The new Delta Economy Comfort isn’t anything that great! Sure it’s a few more inches of leg room but other than that it is absolutely nothing to write home about. Other Airlines have had “plus” style seating for years.
This includes Jet Blue, United, Virgin America, and a number of international airlines. Some airlines only have these plus seats in the bulkhead or exit rows, whereas other airlines like Jetblue and United reserve several rows in the first rows of economy for these “plus” seats.
Delta claims on their website that Economy Comfort gives “more of everything”.
Delta has taken affordable comfort to new heights with the introduction of Economy Comfort seating. Greater legroom, more recline on select routes, and other premium features make travel that much more comfortable.
- Recline up to 50% farther on transcontinental and international flights
- Stretch out with four inches (10 cm) additional legroom
- Enjoy complimentary beer, spirits & wine on select international flights
- Get settled earlier with priority boarding
I flew from JFK to LAX on one of Deltas’ first Transcontinental 757-200 to have economy comfortable installed and here are my thoughts.
Leg Room: It’s ALMOST like an exit row, minus an inch or two. On an exit row I can get out of my seat without asking the person next to me to move out into the asile, in Economy comfort there’s no way of doing this. The passenger next to you if small can turn sideways and you can squeeze out, but it’s not comfortable and you’ll probably have a bit of arse in your face.
Same TV, a little extra leg room
Seat recline: The seat does recline more but this causes a number of problems. First when the seat reclines the seat goes forward and backwards and the same time. This instantly reduces the space between you and the seat in front of you. Sure it’s more comfortable than the old seats, but still not 100% great.
Second, if the person in front of you also reclines their seat your tray table becomes so cramped it cant hold a standard 15” laptop. The recline of the seat in front of you is to great and you basically end up with your laptop on your lap, as I had found out when I was flying to a Managed IT Support Services Conference in the UK last year. Delta really needs to install the extended tray tables like those found in the exit row of most planes, that allow you to pull the tray table further away from the seat in front of you.
TV: It’s great that these planes have the AVOD in every seat on the plane, but econ comfortable still doesn’t provide you access to movies/hbo without an exorbitant fee. However like the rest of the aircraft satellite TV is free.
Boarding Early: Since most people in Econ Comfort got there for free due to their elite status, this boarding early is more than a ploy than anything else.
Overall I would not pay for 38” seat pitch of Economy Comfort, but it’s a nice “upgrade” from regular crammed pack 31-33” of “room” on the rest of the plane.
So who gets it for free and who pays? See below:
