Delta Air Lines confirmed during its second-quarter earnings call a plan to introduce 'basic business' class. This move follows their previous strategy of unbundling economy class, where basic economy tickets do not allow changes or mileage-earning and do not include seat selection. Delta aims to maximize revenue by similarly unbundling business class features.
During the call, J.P. Morgan’s Jamie Baker inquired about this new concept with Delta President Glen Hauenstein: "Glen, this concept of unbundling the front cabin is one that I’ve been thinking about, in part because unbundling and segmenting the rear cabin has been such a success for Delta and a few others. I want to be careful about asking about future pricing on that. But I’m curious what the pros and cons are in terms of possibly going down this path? Or is one price for all how we should continue to think about the D One cabin?"
Hauenstein confirmed plans for a basic business product, stating, "We’ve talked conceptually about that. I think we’ll be giving you more details as we go, but we’re not ready to talk about the details of those plans moving forward. I think the investor day this year should be very exciting."