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Delta One 767-400 Review

A premium product refreshed and ready to excel in the post-pandemic landscape

Airlines are struggling mightily to restore their operations on this side of COVID, but higher flying hasn’t been rendered impossible in the meantime. Delta, for example, has spent the better part of the pandemic refreshing its fleet of Boeing 767s, and as a result, boasts one of the more comfortable ways to travel long-haul on a U.S.-based carrier. These planes are 25 years old on average, but because of such comprehensive refurbishments in all classes of service, they feel much younger than they actually are. Newly installed lie-flat seats are the centerpieces of Delta One (i.e. its brand name for business class), and all come with direct aisle access, ample, private space to lounge around, and professional-looking design elements that still convey a sense of luxury. While its competitors have been catching up to Delta’s standing in the premium domestic market – and surpassing it in some regards – the carrier has no equal between New York and Hawaii.

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On perceiving “good” value

The most recent review published on The Higher Flyer evaluates international business class onboard American Airlines’s now-retired fleet of Boeing 767s.  There’s nothing particularly exciting nor noteworthy about the experience, but with lie-flat seats, direct aisle access for all passengers, and upgraded dining options on offer, your expectations for a product marketed as “Flagship Business” are likely going to be met but not exceeded.  It delivers all that you could want in decidedly-average fashion, but because the fares are prohibitively expensive, it’s nearly impossible for me to recommend it.  When compared to significantly cheaper, if not better, alternatives, it’s the textbook definition of a terrible deal… although some might disagree with that assessment.  There’s an inherent ambiguousness to higher flying reflected here, and that poses an interesting question:  what makes a “good value” good?

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American Airlines 767 Business Class Review

A recently-refurbished plane remains retro thanks to an underwhelming premium product

Across its expansive fleet, American Airlines features eight different kinds of business class seats.  Naturally, as you might expect, some are better than others.  On one end of the spectrum you have excellent reverse herringbones found on its Boeing 777s and 787-9s.  On the opposite end, on its Boeing 767s, you have staggered seats that would’ve been state-of-the-art 15 years ago.  Of the these two extremes, they share unlikely commonalities:  AA installed them on its planes only as recently as a few years ago, and it typically charges comparable, astronomically-priced fares for both.  If the airline brings the goods — so tasty dining options and warm, amicable service (among other things) to complement a comfortable chair that reclines 180 degrees — then it can get away with this pricing model.  If it doesn’t, well, such a poor value isn’t “higher flyer” and it probably isn’t worth your time.  By those metrics, the business class experience on AA’s 767s is, while more pleasant than economy, probably one to avoid.

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