Delta’s Quirky Way to Service First Class
Before Quarantine, I was flying back on a Delta Airlines flight from Detroit to Seattle, eagerly awaiting my meal while sitting in the bulkhead, row 1.
As I took off my new Bose headphones to talk to the flight attendant, she just walked right by me to the back of the cabin. Say What?!
Turns out, as much as I’ve flown on Delta (I’m almost a one million miler), they’ve got a type of service called FEBO. Most flight attendants follow it, and its important to know before you choose your seat if you want your choice of meals.
FEBO Serving Status
I chatted up with a flight attendant after service, and she let me know that she’s been doing the FEBO service for years. FEBO, or Front Even Back Odd, means that on even numbered flights, you’ll get service from the front first. On the odd numbered flights, you’ll get service from the back first.
As I was flying on flight 977, she started from the back of the cabin, walking right on by.
What does this mean for you? If you’re always getting stuck with the leftovers, make sure that you sit hear wherever they’re going to be serving first.
Also, Delta allows pre-selection of meals before you fly, including vegetarian, kosher, and all special meals.
Covid Restrictions
FLIGHTS MORE THAN 350 MILES:
- All passengers will be able to enjoy a snack selection.
- Beverages will be limited to individual 8.5 oz bottled water only in all cabins.
- No alcohol, plastic cups or ice will be available at this time.
- Meal preselect and special meal service is temporarily suspended.
FLIGHTS MORE THAN 900 MILES:
- Passengers seated in First Class or Delta One® will receive individually packaged Flight Fuel boxes in addition to snacks.
- Customers traveling in Main Cabin or Delta Comfort+ will be able to enjoy a selection of snacks.
- Beverages will be limited to individual 8.5 oz bottled water only in all cabins with additional bottles available upon request.
- No alcohol, plastic cups or ice will be available at this time.
- Meal preselect and special meal service is temporarily suspended.
Onboard service across all long-haul international flights include only the following:
Delta One:
- Pre-departure beverage offering will be individual bottled water.
- Choice of entrée, bread and dessert selection.
- Full selection of beverage offerings, including beer, spirits and a limited selection of wine.
Hopefully things will be back to normal soon!
June 7, 2020
How is this even remotely news?
Delta has been doing this since mid April. Nothing you wrote is new, just clickbait.
June 7, 2020
Let me know the links to your blog as well so I can read all your cool posts. Thanks!
June 7, 2020
Is there any operational benefit of this? This would infuriate me, at least I know on UA that as a GS I get my first choice every time.
June 7, 2020
Supposedly they’re supposed to ask diamonds first but. Who knows if it happens.
June 7, 2020
How the hell is handing someone an 8oz. bottled water more safe than handing someone a 12 can of beer? It’s not. There is no reason for this nonsense. Thd f/a’s must love it….especially on AA…now they can stay glued to the jumpseat and complain about the company for 100% of the flight instead of the standard 90%. The Ryanair-ization of US airlines is finally here
June 7, 2020
I would agree – they say its for cost cutting, which I understand, an lets be honest, its not for safety, it is to save money. Plain and simple.
June 8, 2020
Yes, I think cost savings is a big component of it. But I would argue there is also a safety element. We are supposed to be socially distancing right now, as much as possible. The longer the interactions we have with a flight attendant, the bigger the risk. Having a conversation with a flight attendant about what is available, what we want, etc, increases our interaction time. By having one option, we limit our interactions. When I flew recently, I was happy to have very little one on one time with the FA.
It would great if Delta would allow ordering drinks through the IFE–that could help reduce interactions. Though, if they served alcohol, I think people would have their masks off for longer periods of time.
June 9, 2020
like Virgin did before they got eaten up by Alaska?
June 8, 2020
Yes, I’ve used this for years in my seat selection to make sure I get first choice since I want to avoid the “carb” meal selection. However, in my experience, they have forgotten about it approx. 25 – 30% of the time. Or maybe they forget about it 50 – 60% of the time and the coin toss gets it right half the time!
Also: now that you’re approaching 1 million miles, I think you may have another post soon: how long it takes you to get your million mile “gift” and how many hoops you have to jump through. I fought for 8 weeks to get my 2 Million mile gift, and that’s where I learned that Delta has no executive responsible for customer service/experience. I ended up emailing the Tumi CEO (I chose luggage) to take care of it, and then got my gift the next day (direct from Tumi). There’s a message there.
But I digress……Keep the faith! We’ll figure this out eventually.
June 8, 2020
Beau! Good to hear from you 🙂 I just hope that I actually get to million mile by flying and not by credit cards. I want a celebration on the plane!
June 9, 2020
WTH! I just finished a weekend trip to Virginia, all first class and there was plenty of drinking going on. Anything you wanted, and as much, just had to ask. Even on the 9am flight out of DCA the gal across from me had a vodka – orange juice. On the longer flights, even in economy, the flight attendants seemed agreeable to gettting the passengers drinks.