From Concept to Cabin: How Delta Teams Transform Aircraft Interiors

When you're boarding a plane and looking for your seat or are already thinking about what your first in-flight snack is going to be, you might not immediately notice the finer details of an aircraft: the carpet beneath your feet, the stitching on a Delta Comfort+ seat, the lighting overhead. 

But we think you’ll notice (and be impressed by) Delta’s new cabin redesign, which brings fresh seating materials, enhanced lighting, a renewed color palette and more to our entire fleet as it begins to roll out over the next few years.

With this redesign on the horizon, we wanted to pull back the curtain on what it takes to carefully craft an interior that is optimized for comfort, safety and style, whether you’re on board for a one-hour domestic hop or an 18-hour trip to the other side of the world. 

We spoke with two teams who play a key part in the product strategy and engineering aspect of a nose-to-tail cabin redesign about how an aircraft is turned into a welcoming sky-high sanctuary. 

MEET THE TEAMS 

Responsible for on-board product strategy and vision, the Onboard Experience (OBX) team works with Delta engineers, maintenance technicians, flight attendants, commercial teams, design firms and other stakeholders to design everything onboard an aircraft that is considered a hard product.

“If you were to turn the airplane upside down and shake it, what stays is considered hard product,” said Michael Steinfeld, Manager – Onboard Product at Delta. “We’re responsible for the look and feel of the entire cabin – everything from seat design to the colors of the wall and carpet.” 

Whether it’s designing new seats, configuring or retrofitting aircraft with our next generation products or activating a cabin redesign across the entire fleet, launching a hard product takes time – anywhere from two to four years just for designing and concepting.   

For the OBX team, the first two years of the cabin redesign project involved canvassing Delta’s fleet, interviewing customers and crew members about their travel journeys, and taking note of all the different aircraft variations. This was followed by workshopping: a long process that required looking at thousands and thousands of samples, from walls, carpet and seat material to metal trim and even down to the screws. 

It took four years of intensive work to produce a timeless look that reflects Delta's 100-year heritage and can fit every aircraft in the airline's diverse fleet.   

If the OBX team sees the vision, the Cabin Engineering team executes it, and the two teams come together to select the best products that will both improve the customer experience and stand up to the daily rigors of the operation. 

“When suppliers show us product offerings, the OBX team looks at those through a customer experience lens – what features do they have and what it offers customers,” said Alexandra Douglas, General Manager – Cabin Engineering and Programs at Delta. “From our team’s lens, we ask how reliable is it? How well does it stand up to the rigors of travel? How accessible are certain items?” 

Marrying engineering with maintenance and customer feedback, the Cabin Engineering team runs the gamut of supporting day-to-day needs, to minor configuration updates, to running cabin-based projects.

The team’s efforts are also spent mitigating risk and providing products and materials that will help reduce the number of repairs needed. This can mean looking at materials with a heavily critical eye to ensure full compliance and safety as well as developing customized test criteria with manufacturers.