Take a peek inside Delta’s first take away Sky Club concept

If you’ve recently tried entering the Delta Sky Club, chances are you’ve been waiting in line.

When Sky Clubs Go On suffer from overload – an annoying problem for many others Popular airport lounges — the airline is testing a new solution: opening takeout terminals to help passengers disembark quickly.

The concept debuted earlier this month, with one outpost at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) in Concourse B and one at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in Concourse B, like TPG first reported. Now, we have some more details on what you can expect.

Flyers who want to skip the line can head to the lounge, where they’ll be greeted by a receptionist offering a fast track ticket (yellow) to get in front of the queue, according to TPG’s Clint Henderson, who arrived. visit Sky Club at JFK on Tuesday.

By obtaining this ticket, you agree to give up a seat in the lounge, if one becomes available.

Once you have your ticket, you can enter the lobby, where there is a takeout counter. You can choose from a small selection of sandwiches, salads, veggie cups and more that are refrigerated.

There are also a variety of snacks — such as Miss Vickie’s chips, hard fruit, Nature Valley bars, and packaged nuts — and non-alcoholic beverages, including bottled water and branded soft drinks. Coke. Tea and coffee making facilities are also available.

In fact, the ticket price at the to-go counter is very similar to the price Delta offers at its counter. Sky Club Express Outpost in Boston and New York. These are larger, temporary lounges with a number of other amenities, including a bar.

Like at Sky Club Express, Delta offers branded brown bags to encourage passengers to bring food before leaving the lounge. As mentioned, you can’t go back in line to get to the Sky Club after that — the goal of the concept is to minimize lines and keep you on track.

For some passengers, this take-away concept will certainly make sense. If you want to get to the airport right before departure and grab a quick snack or coffee on your way to the gate, your experience will be easier and more seamless than ever.

That said, if you want to relax and enjoy Sky Club facilities (including restrooms), you still need to wait in line.

“If the goal is to reduce crowding, it doesn’t really work,” Clint noted when he visited. He observed that very few Tuesday afternoon passengers took advantage of the option, but perhaps that was simply because not enough tourists knew about it yet.

For now, Delta isn’t ready to roll out the take-out Sky Clubs more widely. Based on how the pilot walks, the airline will open more of these concepts nationwide — and not necessarily only in existing Sky Clubs, according to Claude Roussel, Delta’s chief executive officer of Sky Clubs. This way, passengers will have more lounge options when flying with Delta, and the airline won’t have to find huge spaces in the busiest airports to build more formal lounges.

The take-away concept for airport lounges has grown in popularity in recent years. Major airlines — including Air Canada, Lufthansa and United Airlines — have embraced the idea, opening dedicated food and drink lounges at some of their busiest hubs.

Meanwhile, Capital One’s First Lounge at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) there is a special takeout refrigerator filled with juices, sandwiches and other specially packaged snacks for consumption before or during the flight.

Somewhat surprisingly, Chase is about to open its first domestic store Sapphire Lounge in Bostonbut this newly built club doesn’t offer any take away option.

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