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Delta Air Lines is making the most exclusive corners of the airport harder to get into. Next year, the airline will increase the prices and requirements to gain access to its Sky Club airport lounges, spaces designed to offer flyers an escape from the traveling masses with complimentary food and drinks, workspaces, comfortable seats, and couches. Sometimes, even showers are available. Delta’s move comes after complaints from travelers about long lines and crowds at some of the Sky Clubs, as entrants to the spaces have increased through credit card deals, customers’ travel habits and lounge memberships. Starting early next year, membership packages for Delta’s lounges will only be available to members of the airline’s SkyMiles frequent flyer program who have status, one of the so-called Medallion tiers. Currently, anyone can purchase a membership. “We want to invest in our customers who invest in us,” Dwight James, Delta’s senior vice president of customer engagement and loyalty, told CNBC. James said feedback from passengers has shown they want to avoid stressful crowds and lines at the airline’s lounges. “It’s not representative of the experience they’re accustomed to,” he said of the recent crowding. James added that some of the most crowded lounges have been at hub markets such as New York and Atlanta, and that Florida has also been busy. “We have to evolve,” James said. Among other changes: Delta is raising membership fees. Starting Jan. 1, the price of an individual membership to Delta’s Sky Clubs will increase from $545 or 54,500 miles to $695 or 69,500 miles. Executive membership, which includes guests, will rise from $845 or 84,500 miles to $1,495 or 149,500 miles.<br/>

Delta has quietly introduced the first of 33 used Boeing 737s that it recently bought. The move comes amid an effort to fully recover its schedules from the pandemic despite the US pilot shortage limiting the return of many regional flights. The first of the fleet of 737-900ERs, all of which were formerly operated by Indonesian airline Lion Air, entered service between Atlanta and Panama City, Fla., on November 18, according to FlightRadar24. Delta plans to introduce another five by the end of December, and the rest of the planes monthly through October 2023. The first aircraft in operation is registered N951DX. But the 737s are entering service before they are fully refit to the Atlanta-based carrier’s specifications, Delta told flight attendants recently in a memo viewed by Airline Weekly. All of the aircraft will feature just 12 first class seats, compared to 20 in Delta’s standard layout, and amenities like inflight wi-fi and entertainment are limited to just certain aircraft. Due to these product differences the 737s will only operate on 18 routes of 500 miles or less from the airline’s Atlanta hub for the time being. Wi-fi and inflight entertainment will be fully operational on the aircraft by the spring, but reconfiguring the aircraft in Delta’s layout will not begin until 2024. The 737-900ERs are “needed quickly to support our operation,” Delta told staff. The rapid introduction comes as US carriers, including Delta, face staffing issues that have limited their recovery. The pilot shortage in particular has forced many regional airlines to temporarily park planes, particularly smaller 50-seat models, as they work to rebuild their cockpit crew ranks. But staffing issues broadly have forced many airlines, from Alaska to JetBlue and Delta, to fly less than they otherwise would have this year.<br/>