Delta answers JetBlue's challenge with more luxury business class service in the US

• Delta Air Lines is expanding its Delta One premium cabin service in April 2018 to new routes within the US.
• Delta will also make frequent flyers with Medallion status eligible for Delta One upgrades.
• This announcement comes a few months after JetBlue and United also announced expanded premium transcontinental service.

Delta Air Lines is expanding its Delta One business class service on new routes within the US.

That means more routes in the US will get to experience the airline's new premium cabin service that features 180-degree flat bed seats with Westin Heavenly bedding, fine dining with wines paired by Master Sommelier Andrea Robinson, and a host of other luxury accouterments.

(The new service will feature the Delta One seat. The Delta One suite is only available on international flights.)

The Atlanta-based airline announced on Monday that it will expand Delta One service on April 1, 2018, to flights between Boston and Los Angeles as well as flights between New York and West Coast destinations such as San Diego and Seattle.

A month later, Delta One will launch on flights between New York and Las Vegas.

While Delta One has traditionally been a mainstay on flights between New York and major West Coast cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco, the popularity of the service nudged the airline towards the expansion.

"Earlier this year we expanded the Delta One product to Washington-Reagan to Los Angeles and Boston to San Francisco and the response from our customers has been phenomenal," Delta's managing director of product and customer experience, Andrew Wingrove told us in an interview.

According to the Wingrove, Delta One's success in these markets showed that the airline's investment in upgraded amenities was worth it and that its customers are willing to spend money on a truly premium product.

Delta, which will pull Delta One-equipped planes from its international fleet to make the expansion happen, is ratcheting up the competition for prized transcontinental premium cabin business.

The announcement comes several months after JetBlue announced that it is expanding the number of routes featuring its well-received Mint premium cabin. In July, the boutique carrier announced that it will launch new Mint premium service in 2018 on flights between Seattle and its hubs in Boston and New York. In addition, JetBlue's flights from Boston and Las Vegas will get Mint service.

In May, United Airlines announced an expansion of its premium transcontinental service to flights between Boston and San Francisco.

In addition to route expansion, Delta will make its frequent flyers with Medallion eligible for free upgrades to Delta One for the first time.

"I know that more and more of our customers are locking in their preferred experience by purchasing Delta One," the airline's vice president of customer engagement and loyalty, Sandeep Dube said in an interview. "But we also know how important complementary upgrades are for our Medallion members."

"We also know Delta One is our best product, so offering Delta One domestically to our most loyal customers is just another way to further distance Skymiles from our competitors," Dube added.

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