The Delta One Lounge at JFK’s Terminal 4 opened last year. The lounge is a massive space at around 40,000 square feet, and was the first of Delta’s business class lounges to be debuted.
Summer travel, coupled with the 4th of July weekend, however, seems to have prompted large crowds and a long line spilling outside of the lounge.
Here’s the photo taken by a FlyerTalk user posted on X:
I’ll reiterate that this was during the busy 4th of July weekend, with plenty of holiday and summer travelers.
Still though, considering the strict entry requirements and the amount of lounge space in Terminal 4 (Capital One Lounge, Sky Clubs, etc), it’s still eye-opening to see this level of crowds at Delta One.
This always raises the question of whether I’d spend time at a lounge that’s at capacity with a long line. During a long layover or a flight delay? Sure. But otherwise, the lounge experience quickly deteriorates for spaces at capacity, especially for ones like the Delta One Lounge.
That said, the crowd issues don’t seem to be an issue during standard, non-holiday periods. There’s a reason why I like to limit my non-essential travel during the summer.
“Delta One Basic”
One of my immediate thoughts after seeing these lines was Delta’s desire to unbundle business class.
Delta has repeatedly flirted with this idea and made some moves earlier this year by giving an update to its fare classes. Nothing much changed with its premium fares, but it set the stage for something bigger in the future.
If we were to see a “Delta One Basic,” this could mean restricted lounge access, seat selection, and refund rules for the cheapest business class fare. Other airlines have done this, such as Qatar, Finnair, and British Airways.
This is perhaps one of the few things left that Delta can do with lounge crowding issues. That said, I don’t think a lounge line during the busiest travel time during 4th of July weekend is a good indicator of how things are most of the time, but it wouldn’t surprise me to see Ed Bastian refer to events like this to “empower customers with choice.” 🙄
Featured image by Delta Air Lines.
