I have some relatives in inflight at Delta and have been paying attention to this trial dining concept for a while since it started on PDXNRT. Believe it or not, the new Delta Y service is actually a cost saving measure, as it eliminates tray setups loaded in carts, cuts one pass of the bar cart, is actually less food, and increases FA workload significantly. It also results in a longer, more drawn-out main service... expect tweaks on the East Coast EU redeye flights.

Delta scores points for innovating and packaging this as a benefit to customers, and that’s meaningful. But it’s not everything that meets the eye.