Delta Is Bringing Back Alcohol Service for First-class and Comfort+ Passengers on Certain Flights

Delta will resume serving beer and wine to first-class and Comfort+ passengers starting July 2.

After cutting alcoholic beverage service due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Delta Air Lines announced Tuesday that passengers will begin to see complimentary alcoholic beverages make their return to the aisles in an initial rollout on Thursday.

Passengers will be able to choose from single-serve bottles of red and white wine, Heineken, Miller Lite, SweetWater 420, and SweetWater IPA, although the selection may depend on daily availability.

In order to keep person-to-person contact to a minimum, cabin crew will serve cans and bottles on a disinfected serving tray. Mixed drinks or hard liquor are still not yet available for purchase as they require more handling and therefore more contact to serve.

Alcohol will be served on flights over 500 miles. On shorter trips, other onboard service adjustments like individual snack bags instead of meals remain in place.

“In keeping with the Delta CareStandard, our goal is to serve all of our food and beverage offerings in the safest way possible – both for our customers and employees,” Allison Ausband, Delta’s Senior Vice President of In-Flight Service, said in a statement. “We take pride in always listening to our customers, and we know beer and wine are the adult beverages our customers want most. These selections are the first step towards a normalized beverage offering while we continue to keep customer and crew safety at the center of everything we do.”

Most have airlines followed similar precautions and significantly cut their food and beverage service to reduce contact between passengers and crew members.

The airline has taken several other precautions to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, like installing plexiglass barriers at airports. Delta also capped seating capacity at 60 percent in the main cabin and 50 percent in first class on all flights. The order will last through September 30.