Is BOS-SFO Delta One Ending?
Jul 29, 2018, 10:43 am
#16
Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 383
Flew D1 BOS-SFO twice this month on the 7 am flight. Meal design and execution, even by airline standards, was terrible. Not sure why they go to the expense to print an international-quality menu to serve up such stuff. I have had much better breakfast offerings on standard domestic F breakfast flights.
Flight attendant service was quite good on one flight, but terribly inattentive on the second. (Just one example: Menu calls for hot mixed nuts to kick off the meal service; they didn't come out. I inquired. FA said, "I didn't get the nuts out." No apology. No getting the nuts out late. He just didn't get the nuts out and that was that.)
I just don't get why you launch an expensive-to-operate flight in a very competitive market and provide this level of inflight experience.
Flight attendant service was quite good on one flight, but terribly inattentive on the second. (Just one example: Menu calls for hot mixed nuts to kick off the meal service; they didn't come out. I inquired. FA said, "I didn't get the nuts out." No apology. No getting the nuts out late. He just didn't get the nuts out and that was that.)
I just don't get why you launch an expensive-to-operate flight in a very competitive market and provide this level of inflight experience.
Jul 29, 2018, 1:52 pm
#17
Join Date: Oct 2017
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ive also notcied that a large percentage of the d1 cabin seems to be connecting to international at bos, im guessing this will stop with the downgrade
Jul 29, 2018, 4:39 pm
#18
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Unfortunately, looking at all dates past 12/1 (possibly before) it does seem to show a domestic configured 5-row 757. I think we're seeing the first signs that B6 and UA have proven successful in pushing D1 off the route. At this point I don't see why DL even bothers to keep it when it's 1x daily for the majority of the year and only 2x daily in the summer. DL is clearly after the business contracts and why would anyone chose DL when there's now ~11-12x daily between B6/UA with flat beds.
It's worth noting that DL seems to now be switching their premium focus from BOS-SFO to BOS-LAX, which UA just announced they're upgrading BOS-LAX to flat-bed 757's....so once again B6/UA/DL will be battling it out. Rumor has it that AA will also be announcing BOS-LAX to flat-bed 757's soon as well.
It's worth noting that DL seems to now be switching their premium focus from BOS-SFO to BOS-LAX, which UA just announced they're upgrading BOS-LAX to flat-bed 757's....so once again B6/UA/DL will be battling it out. Rumor has it that AA will also be announcing BOS-LAX to flat-bed 757's soon as well.
Last edited by FSUnole03; Jul 29, 2018 at 5:08 pm
Jul 29, 2018, 5:02 pm
#19
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: East Coast, USA
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It's worth noting that DL seems to now be switching their DL focus from BOS to BOS-LAX, which UA just announced they're upgrading BOS-LAX to flat-bed 757's....so once again B6/UA/DL will be battling it out. Rumor has it that AA will also be announcing BOS-LAX to flat-bed 757's soon as well.
Jul 29, 2018, 5:38 pm
#20
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DL is competing with UA ex-SFO, not B6. Though both are forced to match B6's fares.
At this point I don't see why DL even bothers to keep it when it's 1x daily for the majority of the year and only 2x daily in the summer. DL is clearly after the business contracts and why would anyone chose DL when there's now ~11-12x daily between B6/UA with flat beds.
I do hope they're not backing off that strategy.
Jul 29, 2018, 6:39 pm
#22
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Don't get me wrong: I generally find DL FA service to be consistently good to very good, with a decent number of excellent/outstanding experiences thrown in there. But my last BOS-SFO experience was awful.
Jul 29, 2018, 7:44 pm
#23
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Jul 29, 2018, 10:11 pm
#24
Join Date: Sep 2016
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God, this is terrible news. I fly this route all the time, and I have to say, they weren't competing well with Jetblue apart from price. Now my business will just go to Jetblue. Poor show, Delta.
Meanwhile, KLM is restarting flights to Boston. Skyteam's operating as a well oiled machine as usual.
Meanwhile, KLM is restarting flights to Boston. Skyteam's operating as a well oiled machine as usual.
Jul 30, 2018, 12:02 am
#25
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The reality is that demand for domestic lay-flat cabins is probably restricted to New York. Rational companies that seek to maximize shareholder value won’t pay for flat beds.
The hedge fund set and investment banks that operate primarily to steal money from clients and investors might, but rational companies won’t pay for it. While there is some hedge fund activity in Boston and SF, both markets are still dominated by companies that haven’t been completely captured by internal forces that want to make the companies their piggy bank. That is why DL is abandoning this and why UA didn’t offer flat beds until forced.
B6 is, frankly, too beholden to a NYC-centric worldview and this has led them to vastly overstretch Mint. It is the same myopic view that has seen the likes of Shake Shack and Fairway struggle outside New York. Put simply, New York isn’t representative of the rest of the country. That goes triple for the airline industry.
The hedge fund set and investment banks that operate primarily to steal money from clients and investors might, but rational companies won’t pay for it. While there is some hedge fund activity in Boston and SF, both markets are still dominated by companies that haven’t been completely captured by internal forces that want to make the companies their piggy bank. That is why DL is abandoning this and why UA didn’t offer flat beds until forced.
B6 is, frankly, too beholden to a NYC-centric worldview and this has led them to vastly overstretch Mint. It is the same myopic view that has seen the likes of Shake Shack and Fairway struggle outside New York. Put simply, New York isn’t representative of the rest of the country. That goes triple for the airline industry.
Jul 30, 2018, 12:03 am
#26
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DL is an insignificant also-ran at SFO. UA has been terribly weak for many years; DL had a huge opportunity to hit them and make a dent in their fortress hub. DL absolutely has not done that.
Jul 30, 2018, 12:05 am
#27
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This is something that might not have been considered. Maybe KLM grew concerned that a flat bed product for a 4-6 hour flight would not fit with their desire to sell a coach product as business class on similar stage lengths. Perhaps this is part of Skyteam’s well-oiled machine after all!
Jul 30, 2018, 10:41 am
#28
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This is something that might not have been considered. Maybe KLM grew concerned that a flat bed product for a 4-6 hour flight would not fit with their desire to sell a coach product as business class on similar stage lengths. Perhaps this is part of Skyteam’s well-oiled machine after all!
Jul 30, 2018, 12:24 pm
#29
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I disagree that KLM’s J product is better than DL’s. Maybe you could argue vs the 767, but the lack of all-aisle access is a big negative.
Jul 30, 2018, 12:27 pm
#30
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