Delta Reveals Bold Premium Seat Plan for Its 787-10 Dreamliners

Delta says more than half the seats on its incoming Boeing 787-10 Dreamliners will be premium — nearly double the share on the 767s those jets are set to replace.

Delta Air Lines plans to make more than half the seats on its incoming Boeing 787-10 Dreamliners premium products, up from about 30% on the Boeing 767s it replaces, the airline disclosed this week.

Joe Esposito, Delta’s executive vice president and chief commercial officer, made the disclosure July 10 during the airline’s second-quarter 2026 earnings call, days after Delta launched a lower-cost “Basic Business” fare in its Delta One cabin.

“You’re going from 30% premium seating in a 767 to over 50% in a 787, and it can handle twice the cargo,” Esposito said. He added that Delta views Europe similarly to a domestic market when deploying widebody aircraft.

The disclosure comes as Delta’s premium cabin revenue has overtaken its main-cabin revenue for the first time. The airline reported premium ticket revenue of $6.92 billion in the second quarter, edging out $6.85 billion from coach, as part of $17.7 billion in adjusted total revenue, up 14% from a year earlier. Premium revenue alone climbed 17% year-over-year, and premium and loyalty revenue combined made up 61% of Delta’s adjusted total revenue for the quarter.

“Revenue grew 14 percent in the June quarter, at the high end of our expectations, increasing more than $2 billion over last year on broad demand strength,” Esposito said in Delta’s earnings release.

Chief Executive Ed Bastian said Delta delivered $1.4 billion in adjusted pre-tax profit during the quarter despite absorbing the highest quarterly fuel expense in the company’s history.

“Today, we reported our June quarter results, and it is clear that Delta’s brand and industry position are stronger than ever,” Bastian said. “We delivered $1.4 billion in pre-tax profit while absorbing the highest quarterly fuel expense in our history, reflecting broad demand strength, growing brand preference and momentum across our diversified revenue base.”

Delta placed its first-ever direct order for the Boeing 787-10 on Jan. 13, 2026, agreeing to buy 30 of the widebody jets with options for 30 more. The aircraft, powered by GE Aerospace GEnx engines, are scheduled for delivery beginning in 2031 and will primarily replace Boeing 767-300ER and 767-400ER aircraft on transatlantic routes.

The 787-10 is the largest variant of Boeing’s Dreamliner family, with an official range of up to 7,500 nautical miles. In a standard two-class configuration, it can seat up to 336 passengers, according to Boeing’s Jan. 13, 2026, order announcement, though FlightGlobal notes that United Airlines configures its own 787-10s with 318 seats. Delta says the jet delivers 25% better fuel efficiency per seat than the aircraft it replaces and can carry twice the cargo of a 767.

Delta has not released a seat map, exact cabin breakdown or launch routes for the 787-10. Airline leaders told The Points Guy in April that whether the jets will carry Delta’s newest Delta One suite, which is debuting on the airline’s incoming Airbus A350-1000s, remains “TBD.”

Delta’s 767-300ERs are scheduled for full retirement by 2030, with their international long-haul service ending by 2028. The airline still operated 37 of the aircraft as of May 2026. Its 767-400ERs will keep flying beyond 2030.

The 787-10 disclosure came alongside the rollout of Delta One Basic, a stripped-down version of Delta’s business-class fare that went on sale July 8. Basic Business retains the full onboard Delta One experience — a lie-flat seat, dining service, bedding and an amenity kit — but drops Delta One check-in, Delta One Lounge access, free seat assignments, full mileage earning and one checked bag compared with the standard Delta One fare. Through Jan. 18, 2027, Basic Business ticket holders will still get Delta One check-in and lounge access during a transition period; that access ends Jan. 19, 2027. Delta First Basic and Delta Premium Select Basic also went on sale July 8, with flights on those fares beginning in September. The moves follow Delta’s November 2025 test of “Comfort Basic” in its Comfort+ cabin and create 12 distinct fare types across Delta’s cabin structure.

The premium push extends across Delta’s fleet. Airbus A321neos entering service this year carry 44 first-class seats across 11 rows — the highest domestic first-class count on a narrowbody in Delta’s history — with the configuration entering service on the Atlanta-Los Angeles route in May. Delta’s incoming Airbus A350-1000s, targeting entry into service in June 2027, will carry a confirmed 314-seat layout with 53 Delta One Suites, 48 Premium Select seats and 213 Comfort+ and Main Cabin seats — also a roughly 50% premium mix.

Delta isn’t alone in leaning into premium cabins. United Airlines launched its 787-9 “Elevated” Dreamliner in March with 99 premium seats — 64 Polaris business-class pods and 35 Premium Plus seats — out of 222 total seats, split between a new Polaris Studio product offering 25% more space than standard Polaris at a $499 introductory surcharge. United also rolled out its own basic fare structure for premium cabins earlier this year, ahead of Delta’s July 8 launch. Internationally, carriers including Qatar Airways and Emirates have offered restricted business-class fares for years.

Delta’s total order book includes 130 Boeing aircraft, including 100 737 MAX 10 jets whose certification remained pending as of the earnings call; up to 27 of those jets are expected to enter service in 2027, replacing Boeing 717s and 757s on domestic routes. Delta also operates 41 Airbus A350-900s, with 20 more on order, and had 232 narrow-body and widebody aircraft on order as of January.

Delta served more than 200 million customers in 2025 and took delivery of 38 aircraft that year. The airline operates up to 5,500 daily Delta and Delta Connection flights to more than 300 destinations on six continents and is a founding member of the SkyTeam alliance, alongside partners including Air France-KLM, Korean Air, LATAM and Virgin Atlantic.

Delta’s January order made it the last major U.S. network carrier to add the Boeing 787 to its fleet, according to Forbes. In Boeing’s Jan. 13, 2026, announcement of the order, Bastian said, “Delta is building the fleet for the future, enhancing the customer experience, driving operational improvements and providing steady replacements for less efficient, older aircraft in the decade to come.”

Delta also affirmed full-year 2026 guidance of $6.50 to $7.50 in earnings per share and $3 billion to $4 billion in free cash flow, and it plans a 15% dividend increase starting in the September quarter.