Delta Air Lines, KLM, and Air France are all Skyteam members and offer hundreds of Trans-Atlantic flights per week. Because of the close relationship these airlines have, it’s often the same price to fly any of the three on the same route. Delta, KLM, and Air France are what’s called joint venture partners. This means they share the costs and profits of all flights on these routes. This is all background information for many and most travelers simply want to know what Skyteam airline(KLM vs Air France vs Delta) has the best business class.
Delta brands it’s business class product as “Delta One.” Despite the name sounding like a First Class product, Delta One is business class. Air France is simply uses the name “Business Class” for it’s product. KLM has the branding of “World Business Class” for it’s long haul products.
I’ve had the opportunity to ride on Delta, Air France, and KLM in the recent past and figured I’d give my opinion on who has the best business class between the three Skyteam partners. Truthfully Delta vs Air France vs KLM is really hard to chose, they are all great products.
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When it comes to business class seating, the particular aircraft is very important. For example, Air France has amazing business class and bad business class, it just depends on what plane you’re riding on. This is also true to a lesser extent on KLM and Delta. In business class, the most important thing is seat comfort.
On average Delta has the best business class seats. In Delta One, every widebody plane has direct aisle access and lie flat seats. The 767-300 is probably the least attractive option. The A330Neo and A350 are the best Delta One business class options. The 767-400 is just below in comfort while the A330-200/300 are just below that.
The Air France A350 is a fantastic product, even if it doesn’t have doors like the Delta option. The 777s are hit and miss. Some are excellent with direct aisle access from every seat, others are not and feature 2-3-2 seating. Yes, in business class Air France has middle seats. I’d avoid those options.
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On the other hand, the KLM A330 has its seating arranged into 2-2-2 configuration. While not as private and obviously doesn’t have direct aisle access, the seats are comfortable and if you’re traveling with a companion, are very good.
All in, I would say Delta is a level above their Skyteam partners KLM and Air France when it comes to business class seating comfort. The best Delta seats are better than the best KLM or AF offerings. The lowest offerings from Delta are also better than the lowest offerings from KLM and AF.
In business class, the meal is often a large consideration. Not as important as seat comfort, but I’d say it’s the second most important thing. Delta, Air France, and KLM all provide a sold meal service in business class, but there are some differences. I wouldn’t say any one is better than another, but they all have their strong suites.
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With Delta’s business class meals, it’s independent of the aircraft. So even if you’re riding on a 767-300 or A350 it doesn’t matter, the meal will be exactly the same. Delta does a great job with it’s Delta One business class meal offerings. Delta offers the ability to preselect meals before the flight, I love this option as it insures they have my choice. KLM doesn’t offer this feature but Air France does.
The Delta One meals are usually tasty and well presented. Another thing that Delta does better than KLM and Air France is the beer selection. Air France does have a better wine selection than Delta though.
Air France’s business class meal service is very good. I have a bad habit of picking the wrong item from the menu. So Val’s had some fantastic meals where I’ve had mostly ok meals. Air France, like Delta, offers meal pre-selection.
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My issue is that I often order steak because I like steak, however on a plane, and even in most restaurants, steak isn’t good. I need to remember that and just pick something else. The Air France beer selection isn’t great but the wine list is very good. Champaign is also offered at pretty much all phases of the flight. All in, Air France does a good job with its business class meal offerings.
KLM has good meal service, but I don’t think it’s as strong as Delta or Air France. While AF and DL usually have 4-5 options KLM usually has 3. KLM also doesn’t offer meal pre-selection like AF and DL. Once onboard you simply order what you’d like. Unfortunately sometimes KLM does run out of your first choice but it’s not often an issue.
The actual meals on KLM tend to be very good both Val and I have enjoyed our meal selections on KLM. The only down side is the beer selection is literally just Heineken. I’m not a huge fan so I often get cocktails instead. The wine selection is decent, about the same as Delta’s and a little behind Air France.
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Delta, Air France, and KLM all offer a strong meal offering in their respective business classes. None are perfect and have both their strong and weak points. I’d gladly eat on any of them and wouldn’t make my flight decision based on the meals. All things being equal, the seat is still the largest impact on a good business class product, the meal is still a distant second.
Service in business class can be very hit and miss, sometimes a crew is just on it, other times, not so much. Delta, Air France, and KLM all have good service, but there are just differences between the three airlines.
Delta’s business class service is very good, it’s usually prompt and friendly. I would say Delta has a faster service than KLM or Air France. They serve meals and drinks from a cart to help speed things along. I honestly enjoy a fast meal service, especially on a short east bound overnight flight where my goal is to sleep.
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Air France’s business class service is extremely polished. It’s easily the best of the Skyteam North Atlantic trio. Air France just get’s everything right. The flight attendants are extremely pleasant and friendly, they do a fantastic job and just make the whole experience in business class feel special.
KLM’s business class service is very efficient. Things go quickly in a very polite Dutch way. I wouldn’t call it frilly like the Air France service, more matter of fact. KLM flight attendants are always polite and friendly, but I wouldn’t say they are talkative. They want to be very efficient with their service, providing everything you want but nothing too much extra. It’s pretty refreshing to be able to relax in a KLM seat un-interrupted.
I would have to say that Air France is the best of this Skyteam group when it comes to service. Delta and KLM are a small step below. All will take care of you and not that I don’t enjoy KL and DL’s service, it’s just that Air France does a better job. Not enough to make me fly on one of Air France’s uncompetitive 777 business class planes, but it’s always nice to know that you’ll be well looked after.
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Business class doesn’t tend to provide amazing amenities. The goal here is space and comfort, not over the top extras. What can be expected is an amenity kit, bedding, headphones, and a bottle of water. I don’t recommend the headphones of any airline, bring your own.
Delta, Air France, and KLM all pretty much provide the same amenity kit. In fact, it’s no different than basically any other airline. On longer flights Delta does offer slippers but no pajamas.
Where Delta exceeds is in their bedding offerings. The Delta One blanket and pillow are great. They don’t offer a mattress pad but the seats tend to be quite comfortable while sleeping anyway.
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In seat entertainment has become an important part of travel. While business class usually doesn’t offer better selection than economy, business class will have a larger screen for the entertainment system. This is an area that some planes are better than others, even within the same airline. Delta, KLM, and Air France all offer very good inflight entertainment options in their business class.
In seat entertainment on Delta is hit and miss. The selection is vast, but on older aircraft like the 767-300 don’t have great in seat screens.
The newer Delta aircraft like the A330Neo and the refurbished ones like the 767-400 have fantastic in seat screens along with the excellent selection. Delta also provides a remote in Delta One I like using this when laying down or on the older planes where the screen touch calibration is not accurate.
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Like Delta, Air France is a little hit and miss when it comes to in seat entertainment and it depends on the induvial aircraft. The selection on Air France isn’t nearly as large either.
On the A350 the in seat entertainment is fantastic,
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