Few airplanes are as iconic as the Boeing 747. No matter how many new airplanes we’ve introduced since the current 747s joined our fleet, customers still love to see those double-deckers pull up to the gate. That’s why all of us on the customer experience team are excited to bring you a complete face-lift for the interiors of our 16 747-400s! These changes are sure to make flying a Delta double-decker an even better experience.
As part of our $1 billion investment in global products and services through 2013, we’ll replace and remake every seat inside the 747s to completely revitalize the flying experience. Between summer 2011 and 2012, we’ll install 48 fully horizontal flat-bed seats in the BusinessElite cabin and 338 new seats in the Economy cabin.
When you walk onboard you’ll immediately discover the new benefits:
- Personal, on-demand entertainment in every seat. In Economy we’ll ditch the old overhead projection systems as we install new seats loaded up with technology. The new seats will be embedded with a nine-inch touch-screen entertainment system (I promise you’ll feel a lot like you’re using your iPhone or iPad!) and will offer access to movie titles, TV shows, digital music tracks, interactive games and a USB port to charge iPods and other electronic devices.
- Added personal space for new comfort in Economy. Each new Economy class seat adds 1.5 inches of additional personal space through a “slimline” design that more efficiently uses cabin space than the older, heavier seats they replace. In addition to the 1.5 inches you’ll find at your knees, your bags also will gain some breathing room with larger under-seat storage space.
- A nearly seven-foot bed to stretch out on in BusinessElite. That’s right, even our tallest customers will be able to fly flat out in these new seats! The new seats are similar to the popular flat-bed product offered on our 777-200LR fleet today but with one notable change – they’ll be configured in a new layout, moving window seats to face the window and center cabin seats to face towards each other for customers flying together. These seats, like our other full-flat products, will all have direct aisle access and also include 120-volt universal power outlets, USB ports and 15.4-inch video monitors.
- Lots of movies, music and games. The in-flight entertainment server powering all these new seats is big and fast. So big and fast, in fact, that it enables nearly 400 customers to watch 250 different movies, play dozens of different games and listen to 4,000 music tracks on demand all at one time.
You’ll see the first of these revitalized 747s flying as soon as next summer, primarily to and from our Tokyo-Narita hub.
Check out the images of what we’ve designed here. We’re proud of this upgrade and we hope you like the latest in a long list of new Delta product improvements to come!
Mike B.
Customer Experience Team
September 2nd, 2010 at 1:02 pm
Very cool. The 747 is really the most beautiful commercial airliner. I am really hopeful that airlines will re order more as the new fuel efficient version is made available. It is such a beautiful plane. When one is waiting at the gate and ready to board a 747 this adds a level of excitement that no other plane can offer.
September 2nd, 2010 at 10:20 pm
I love the idea of the flat seats, but I like to talk with my wife when we travel. This 747 configuration makes that impossible, so it makes it much less likely that I’ll fly Delta internationally.
September 2nd, 2010 at 10:36 pm
This is fantastic news. I look forward to returning to Delta for my flights to and through Narita. In recent years, I have been using SkyTeam partner Korean Air to benefit from their flat bed seats in business class. Now, I can come back to my first choice–Delta! This quality of seating combined with the great service provided by Delta will provide a great overall product.
September 3rd, 2010 at 6:27 pm
Tom: I have good news for you. The new 747 configuration actually enables what you are looking for. The center seats are angled toward one another. In their beginning location they’re set back behind the center partition, but the seat mechanism itself allows you to track the seat forward in an upright or slightly reclined position. That means that you can turn and see one another ahead of the center partition. Once you’re ready to sleep, simply slide the seat back, recline it to full flat, and doze off to sweet dreams!
September 4th, 2010 at 5:05 pm
One of the pleasures I have is looking out the window and watching the world go by. The view over northern Canada, Alaska, and occasionally over Russia is fantastic. This set up makes such viewing difficult. I too share Tom’s concern even though the seat is more angled, the distance for conversation is increased by a couple of feet. Also, you mentioned the Business class will now be only 48 seats from the current 65? I guess the new pricing regime will take into account the need for maintaining an equivalent revenue stream. The seats in the 747 are superior to the 777 simply because of the larger screen, but I am very happy economy will get the much need upgrade.
September 8th, 2010 at 10:52 pm
This is good news…I’m certainly all for upgraded product which makes DL more competitive (and thus a more likely choice for my travels). However, the 747s already had lie-flat-at-an-angle seats in biz which, although a little dated, were relatively comfortable and the IFE worked good. I am concerned that this is being done at the expense of the refurbishment program (if it is still active) for the 767s – which would be a bad thing. The old cradle-style Business Elite seats on most of the 767 fleet are absolutely dreadful, especially when DL’s competitors are flying lie-flat or lie-flat-at-an-angle product to the same destinations. DL is certainly leaving money on the table by letting the fleet stagnate with those old seats.
A few questions:
1. Is the 767 fleet still actively being upgraded to lie-flat biz class seating?
2. Will the slimline economy seats eventually make their way into the transatlantic fleet sometime in the distant future? I’ve read in a few airline industry news articles that some of these new thin-seat economy designs are a win-win – passengers get more space and the airline also saves fuel due to lighter-weight materials.
3. Any chance that Delta will keep us informed about fleet refurbishment progress like United and others have done (i.e. see http://suitedreams.united.com) ?
Thanks for sharing!
September 10th, 2010 at 1:32 pm
Also I hope that we will see these beautiful planes at DTW. DTW is my favourite Delta hub. It is a beautiful airport and super convenient (not to big and not to small and only one terminal so easy to navigate) for flights to Asia but also Europe. I try to get all my connections through DTW when I travel.
September 11th, 2010 at 10:03 am
cincyworldtraveler-
could you be looking for this type of info:
http://blog.delta.com/2010/02/19/by-the-numbers-investing-in-the-customer-experience/
September 11th, 2010 at 10:03 pm
@cincyworldtraveler: I might be of some help…
1. The 767 fleet is actively being upgraded to feature the lie-flat BusinessElite seats. In fact, the 747′s aren’t going to begin the upgrade until summer 2011… thus allowing time to continue 767 upgrades.
2. The economy seats featured in the 747 will be much like the ones in the 777, except with a more innovative in-flight entertainment system. I’ve heard it’s quite impressive. The personal television in the seat-back is actually integrated into the seat design… which is a first for airlines.
3. While Mike might have a better answer to this, I’m sure they will update passengers on the progress on the Delta blog just as they have with in-flight Wi-Fi installations.
@tuptian: The “window” seats in BusinessElite on the 747 will actually face the window. This is the primary reason as to why the cabin capacity decreased. Passengers who have flown on the 777 responded to Delta regarding the cabin setup and Delta has embraced that by tweaking the setup for the 747. The BusinessElite cabin will be very impressive.
September 13th, 2010 at 11:09 am
@golich17 – thanks, that is good to hear.
I’ve seen the press releases, blog entries, etc. announcing lie-flats, but very little info on actual fleet-wide progress. If you recall, Delta made an announcement way back in like 2006 or 2007 that lie-flat seats would be deployed across the fleet but that never happened in the announced timeframe except for the 777-LRs. You might want to put a bug in the ears of the marketing people that they need to make the progress of the latest upgrade project more visible to your customers in a format that is updated at least weekly or bi-weekly. As noted, other airlines have posted their biz-class upgrade progress on their web sites (UA, CO, int’l airlines, etc.)
I think it would help DL attract more customers and generate continual positive “buzz”. Just simply show us which routes have been upgraded to the new product and you can always put the little disclaimer that aircraft equipment sometimes must be changed on short notice so the information is not guaranteed.
September 15th, 2010 at 3:40 pm
@cincyworldtraveler: It is in my hopes that the appropriate department has read and reviewed these blog post comments. Delta is very responsive to customer feedback, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they were already implementing something similar to your idea. I do like your idea regarding the progress of installations, which can be added to the BusinessElite section on the website (at least that’s where I see it to be the most useful place for it). I’ll see to it that I email someone in the Marketing or Delta.com department (I work at DTW) so that they take this into consideration. I know they are in the process of revamping the rest of Delta.com, so this may be a good time to suggest ideas.
September 24th, 2010 at 1:20 pm
cincyworldtraveler…rest assured we are working on updating delta.com with a “work in progress” section which will highlight the ongoing installations of flat-bed seats, AVOD, etc.
September 26th, 2010 at 6:42 pm
Good to hear that others are interested in viewing updates on the installation of the new flat beds!
During the second week of October my wife and I will be booking flights for August 2011 from San Diego to Shanghai and return flights 16 days later from Beijing to San Diego.
Our goal is to book on flights that have flat beds. Is there any way to determine which aircraft or routes will be prioritized? The countdown is on…
Help!
October 23rd, 2010 at 5:05 pm
when are the PTV’s coming to the domestic A319/A320?
December 21st, 2010 at 2:35 pm
I too would like to know about the A330-300/200 ex NWA. Are they not going to be done?
Also, it is extremely maddening to have booked a flight on one of the planes with the new seats only to be “schedule changed” to a partner like KLM who has even WORSE seats than the old DELTA product and the Medallion desk says they can do nothing as this is not a reason to change back. Ugg! Can that please be changed!
January 7th, 2011 at 10:53 pm
Hey,
I just want to reiterate how great it would be if we could have a section of this blog that provided info on progress on the upgrading to flatbeds and which routes these can be found on. Please be detailed!
Thanks and great stuff
January 17th, 2011 at 2:31 am
Hello,
I have a question. My family is planing to fly from Detroit to Nagoya, Japan to Manila. Would these new exciting economy seats be installed by then? or would i be able to experience them on my flight route? I’m too excited for the seat changes!
Thanks
February 3rd, 2011 at 11:49 am
The lay flat beds are nice, but the reduction from 65 to 48 seats is concerning as was pointed out by tuptian. Something has to give on pricing and one would think that the generous upgrade certificates which Delta gives its best customers just got much more difficult to use. What is Delta’s comments re: this?
March 18th, 2011 at 1:01 pm
Mike B, great news on the lay flat seats in the 747s at last. Are the seats on the upper deck single seats facing the windows or are there any seats facing together? I travel with my partner and particularly love the upper deck with it’s apparent exclusivity.
Many thanks.
April 1st, 2011 at 1:12 am
Are the AirBuses being upgraded as well? I’m flying SLC-NRT-ICN-NRT-SLC this June and I would really love to experience these flatbed seats. Any news?
May 2nd, 2011 at 5:16 pm
Going to be traveling with a group of 11 to manila in the middle of june any idea when some of the upgrades on the 747s will be done. Thanks
May 4th, 2011 at 3:00 pm
I guess all these questions wouldn’t be necessary if Delta posted the conversion progress on their web site as stated by Chris B. on Sept. 24. It can’t be that hard to do…United, Continental, and others seem to have figured it out.
@kjwitt – I just flew CVG->DTW->NGO->MNL last month and the 747s did not have the new configuration. The only thing they have done to the old NW lie-flat-at-an-angle seat is replace the cloth covering with leather. I’ve been flying this route several times a year since 2005. The old NW seats are not bad – I can sleep in them – but they don’t compare to a true lie-flat. And they are way better than the horrid old cradle-style Business Elite seats on the 767s. Since the acquisition, DL brought in their amenities and food which, in my opinion, is a significant upgrade over the previous offering by NW.
Best way right now to see if your flight has the new seats is to check the seat map a few days before departure. If the business seats are in a staggered configuration, then you will be lucky enough to fly the new layout.
May 6th, 2011 at 4:51 pm
Kjwitt…the first 747 goes into mod in July and will enter service with the new seats/IFE in the fall. We’re working on providing a status page on delta.com for various product enhancements (flat-bed seats, IFE, Wi-Fi on Rjs and Sky Clubs)…hopefully that will launch later this summer. In the meantime we’ll continue to update the status of our product enhancements via the blog.
July 29th, 2011 at 4:02 pm
Really glad it’s getting started, this will open up so many more flight options for me to HKG and PVG. Right now I only book on the 777′s because of the seating. Upstairs on a 747 with a lay flat bed? Can’t beat that. Also, facing the windows is an excellent idea, it will have a much more private feeling.
September 2nd, 2011 at 9:18 pm
question: when will the 747 from JFK to TLV be converted to flat bed for business elite?
October 20th, 2011 at 11:23 pm
Any update? I had to pass on flying Delta to China as the only option was the 747 from DTW to PVG without useful IFE (meaning IFE I control at my seat). Your scheduling of the ATL – PVG flight would work without an overnight stay in ATL, so I flew on an airline with IFE at my seat.
October 21st, 2011 at 12:33 am
Has this upgrade for the 747s been delayed? I think originally the first upgrade was to have been done summer of 2011. But the Delta Update page lists no 747s as completed. This upgrade would be very valuable to those of us who fly Delta Asia routes that do not use 777 equipment. What’s the word? Thanks.
November 17th, 2011 at 12:53 pm
I’m also interested in knowing the status. Any upgrades to the DTW-NRT or NGO routes would be a HUGE improvement. Can’t wait!
December 29th, 2011 at 7:04 pm
Well, it is end of 2011 and as far as I know NONE of the DL747s have been upgraded with flat beds…the 767 upgrades are slow at best…DL is trailing just about any major airline today when it comes to a competent biz product…as you do not have the first class on international routes, its time to speed up your premium product update, otherwise many of your top-paying customers will be choosing other alliances…I am a Diamond Medallion, but I always try to book my long-haul flights on your partner airlines (Korean, AF) due to absolutely dreadful seats on your 747s and 767s…how come you fly flat-beds 764s from JFK to London (6hr flight) but not to Moscow (9,5hrs flight)…not to Paris, not to Frankfurt???
January 23rd, 2012 at 7:36 pm
I’ve booked DL295/296 ATL-NRT. It is a 744 and has flat beds (outbound Apr 28)
May 16th, 2012 at 5:47 pm
Does anybody know if they have the up grades complete on all the 747s ?
May 31st, 2012 at 6:29 pm
Delta doesn’t seem to be flying as many 747′s as NW used to. ATL-NRT (on the days they fly a 747 rather than a 777), JFK-NRT and JFK-TLV all seem to have the new seats, but I think DTW-NRT and DTW-NGO still have the old business class seats.
June 1st, 2012 at 3:09 pm
My JFK to NRT and return are both on the 747 with the new layout. I believe there’s just one converted over so far, per Delta’s news brief
http://news.delta.com/index.php?s=43&item=1547.
Pretty excited, I am booked on the upper deck there and back.
July 17th, 2012 at 4:37 pm
How is it that the 747-400 interior modifications will be done by Oct. of 2012 (according to Delta’s news release in Feb. of 2012); and there is no end in sight for the 767-300ers. Seems to me there are more 767-300ers flying transatlantic and transpacific routes, over 11 hours, than 747. Yet, the 747s are getting done faster. Why is that and when can we expect the new interior modifications for business elite on all transatlantic and transpacific flights on the 767-300ers.
February 13th, 2013 at 3:07 am
Looks like no one has posted anything on this for a while, but I was curious to see if anyone has flown on Flt 296 NRT-ATL recently? Has that aircraft been updated yet?