Delta: Lie-flat seats now on all LAX-JFK flights
Delta Air Lines is now offering lie-flat seats on all eight of its daily round-trip flights between New York JFK and Los Angeles.
Delta was able to expand that option to all of its JFK-LAX flights after overhauling three of its Boeing 757-200 jets to include full flat-bed seats in the BusinessElite cabin. The 757-200s join Delta's existing international 767-300ERs with lie-flat seats that already fly the route.
Delta's current LAX-JFK schedule includes five daily round-trip flights on 767s and three on the 757-200s.
"Customers traveling between New York and Los Angeles continue to tell us they expect the best from Delta including the comfort of full flat-bed seats in BusinessElite and an upgraded Economy Comfort experience," Jeff Robertson, Delta's VP–Product Development, Sky Clubs and Marketing Communications, says in a statement. "Delta is focused on providing the industry's best travel experience on the most important non-stop route in the United States."
Besides LAX, Delta says it expects to offer lie-flat seats on all of its flights between JFK and San Francisco and Seattle by the summer of 2015.
Delta's upgrade to lie-flat on all of its JFK-LAX flights comes amid something of a premium cabin arms race among U.S. carriers on lucrative cross-country routes between New York and the West Coast.
JetBlue just launched its Mint premium seats on routes between New York and the California cities of Los Angeles and San Francisco. The suite-like seats include lie-flat beds, part of an effort by JetBlue to court big-spending fliers willing to pay for that perk.
"We started hearing from some of our most loyal customers that they still loved the JetBlue product and service that we offered, but they were increasingly looking away from us for trans-con flights,'' Jamie Perry, JetBlue's director of product development, says to USA TODAY about the new Mint seats. Those passengers wanted in-flight Wi-Fi, which the carrier is now offering, and "they were looking for a premium product for the trans-con experience.''
Also upping its cross-country offerings is American, which just began flying its new transcontinental Airbus A321 jets that have lie-flat seats in both first and business class. AA has started flying those jets between New York JFK and both L.A. and San Francisco, offering the only three-class service on those cross-country domestic flights.
United also offers lie-flat seats on its routes between the New York JFK area and L.A. and San Francisco.