Delta is offering wine in a can and is reducing single use plastic in a series of changes to its onboard offering. The airlines is adding ‘artisan-made amenity kits, recycled bedding, reusable and biodegradable service ware and premium canned wine’.
Delta says the new products will collectively reduce onboard single-use plastic consumption by approximately 4.9 million pounds per year –the weight of 1,500 standard-sized cars – as well as “significantly increasing Delta’s support of minority- and women-run businesses”.
Among the changes are two new aluminium-canned wines from Imagery Estate Winery, a Sonoma winery led by award-winning winemaker Jamie Benziger. In 2019, Jamie was named Best Winemaker at the International Women’s Wine Competition and named to Wine Enthusiast’s 40 Under 40 list.
Delta will offer Imagery’s Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay onboard starting with select domestic flights in January, expanding to all U.S. domestic flights later this year. The wine’s aluminium packaging reduces annual plastic use by up to 250,000 pounds. Imagery’s wines are also sustainably grown, as certified by the California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance.
Over 2021, Delta served more locally sourced menu items, and introduced a beverage lineup that spotlights the first US Black-owned distillery, Du Nord Social Spirits.
In Delta One business class, new amenity Kits are by Mexican apparel brand and Certified B Corporation Someone Somewhere. The airline says that the partnership “has created jobs for more than 250 people in five of Mexico’s most vulnerable states.”
The kit eliminates five single-use plastic items such as zippers and packaging, reducing plastic use by up to 90,000 pounds on an annual basis. Someone Somewhere’s artisanal production processes also eliminate waste and utilise regenerated cotton.
The new kits will launch onboard at the beginning of February and will contain sustainable, wellness-focused products including a Someone Somewhere eye mask, Grown Alchemist natural lip balm and hand lotion, and a Humble Co. bamboo toothbrush. Both Grown Alchemist products onboard will transition to aluminium packaging in April 2022.
The bedding in the Delta One business class has also changed, with the bedding sets now made with more than 100 recycled plastic bottles, which will use 25 million recycled bottles annually. The airline is among the first to use 100 per cent recycled polyester (rPET) 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 sets began appearing on board in December 2021.
For dining, Delta is replacing plastic waste by introducing products made from natural and recycled materials, including bamboo cutlery for domestic First Class fresh packaged meals and on select international flights. Later this year, all international Main Cabin customers will also see new crockery made from biodegradable material, bamboo cutlery and a premium paper placemat. to replace and reduce plastic usage. When the project is complete later this year, the transition will reduce annual plastic use by up to 4.3 million pounds. In 2018, Delta removed a variety of single-use plastic items onboard, including stir sticks, service ware wrappers, and straws.
“Delta has always put people at the centre of everything we do,” said Amelia DeLuca, V.P. of Sustainability. “It’s this people-first focus that led Delta to source new products onboard 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 onboard are the latest way we’re living out this commitment.”
“Decisions we make on every aspect of our product are opportunities to make good on two core promises: to deliver exceptional customer experiences and build a better future for people and our planet,” said Allison Ausband, E.V.P. and Chief Customer Experience Officer. “These latest additions deliver something unique to our customers, reduce our environmental impact and enable job creation for the communities we serve around the world.”
