The grand experiment of blocking the middle seat on airplanes has proven what we’ve always known about air travel: More people care about a cheap price than comfort or even pandemic safety.
Delta announced on Monday that it will extend its middle seat block for another month, until the end of April. Delta, the last US carrier to block all middle seats in the coach, will consider further extensions based on Covid-19 transfer and vaccination rates.
So far, Delta believes it earns goodwill and trust from customers, especially business travelers, who are not traveling now but will return. Some who flew during the pandemic were willing to pay Delta more for more space on board. Most were price-sensitive vacationers willing to sit shoulder to shoulder for cheap fares – on airlines that don’t block the middle seats.
“This is really about playing the long game and making sure we position this brand for greater success after the pandemic,” said Bill Lentsch, Delta’s chief customer experience officer.
The bottom line for Delta during the pandemic was bigger losses than competing airlines selling all their seats. Delta was the most profitable American airline in the last six months of 2019. That turned around during the pandemic. In the last six months of 2020, Delta suffered the largest losses, net loss of more than $ 6 billion, more than United and Southwest combined.