Delta Doesn’t Actually Want Anyone to Buy Basic Economy
Photo Credit: Delta sells Basic Economy fares because it wants to have options at several price points. But it would prefer to upsell passengers into Comfort Plus, its extra legroom section, which is pictured here. Delta Air Lines
Skift Take
Delta has a message for passengers who don't like Basic Economy fares: Trade up and buy a better product.
Delta Air Lines has news for its most frugal customers. It doesn't want them to buy Basic Economy fares.
Sure, the airline sells the no-frills fares throughout the United States — it finished its nationwide roll out recently, ahead of American Airlines and United Airlines— but Delta executives say they'd prefer customers buy traditional bundled fares, allowing them to choose seats in advance, change their flights for a fee, and board in earlier groups.
That's a major reason Delta gives passengers a written warning of what they're missing before it sells customers a cheap fare.
"People don't really want the [Basic Economy] product when they see exactly what it is," Glen Hauenstein, Delta's president, said Wednesday on the airline's third quarter earnings call. "A lot of people don't want to do that.
More than most other airlines, Delta seeks to segment its cabins so it can offer customers options at nearly every price point. On its w
