, especially when Alex was in the 2-3 year old range. Thankfully the problem goes away somewhat as children get older, but it can be tough.

What would we have liked to see?

On the A330s where the seats face forwards, we would have liked to see some seats that could turn into a double bed. Singapore does this with its business class cabin on the A380. Do you need a bigger plane to do this? Possibly, but they could have handled this in a staggered format where the center seats are either closer to the aisle or close together. Then, have the center divider drop all the way down. We’d wager that doesn’t add much of a footprint and it would give Delta a better luxury experience, especially for families and couples.

Rather than the focus on the TV screen size, we would have liked to see something more unique. If the emphasis is on privacy, how about dividers and/or doors that extend all the way to the ceiling, like what Emirates has in its first class cabin? How about more space per passenger to allow stretching out and not feel so cramped midflight?

If the focus is on premium, look to what other airlines offer in first class and bring it down to business class. That’s the real way they can add some intrigue and make it feel special.

A luxury airline is only as luxurious as its weakest link

Delta wants to sell itself as a luxury airline and is competing with United on that front at least within the United States. But Delta has a problem truly being a luxurious airline: its 767 Delta One cabins. We’ve flown it several times before, including between Los Angeles and New York, and we don’t have much nice to say about it except for the fact that it’s easy to help the kids during flight. The seats offer no privacy, so much so that it feels strange sitting next to a stranger (yes, this happened to me before).

On top of that, the cabin is tired with features that are just outdated (ethernet cable jacks are so 2000s era).

What are Delta’s plans for this plane type? Their claim that 90% of Delta One seats having doors cannot apply to this plane since it’s impossible to put a door on these. The plane simply isn’t wide enough. We suspect that perhaps these planes will be run on shorter routes and sold as first class rather than Delta One. They used to do that with the Atlanta to Los Angeles route until they upgraded it.

Or, perhaps it’s a sign that they intend to keep them on the premium transcon flights as they are today but they intend to not call that cabin Delta One. Maybe a “Delta Two” cabin or something that distinguishes it as a step in between Delta One and first class. That would also alleviate overcrowding in the LAX and JFK Delta One lounges at the same time. Frankly, we think this is probably more likely–United similarly doesn’t give access to its Polaris lounges on the premium transcon flights, so why should Delta?

Either way, it’s hard to say Delta is fully invested in luxury when its Delta One product is pretty inconsistent.

Suggested reading:

• Delta’s 20‑Minute Checked Bag Guarantee (2026 Update)
• Life After Delta Diamond: All MQD Thresholds Above Diamond
• Delta Sky Club ORD: An Excellent Club in Hostile Territory