Delta Passenger Who Splurged on 1st Class Shocked by Seat Condition

A Delta Air Lines passenger was stunned to find that the first-class seat he'd paid extra for came with red tape across a side table area saying "unserviceable—do not use."

Mike Brennan, a 36-year-old sales manager from Dearborn, Michigan, said he discovered the scene on his January 18 flight on Delta Flight 2630, which was heading from Detroit to Orlando, Florida. He shared images of the impacted seat on Reddit around two weeks ago under the username u/dankowitz in a post titled "Glad I paid extra for first class..."

Brennan told Newsweek that he paid about $540 for the first-class seat, noting "I was not aware of the condition of the seat until I physically got to it."

The images on Reddit show the red tape and the floor covering, which "kept falling over," he noted in the post, adding that the "tray table was inaccessible."

Brennan told Newsweek: "It was kind of uncomfortable eating breakfast at such a weird angle since I had to make use of what was left of the seating area."

He later alerted staff about the seat and was apparently given 2,500 points in his SkyMiles account under Delta's loyalty program on the day of his flight, before later being given an additional 10,000 points after filing a complaint.

A spokesperson for Delta told Newsweek that the company was "unable to find anything with regard to this" case, noting that they "won't be able to confirm payment amounts to individual customers, as we don't disclose customer information to those that are not the customer."

The spokesperson also noted that "non-safety impacting mechanical issues with seats, particularly those with more mechanical components like fully lie-flat seats, can happen."

However, this is "quite rare in the scope of our operation that carries more than 500,000 customers across the globe each day," the spokesperson added.

The Decline of First-Class Seating

The viral Reddit post comes as air travel continues to see strong growth after grinding to a halt at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. In November 2023, global traffic was reported to now be at 99.1 percent of November 2019 (pre-pandemic) levels, the International Air Transport Association said in January this year.

While first-class seating may be seen as the epitome of luxury, some airlines have been cutting down their first-class offerings due to dropping demand.

In October 2022, American Airlines explained that the carrier would be getting rid of first-class seats on international flights, replacing them with business-class seating, which more travelers are willing to pay for.

In a conference call with investors, Vasu Raja, the airline's chief commercial officer, reportedly said "The first class will not exist...at American Airlines for the simple reason that our customers aren't buying it," CNN reported at the time.

"The quality of the business class seat has improved so much. And frankly, by removing [first class] we can go provide more business class seats, which is what our customers most want or are most willing to pay for," Raja said.

Delta as well as United Airlines have both reportedly nearly halved their first-class seats in the last decade or so.

'A Slap in the Face...for a First-Class Experience'

According to Brennan, after alerting the flight staff about the condition of his seat, he was initially given 2,500 SkyMiles points by a flight attendant, which he saw had been added to his account upon landing.

Brennan told Newsweek that the flight attendant "first acknowledged it after the plane had taken off and she was taking drink orders. As she handed me my meal, she told me to eat it on the side table as the tray should mostly fit, and that she gave me 'some miles for the issue.'"

He noted: "I had actually kind of let it [the incident] fester," and later submitted a complaint on February 2, emailing Delta images of his seat.

He said that "2,500 miles seems like a slap in the face considering what I paid for a first class experience" in his email to Delta that he shared with Newsweek.

Delta confirmed the receipt of his complaint on February 5 in the email. The next day, Brennan received a voicemail from a Delta representative, which was also shared with Newsweek, who said they would be giving him 10,000 SkyMiles points within the next 72 hours.

According to Brennan, the 10,000 SkyMiles points were in his account around an hour after receiving the voicemail.

Asked whether he was satisfied with the form of compensation he received for his hampered first-class experience, Brennan said: "I'm not really a confrontational person. I'm usually on the opposite side of the transaction for work, so I just calmly and professionally pointed out my issue and accepted whatever I got."

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