Delta said it is increasing the number of premium seats as it continues to outpace main cabin revenue growth.
“Next year will be a record number of premium seats in 2026,” said Delta president Glen Hauenstein. “Actually, main cabin domestic will be flat to slightly down.”
Delta executives were speaking at the Morgan Stanley 13th Annual Laguna Conference on September 11, 2025.
For the second quarter of 2025, Delta’s main cabin revenue was down 5.5%, while premium revenue cabin was up 4.7%.
“[Delta has] well over 50% of our revenue is not tied to the main cabin, tied to premium products and services, ancillary revenues, card spend,” said Hauenstein. “We've got a more diverse revenue stream now than we’ve ever had.”
He added that Delta will continue to make “premium products more accessible”, with more products and services expected in Autumn.
In addition to premium, the airline said it is seeing “robust demand” for its premium credit cards. “The more premium it is, the more consumers seem to want it,” said Hauenstein. “We’ve had really great successes with our high-end cards and working now to re-engineer or inject value into the lower-end cards so that people can lifecycle through those. Right now, most of the acquisitions in terms of the spend are coming at the very top end.”
The airline expects 2025 to be a record year for credit card remuneration. In 2024, its remuneration was up 14% on the previous year to nearly $2bn.
“We have spend up double digits in the quarter and with August being the strongest month within the quarter,” Hauenstein continued.
Corporate sales – while not surpassing pre-pandemic levels – has seen “very strong corporate demand” in autumn, with record sales numbers recorded in September.
Delta reported prior to the conference that it expects its third quarter guidance to be in the upper half of its July guidance range, with revenues expected to be up 2 to 4%. The company had reinstated its guidance range after pulling guidance in early April amid economic uncertainties and a US-led tariff trade conflict.
“It’s a year that has unfolded differently from what we thought,” said Delta CFO Dan Janki. “It’s really demonstrated Delta’s differentiation and durability.”
Hauenstein said that much of the “hesitation” when tariffs were introduced have started to unwind.