Delta Bets Premium Travel Trend Is Here to Stay
Photo Caption: Delta is expecting strong summer demand as consumers shift back to spending on travel and experiences over retail. Delta Air Lines
Skift Take
Is Home Depot's loss Delta's gain? Americans have spent two years hoarding cash and spending money on home improvement projects. But now Delta believes they're ready to spend their savings on travel and experiences, and the Atlanta-based carrier says it's waiting for them.
Delta Air Lines doesn't quite think the pandemic is behind it, but it increasingly thinks the traveling public will treat Covid-19 as a recurring seasonal disease. The airline believes this trend is reflected in how consumers are spending money now, shifting spending from retail to travel and experiences.
"Consumers have not been traveling over the past two years, so they're prioritizing that spend now," Delta CEO Ed Bastian told investors during the company's first-quarter earnings call on April 13. "They are looking for experiences."
Bastian pointed to credit card data from both Delta's co-branded credit card with American Express and from increased spending on hotels and rental cars. During the depths of the pandemic, consumers redeployed cash they ordinarily would have spent on travel to home-improvement and other retail purchases. "You're seeing a pretty significant shift coming out of goods and retail into experiences and services," he said. "And that's n
