Delta refreshes onboard product offerings

Delta is refreshing its onboard offering with more sustainable products such as artisan-made amenity kits, recycled bedding and reusable and biodegradable service ware.

According to the carrier, the products will reduce Delta’s onboard single-use plastic usage by around 4.9 million pounds per year – equivalent to the weight of 1,500 standard-sized cars.

Delta says it has deepened relationships with its suppliers in the past year, allowing the carrier to serve more locally sourced menu items.

Amelia DeLuca, VP of Sustainability, said: “Delta has always put people at the centre of everything we do. It’s this people-first focus that led Delta to source new products on board that reduce waste, bolster diverse suppliers and build communities. We want to protect our planet and the people on it, and the products we provide on board are the latest way we’re living out this commitment.”

Delta’s new amenity kits eliminate single-use plastic items such as zippers and packaging. The airline has tasked Mexican apparel brand Someone Somewhere to create the amenity kits for the carrier’s premium Delta One cabin. The company combines traditional Mexican handcrafts with innovative products and Delta says its partnership with the brand has created jobs for more than 250 people in five of Mexico’s most vulnerable states.

The new kits will be available on board from the beginning of February and will contain sustainable wellness-focused products such as a Someone Somewhere eye mask, Grown Alchemist natural lip balm and hand lotion and a Humble Co bamboo toothbrush.

Increasing sustainability on board

Delta’s new premium bedding sets are made with more than 100 recycled plastic bottles, using up 25 million recycled bottles annually. The airline is among the first to use 100% recycled polyester bedding and, combined with the new use of reusable bedding packaging, will reduce single-use plastic use by up to 260,000 pounds per year. The bedding is already in use on board.

Delta is also introducing other products made from natural and recycled materials. The airline now offers bamboo cutlery for its domestic first class fresh packaged meals and on select international flights – and its international Main Cabin customers will also see new dishware made from biodegradable materials, bamboo cutlery and a premium paper placemat later this year.

Back in 2018, Delta removed a variety of single-use plastic items on board such as stir sticks, service ware wrappers and straws. The carrier says it will also start serving two new sustainably grown aluminum-canned wines on board some coast to coast flights this month, and this will be expanded to all US domestic flights later this year. The wine’s aluminum packaging reduces annual plastic use by up to 250,000 pounds.

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