- American Airlines and Delta Air Lines followed two different approaches to the pandemic.
- Delta has been blocking the middle seats since April 2020, while the Americans have never adopted the policy.
- I undertook three flights with both airlines in 2021 to see how the two deal with social distance in the air.
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Prior to the pandemic, American Airlines and Delta Air Lines were the two largest airlines in the United States, generating billions in revenue each year and boasting the largest fleet of any global airline. Both offered similar products, with a choice between factors such as customer preference, price and loyalty.
However, the gap between them widened during the pandemic, thanks to one important factor: safety. While Delta has blocked the middle seats for most of 2020, American has already submitted its aircraft in the summer.
I flew on both carriers in June 2020 on my first trip back to the air since the pandemic began, and found that Delta was a better face than the American, mainly because of the first’s above and beyond approach to safety. But as we enter a new year in aviation recovery, I wanted to see how the two things are going almost one year since COVID-19 improved aviation.
On a recent trip, I took three flights through both airlines, from New York to Miami with American and then from Houston, Texas to Los Angeles via Salt Lake City on Delta. The result was surprising, especially since the U.S. still sees COVID-19 deaths and a slow explosion of the vaccine.
Here’s which one pandemic will fly best in 2021.