Look: USA TODAY’s exclusive preview of Delta’s new airplane interiors

ATLANTA – As Delta Air Lines nears its hundredth anniversary (it was incorporated as a crop dusting service, Huff Daland Dusters, in 1925 and flew its first passenger flights four years later) it has plans for a major overhaul of its cabin interiors. 
While the physical seats and cabin layouts are staying the same for now, the onboard color scheme and finishes are getting updated. 
USA TODAY got an exclusive preview of the new look at Delta’s headquarters in Atlanta in September. While it will be a few years before the entire fleet is overhauled, the first plane featuring the new aesthetic – a 27-year-old Boeing 757 – is set to take off in commercial service in the next few weeks. 
Here’s what customers can expect to see as the airline transitions to its new look. 
Delta’s new aesthetic is focused on finishes, so as the overhauls happen, seats will be reupholstered and coverings on aircraft bulkheads and lavatory interiors will be swapped out, as will carpets and other flooring. 
“We’re not changing the number of seats on an airplane, we’re not changing the configuration, we’re not changing how many (lavatories) you have. It’s all what we refer to as trim and finish,” Alex Douglas general manager of Technical Operations at Delta told USA TODAY. 
But the changes will still be noticeable to passengers, especially at their seats which will have the biggest updates. 
In Delta One business class, seats will be covered in a new navy blue and gray fabric with red accents. Delta executives say the shift from leather to more breathable fabric on the airline’s lie-flat seats will make for a more comfortable sleeping experience. 
Throughout the rest of the cabin, from domestic first class to economy, seats are being redone as well, with darker, sleeker leathers and smoother textures throughout. 
Main cabin seats will also get a pocket upgrade, with extra storage compartments on every seatback. 
Mauricio Parise, Delta’s vice president of brand experience, said the airline thought a lot about how to make their cabin interiors more relaxing with these new finishes. 
“One of the geneses of the work and the brief we gave is once you get in the plane, we need to decelerate you. We want our customers to have their anxiety low and a place that is calm,” he said. “How can we create something that uses the colors in a way that it’s calming?” 
Beyond the seats, that includes darker colors with more muted patterns on forward bulkheads and warmer interior lighting. 
Delta’s executives said they even conducted “selfie tests” of the new look, to make sure those onboard social media posts will come out looking crisp and natural.  
Different airplane sub-fleets at the airline will also get varying degrees of work. 
“Not everything will get new product. It’s really going to be where is it at in its phase of lifecycle, what level of investment are we going to make at Delta?” Douglas said, explaining that, for example, many planes will just get new seat cushions and covers, and not entirely new seats. 
“It’s more like a refresh of those products,” she said. 
One sub-fleet that is getting new seats is the 757-S, which currently features lie-flat Delta One seats, but will receive recliner-style domestic first-class seats during the overhaul. 
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Douglas said the total overhaul could take up to seven years, but may be finished sooner. She said the priority is to align the interior work with scheduled aircraft maintenance to minimize costs and also to reduce the time individual aircraft have to be grounded for renovations.
“We don’t want to take aircraft out of service or create disruptions to the schedule so for us it’s about where is the most sensible place to do that work.” 
The first plane to feature the new look will be a 27-year-old Boeing 757, set to reenter service with the new finishes in the coming weeks. 
“Delta has a commitment to refresh our planes every so often,” Parise said. “Symbolically, this is a great story because it shows the commitment to make a 27-year-old plane and make it look like this, like it’s coming (new) from Seattle.” 
The average aircraft age across Delta’s fleet is about 15 years, though it has a mix of older and newer planes.  
Later in the year, a factory-fresh Airbus A350 will roll off the assembly line with the new look and Delta will begin retrofitting older aircraft in the meantime. Going forward, all new planes that enter the Delta fleet will have the new interiors installed for delivery. 
Because the transition is going to take several years, Delta said customers may not be sure what to expect when they board their flights.  
“Generally, customers understand this is an airline with more than 1,000 airplanes,” Parise said. “If you end up on a new plane, you’re going to be pleasantly surprised and happy but if you’re on an old plane it’s also a good experience.” 
Douglas noted that from an operational perspective, the finishes don’t affect the flying. While customers may come to prefer the updated seats, planes before and after their overhaul will have the same layout, so a last-minute aircraft swap won’t result in any downgrades or bumping, so long as the flight is operated by the same kind of plane. 
“While you’re in flux there’s a lot of complexity. As you turn fleets on and off, you’ll have some aircraft in the fleet that aren’t done yet and some that are,” she said. 
Airlines often emphasize how any changes they make result in increased sustainability and these updates at Delta are no different. 
“Can I reduce the amount of finishes or colors or textures on the airplane because that reduces my overall material consumption?” Douglas said. “We’ve harmonized in on a materials catalog so going forward we’ve not got lots and lots of unique surfaces and materials.” 
She emphasized that by reducing the number of finishes the airline uses, and by selecting patterns that are easier to work with, Delta will be able to cut down on material waste going forward.  
(This story was updated to correct a misspelling/typo.)
Zach Wichter is a travel reporter for USA TODAY based in New York. You can reach him at [email protected]