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Editorial Disclosure
Ask Delta’s chief of SkyMiles what he hears most from members, and the answer comes in two parts.
The biggest compliment? Travelers love the brand and the broader SkyMiles ecosystem Delta has built around it. For many, loyalty now extends well beyond just sitting on the airplane (or redeeming miles at less-than-ideal rates).
But then there are the complainers. (Yes, they know how to find him. His email address has been circulating on FlyerTalk threads and Reddit forums for years.)
Their biggest frustration? You probably guessed it.
Upgrades. Not enough of them.
Last year, Delta’s premium revenue jumped 9%, while economy revenue dropped 7%. Given how many premium seats Delta now sells for cash and miles, the data might suggest complimentary upgrades are a thing of the past.
But Dwight James, Delta’s senior vice president of customer engagement and loyalty, has a contrarian take. Here’s what he had to say about upgrades, lounges, thresholds — and what’s next for SkyMiles in 2026 and beyond.
Are upgrades dead?
Naturally, our conversation started with the biggest paradox in loyalty right now. With more and more travelers buying the fancy seats outright, are unlimited complimentary upgrades just a marketing promise that rarely materializes?
Across airlines and hotel programs alike, upgrades consistently rank as the most valued elite perk.
“Complimentary upgrades? Absolutely not dead,” James said emphatically. (He was clearly ready for this one.)
According to James, Delta has spent the past 12 to 18 months coordinating more closely with airport and customer service teams to ensure upgrade opportunities aren’t missed.
That means proactively clearing upgrades earlier. It also means processing upgrades more consistently when there are no-shows.
The key qualifier: it can’t disrupt an on-time departure.
As long as operations aren’t impacted, James says the directive is clear: clear the upgrades. “We’re upgrading customers at a more consistent rate than we have in quite some time,” he said. This is also due, in part, to a tighter coordination between revenue management and the loyalty teams, explained James.
Those clearance rates are proprietary, but remember that Delta considers any upgrade you receive, even if it’s from standard “Main” economy to a Comfort extra-legroom seat, to be an upgrade.
Still, Delta has spent years positioning Comfort as a meaningful premium step up, and many Medallions treat it as such.
Of course, not everyone gets upgraded. With Delta selling more premium seats than ever, the math alone suggests there are fewer leftovers to give away.
But internally, Delta says the narrative that upgrades are “dead” doesn’t align with the data.
Plus, there’s another factor at play: supply.
Premium seats are growing
Delta isn’t just talking about clearing more upgrades. It’s adding more chances at getting one.
Nearly all of the airline’s upcoming capacity growth is coming in premium cabins. More seats in Delta One, First Class, Premium Select, and Comfort mean more inventory that can be sold or gifted to Medallion members.
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“When you look at where investment is taking place, this concept of upgrades being dead really becomes something that is not real,” James explained.
That certainly doesn’t guarantee more upgrades for everyone. But structurally, more premium seats create more opportunities.
Why Delta didn’t raise elite thresholds again
After Delta announced its massive SkyMiles redesign in 2023, the backlash came quickly. Even the New York Times covered it.
Since then, I’ve wondered whether Delta has been hesitant to change status thresholds or other program dynamics for fear of backlash. (Usually, travelers’ memories don’t last that long, but this was some of the strongest backlash I’ve ever seen to a loyalty-related announcement.)
For the third year in a row, Delta is keeping its status thresholds unchanged. Why? “Frankly, because we didn’t need to.”
Despite the 2023 backlash, Delta still proceeded with major changes to the SkyMiles structure, including elite status, lounge access, and credit card benefits.
With those new foundations in place, James said that “we set the program up foundationally so that we can make it additive as opposed to something that we’re constantly churning.”
It’s basically the “rip the band-aid off” analogy.
Next frontier: partnerships
Delta has done more than any other airline in turning its core product into a brand and ecosystem that people are actually excited about.
James and his team know that, and so when pressed for examples of the type of innovation we’ll see this year, he mentioned more partnerships. “There’ll be more partnerships that we announce this year,” he said.
One early example of a successful partnership has been Uber. Nearly 2 million members have already linked their SkyMiles and Uber accounts, according to James.
But beyond that, Delta even helped Uber add dedicated drop-offs at New York’s LaGuardia Airport (LGA) for travelers, as well as other integrations designed to reduce friction.
When James thinks of partnerships, he’s not interested in short-term wins. (Maybe that’s why the Instacart partnership never worked out.) He’s looking for partners who want to invest across the entire travel experience.
Can he fix lounges?
James’ role also includes overseeing the airline’s top-notch Sky Club network. And that also means he’s the ultimate gatekeeper for getting inside.
He readily admits that the most stressful point in the travel experience is the moment you clear TSA and then start looking for the restroom, your gate, or the lounge.
And nothing adds more to your stress level than finding a line to enter the lounge.
James detailed the myriad ways that Delta is trying to address overcrowding and lines. The list is long, but here are some highlights.
- A 10-year capital plan covering expansions, remodels, and new clubs
- Light renovations to quickly add capacity
- More self-entry kiosks
- App and airport displays showing real-time lounge capacity
- Staffing adjustments to boost throughput
Noticeably missing? Access changes. James — a trained professional when it comes to answering my questions — was careful.
“It’s not imminent,” he answered when asked about upcoming access changes.
I guess time will tell.
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You are joking about people loving the Sky Miles Ecosystem. Its trash and miles are near worthless compared to other currencies. Flying Blue is great. Delta sky miles are trash
The fact that Delta treats Comfort Plus as a cabin upgrade is a huge disadvantage to members of their program. – UA and AA don’t treat it that way for elites.
If an extra legroom seat is available in your window, you can pick it. No shenanigans of hoping an ‘upgrade’ clears. SkyMiles is an uncompetitive program on so many fronts.