Delta will resume selling middle seats on May 1, ending the social-distancing policy after more than a year as a rising pace of Covid-19 vaccinations spurs a US travel rebound. In another sign of normalization, expanded offerings of onboard snacks, cocktails and other beverages will restart next month, Delta said Wednesday. The company is also extending the validity of tickets purchased in 2020 and 2021 through the end of next year, and adding more time for travelers to use some benefits earned through the Delta credit card. The Atlanta-based airline is restoring elements of its pre-pandemic service amid rising evidence of a long-expected resurgence in travel demand as consumers seek to escape a year of staying close to home. With rivals American and United saying their planes are now flying as much as 80% full, Delta will become the last major US carrier to resume selling all of the seats in its cabins. The decision to stop blocking middle seats was based in part on “the knowledge that nearly 65% of those who flew Delta in 2019 anticipate having at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine by May 1,” Delta CEO Ed Bastian said. Masks will continue to be required during flights, the carrier said.<br/>
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Delta CEO Ed Bastian on Wednesday blasted a controversial GOP-backed Georgia voting law after facing backlash on social media for not coming out strongly enough against the new rules. The bill, signed by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp last week, is set to require identification for absentee voting, limit ballot drop boxes and prohibit offering food or water to voters in line. President Joe Biden called the bill “Jim Crow in the 21st century.” “Last week, the Georgia legislature passed a sweeping voting reform act that could make it harder for many Georgians, particularly those in our Black and Brown communities, to exercise their right to vote,” Bastian said in a staff memo Wednesday. “Since the bill’s inception, Delta joined other major Atlanta corporations to work closely with elected officials from both parties, to try and remove some of the most egregious measures from the bill,” Bastian wrote. “We had some success in eliminating the most suppressive tactics that some had proposed. However, I need to make it crystal clear that the final bill is unacceptable and does not match Delta’s values.”<br/>