New ‘Sky Club Cafe’ at Delta’s JFK airport lounges offers premium meals for a fee

1 September 2010 | Freshly prepared a-la-carte restaurant dining is mainly a service offered by airlines such as Lufthansa, Air France, BA, Qantas,  and Etihad to passengers in their dedicated First Class lounges. A select number of airlines, such as Virgin Atlantic and Cathay Pacific, serve full breakfast and meals to all guests in their airport lounges, while BA and BMI offer passengers the option to dine pre-flight so they can sleep longer in the air. In general, however, full-service airlines offer their premium passengers just a light self-service buffet service on the ground. 

Responding to passengers requests for more substantial meal options in its lounges, Delta Air Lines has just opened a new café concept at four Delta Sky Club lounges at New York JFK Airport. The new full-service cafés offer made-to-order breakfast, sandwiches, salads, small plates and desserts for purchase, as well as premium beverages. Meals are USD10-15 and premium drinks USD12 and bring another source of ancillary income to Delta. The café include dedicated seating areas within the lounge, but visitors also can order from the menu and dine anywhere in the lounge. Delta emphasizes that it continues to offer members the same selection of complimentary snacks and beverages in its lounge.

Delta’s introduction of paid catering in its lounge follows earlier initiatives from American Airlines and United. Besides complimentary beverages and snacks, American offers specialty sandwiches, salads and small bite samplers for purchase in its domestic Admiral Club lounges. The menus are available for dining in the lounge or to-go in travel friendly packages. United Airlines earlier in 2010 began offering a variety of sandwiches for sale in its Red Carpet lounges at Chicago O’Hare and Los Angeles International Airport. 

Reactions to Delta’s new Sky Club Café concept offering vary. On a positive note, one flyertalk member commented: “I actually like the option of paid food, AA does this and I like the options. I’ve had great breakfasts in the privacy of the Admiral’s Clubs. If the food is decent, I think Delta is moving in the right direction here.” Other members however feared that the complimentary food and beverage offerings will be downgraded: “Call me skeptical, but I don’t like the idea unless there is NO REDUCTION in the current skyclub offering where the Cafes are present and if the Cafes actually have something decent like healthy salads, sandwiches etc. By no reduction I mean, same snacks and liquor brands, real cheese, etc as we have now. Unfortunately I just see this as getting a foot in the door to downgrading […] and then charging for what we used to get.” 

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KLM pilot gives long-haul economy passengers option to order a premium meal
ANA to monetize business class perks with ‘MyChoice’ program

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