rh_jeremy

The SkyClub in Terminal D was open on Sunday, May 3rd when I went through ATL. Only Mic Ultra from the tap, Sam Adams bottles, and a few select wines were available. Biscoff + Almond packs on the buffet table. Espresso machine was online.

GateGuardian

Thanks for the update!

SSF556

This says it all....I was the only person in there for about an hour and then several people showed up for the flights to Seoul.

cfabar1

Wow.... I continue to wonder what the SkyClub network will look like moving into the future. How much will they shrink the fleet? What is the long-term value now that people are used to food being part of the cost-benefit analysis.

At the same time, I wouldn't feel too safe with the buffet style, also do they have anything that you can use to sanitize the exterior of the plastic packet?

MCO Flyer

So far there has been zero evidence that COVID-19 can be transmitted foodborne. The biggest risk that someone could have getting COVID in a SkyClub buffet environment would be by touching the serving utensils. Perhaps in the future (post-vaccine/treatment world) DL could use disposable serving utensils when serving food or provide gloves to use when serving your food?

givionte

Could also be as simple as using those little plastic sheets you get at a donut shop to grab donuts out of the case. Any cheap plastic or paper that lets you grip without touching would work fine.

MSPeconomist

Only if everyone uses them very carefully and consistently, picking up the little paper square or whatever without touching others in the pile......and especially if not a single person, adult or child, ever uses hands/fingers to grab food or places food onto a used plate.

cfabar1

I'm more curious if necessary, if travel starts to rebound prior to a cure or treatments, how Delta reconfigures SkyClub to meet reduced occupancy standards, etc.

SSF556

It was also interesting to see temporary walls put up in the D concourse as well. I could not walk down the D concourses. Also the B concourses escalators were blocked off as well. I did not get pictures of that.

We can all sit at home and scheme ways to keep people safe, BUT it is impossible. I saw plenty of GAs without masks, passengers walking through the terminals without masks, even one of FAs on my flight did not wear a mask. Also the people wearing masks had them below their noses and who knows how many times they had touched the mask or even how old the mask was. We all know people are going to wear the same mask multiple times, probably days at a time! Pilots aren't wearing masks in the cockpit. The guy handling bags is not wearing a mask. The guy at the check in counter was not wearing a mask. The cops were not wearing a mask. The service dog in the seat in front of me was not wearing a mask.

We are going to have to snap out of this pretty soon.

Duke787

I could see them essentially pre-packaging everything (even the fresh stuff). Instead of having a buffet tray with a spoon that everyone uses, they have lets say 3 spoonfuls of mac and cheese already on a plate sealed with plastic wrap (or foil or whatever).

That way everything becomes a single-serve portion and you don't have to worry about sharing the serving spoon. In addition you can visually see if someone has broken the seal into the food.

The other option of course is to remove the "self-service" portion of the buffet and instead put up glass in front of the buffet have staff who work the bar and serve you. Again eliminating the shared serving utensil problem (and the assumption being that all the workers have the daily temperature checks, gloves, masks, etc.).

The second option is what I imagine many hotels who promise hot breakfast will have to if they want to maintain the efficiency of buffet style vs. individual orders.

If DL wanted to be somewhat innovative they could also provide in-app ordering and just have all food remain in the kitchen and you simply order to your seat and it's delivered by someone wearing gloves/masks and the plate again is sealed with plastic so you can visually verify it hasn't been tampered with between kitchen and you. Downside is wait time and losing flexibility to easily get seconds but that could

ND76

I was in the MSP F/G and SEA A1 clubs last week. There are no floor markings at the clubs. At MSP there were 4 staff and maybe 10-12 passengers in the club; in SEA, maybe 4 staff members and 5 pax.

At MSP the bar was open; there were 5 of us at the bar, and there was at least one seat between each of us.

timfountain

Eh, 'snap out of this'? You mean not wanting to contract what could be a very debilitating illness with potentially long-term life-changing issues ranging from reduced lung capacity to meeting an untimely end? Yep, sorry, not going to go away just 'cause you want people 'to snap out of this', like it is some kind of teenage petulant behavior.

Duke787

I don't disagree with your sentiment (my last grocery store run it was a joke seeing how people were "wearing masks" especially employees). That said the not adhering to the rules and wearing mask correctly is a problem we have in US with following rules (we don't really seem to like it by and large as a country -- no matter which party is in power, we like to do the opposite of what we're told).

They don't seem to have any issue following the rules and wearing masks correctly in Asia. Even before COVID, I've saw plenty of people wearing masks during my travels to/from Asia. I also recall being offered a mask on every JAL and NH flight I've flown (in Y, PE, J, and F going back to the first half of the 2010s) and seeing a fair number of folks take and use the masks (properly). Maybe due to the SARS scare in the early 2000s?

Either way it's not so much "snap out of it" as it is get people to actually follow the guidelines and recommendations of experts and not be idiots.

RetiredATLATC

This will show you how easy it spreads

https://www.forbes.com/sites/suzanne.../#7a155d24a596

dmarge18

This is a pretty interesting point. Delta recently raised rates on their credit cards (a HUGE perk of the Reserve is Sky Club access) and on general club membership as well. If they don't return to full bar/some semblance of decent food service in the future, they can in no way justify those rates. It'll be interesting to see what changes are made.

As to the second point, buffets are typically gross; case in point being in ATL T 3 months ago when I saw a teenager sneeze in his hand, then go straight to serve himself. Like I've been saying, if habits don't change what are we even doing this for (this includes washing hands frequently, properly covering mouth when you cough/sneeze--saw someone today use a hand to cover mouth while wearing a mask, showing they still haven't changed habits not to mention some still gets through, but I digress).