mattkorey

I kept saying I wanted to fly Song before they went under and never got around to doing it. I heard really good things about it in the press, but never actually knew anyone who had travelled on them, were they any good? Maybe nobody travelled on them and that was the problem. They sort of seemed to come out at the same time as Jet Blue and Jet Blue certainly seemed to win that battle. Or maybe it was just that Delta didn't care enough about promoting Song or wasn't able to subsidize it long enough to give it a chance?

obscure2k

The folks in the DL forum should be able to answer this.
Obscure2k
TravelBuzz Moderator

jfulcher

I personally think DL used Song as a test airline to test potential changes to the mainline product. Basically to see what people would put up with and not.

mersk862

My experience with Song has been like my experience with the new 757-200s with the Satellite TVs (heck, these were the same planes). Only real difference is that food was buy-on-board (not a big fan of that, I normally grab something in the terminal). Not a whole lot of difference between mainline and Song for me; I'm glad DL did learn some things from it (keeping the PTVs, reduced turn times at stations, etc.).

SeaClay007

I read somewhere (either in Sky or in a mailing I received at home) that food-for-purchase was coming back. Anyone know when this might happen?

The two times I flew Song, I found it to be OK. The general attitude was more casual, no doubt due to the focus on the leisure vs. business traveler. I enjoyed the PTVs and playing trivia games against other pax; it passed the time nicely.

I am glad, however, that it merged back into mainline and DL adopted some of it's traits (e.g. Mile High Mojitos, etc). I'm also glad they've returned to caring about the business traveler instead of trying to be an LCC with coach-only planes, which they are not, IMHO.

Lehava

I dont recall seeing or hearing that Song went "broke", "went under" or some of the other things you perceive on here. Song was consciously folded back into Mainline and some of their successes actually folded back into mainline to help their service. Song was perceived in some ways better than mainline.

mattkorey

I think it might have been "perceived" that way by some, but I think we all know that if it in fact was greatly successful it would not have been assimilated back into Delta. It was not doing well before it was halted as Song Airlines.

gpan

Actually, DL reabsorbed it as part of its business model; not to mention running a subfleet is never cost-effective. DL is also short of aircraft badly in general - especially when it comes to long haul fleet...

ladiflier

I had flown it frequently and liked the product. I think the IFE was very good. The only thing I didn't like was the color scheme. Seats were comfortable leather instead of cloth. I also thought the food and drink choices were very good for what they were. I wouldn't mind seeing that brought back.

ClipperDelta

I believe two key factors drove the Song-reintegration back into Delta:

a. Cost side
Cost too much to run a separate brand; aircraft utilization also crimped due to its presence in select markets only

b. Revenue side
FFers deserted DL in droves in those Song markets due to the lack of an F product. Unit revenue plummeted.

Otherwise, most of the product attributes have largely remained intact back at Delta - the special cocktails, the AVOD PTVs, the leather seating, etc. Food For Purchase should also be coming back to Delta domestic later this year.

I also think that Song was Delta's initial knee-jerk reaction to JetBlue - they didn't know how to counter JetBlue effectively so they simply copied them (and introduced Song on routes where they competed directly). After they had time to look at how Song was performing and to strategize how to handle the JetBlues, they decided to fold it back in and introduce the product where it made sense...

DL4EVR

As someone who flew song on a biweekly basis, I must say it was an amazing product!! The IFE was heads above B6's, the food for purchase was restaurant quality, and 99% of the flight attendants were excited, enthusiastic, and truly dedicated to the product and its customers. The down side of course was that song did little to nothing for Medallions, including priority boarding, etc. All in all, it was a far superior product to what DL mainline had in Y at the time.

jimrpa

I always thought song was sort of an "experiment" where Delta could try new and different things without impacting their main product. For example, didn't song feature more pitch in coach?

s25843

For someone who never got to expirence the product, that is quite a statment.


Here in Boston Song was doing VERY successful, and Boston-Florida routes were often packed. I for one miss the PTV's and buy on board food that we used to have for the BOS-FLL runs. Now that Song was folded back into Mainline, we have 3x a day MD80s and 1x normal 757s.

tkey75

I agree. It was Song's BOS-MCO route I travelled frequently that made me a Deltarian. I am hopeful they bring back some more of Song's amenities. I enjoyed the food, the extra space and the general vibe of the airline.

It seems they never lost the vibe. That's why I stay. Upgrades solves the extra space issue, now that I get them. It was not a worry back then as I had no status.

MikeyZBT

I loved the TV's (and now we are getting them on my cross country flights) and HATED the lack of first class.