Delta vs Southwest: is even it possible for two airlines to be MORE different?

Whether you need some help trying to figure out which airline to take for your next trip, or you’re simply doing research for a paper due tomorrow morning (shame on you) – this Delta vs Southwest comparison has you covered.

Can Delta Air Lines and Southwest Airlines even considered to be competitors? After all, Southwest is one of the original low-cost carriers in the United States, and Delta has always taken pride in being a full-fare carrier catering to the need of premium passengers.

While that may have been especially true back in the 80s and 90s, it’s less of a thing nowadays. Southwest has grown into a mature and innovative airline, and has been chipping at the heels of mainline carriers such as Delta, United, and American. They are absolutely going after the same customers on domestic routes here in the United States.

Delta vs Southwest: a brief summary of all the differences

Upon first thought, it may seem to most that Delta and Southwest are two completely different kinds of airlines. And you know what? That isn’t the wrong way to think.

These are two of the largest airlines in the United States, but they are so different that I’m racking my brain (really hard) trying to come up with ways they are similar. Coming up with a list of all the differences is the easy part:

Similarities

• Both airlines operate a fleet of 700+ aircraft
• Both have operating bases in Atlanta and Los Angeles
• Both airlines have what I consider to be the best in-flight entertainment products of all the major US airlines. 
• Believe it or not, flying to Hawaii on Southwest Airlines is almost as good as flying to Hawaii in Delta economy.
• Both airlines offer an ‘extra legroom’ economy product with premium snacks and drinks (called Comfort Plus on Delta and Extra Legroom on Southwest).
• Both airlines offer passengers the option to pre-select a seat at the time of booking. It didn’t always used to be this way, as it was only recently that Southwest moved away from the open seating policy.

Differences

• Delta uses a hub and spoke model for their route network, while Southwest is a point-to-point carrier.
• Delta has a wide variety of aircraft in their fleet, while Southwest focuses solely on the Boeing 737.
• Delta has a large international route network serving 50+ countries. Southwest’s international market on the other hand, is much smaller and more closer to home (places like Central America and the Caribbean).
• Delta offers first class on domestic and short haul international routes. Southwest does not.
• Delta has a large number of international airline partners and is part of the SkyTeam network. Southwest is going at it alone and is not part of any joint ventures or airline alliances.

In a nutshell, Delta focuses more on being an airline for everyone. Southwest focuses more on doing one thing and one thing only: offering a simple and consistent product at a (relatively) low price.

Delta vs Southwest seat comparison

For the sake of this comparison, I’m going to be focusing on economy seats only. Even though Delta offers a variety of seat types on nearly all of its aircraft, there’s no point in comparing a Delta first class seat with a standard Southwest Airlines economy seat.

Delta standard economy seats

Much like Southwest, Delta does a pretty good job of making sure that they have a consistent basic economy product offering across every aircraft type that they fly.

The standard Delta Airlines economy seat is really nice. It features a large and very responsive personal video screen stocked with a massive catalog of TV shows and videos. Plus music!

Delta Comfort Plus seats

Just has how Southwest does it, Delta’s extra legroom economy seat (officially referred to as Comfort Plus) is the same seat they use for basic economy. It features approximately 3 inches of additional legroom, but everything else is the same.

Southwest standard economy seats

Southwest Airlines has a pretty good basic economy seat as well. These seats are a bit more firm than what Delta offers, but at least they’re fairly comfortable and look great. The biggest downside, of course, is the fact that there are no personal video screens. They do feature USB power outlets just like the Delta seats though (a very important similarity IMHO).

Southwest Extra Legroom seats

Yes! Just has how Delta does it, Southwest does offer seats with extra legroom for initial cost. They very cleverly call this Extra Legroom.

In-flight entertainment

Both Southwest and Delta offer in-flight entertainment (as well as WiFi). Delta is far more generous with thier offering, but you won’t be totally bored out of your mind on Southwest.

Delta in-flight entertainment

On Delta, you’ll get a personal video screen at every seat (except on the 717-200). Delta Studio is the name of thier in flight video product, which features hundreds of movies and TV shows on demand. WiFi is available on most aircraft as well.

Southwest Airlines in-flight entertainment

Similar to Delta, both movies and TV shows are available on Southwest. However, it’s a streaming service (as opposed to having a video screen at every seat) and you can only access it via your personal device. Access to this streaming service is complimentary.

Food comparison

Unlike a Southwest vs JetBlue comparison, comparing Delta food vs Southwest food isn’t even fair in my opinion. This is primarily because delta airlines has an extensive menu available for most flights stocked with items that you can purchase (for an exorbitant amount).

Southwest, on the other hand, doesn’t have that much to offer. Their drink menu is pretty good, but they don’t offer much in terms of snacks or substantial food items compared to Delta.

Delta Air Lines food

Delta offers complementary drinks and snacks in economy on most flights. Alcohol isn’t free of course, but do you really need anything other than a Biscoff cookie and a Diet Coke on your 3 hour flight to Atlanta?

Delta will also be very happy to serve you an extremely expensive and not-so-substantial snack from their in-flight menu. While I applaud them for offering such a service, I can tell you from experience but it’s not worth spending the money unless you’re absolutely dying of hunger and there’s danger of not surviving the duration of the flight. Otherwise, save your money.

Passengers in comfort plus will get a complementary premium snack and drink. Don’t get too excited though. Yes, this does mean that alcohol is free, but the snack isn’t all that substantial.

Southwest Airlines food

Just like on Delta, you’ll get a free snack and a drink on Southwest. Alcohol is available for an extra cost, unless you splurge on an Extra Legroom seat. At the time of this writing, Southwest does not offer a food for purchase program on any flights.

Why would you choose Delta over Southwest?

The overlap between Delta and Southwest is becoming greater as the years go on. Both are incredibly good airlines offering consistently good service to all the places that people want to go. But why would you choose one over the other?

Choose Delta if:

• You’re an international traveler in need of an airline that can take you all over the world
• You’re a premium business traveler who’s company will pay for domestic first class
• You’re a very frequent flyer who is interested in obtaining status and points on a global airline alliance
• You can’t stand the idea of not being able to watch TV or movies on a big screen while on a flight
• You want better food options

Choose Southwest if:

• You’re a price-conscious traveler who is always looking for the best deal. Southwest isn’t always the cheapest, but they’re typically cheaper than Delta.
• You want to avoid the hassle of flying through a massive airline hub. Southwest is largely a point-to-point carrier, meaning that there’s less of a chance of having to change planes at a major hub.