If you’ve ever traveled with a group of people and, more specifically, little ones, you know how important it can be to keep your group together. Delta Air Lines isn’t afraid to make seat adjustments when needed. In 2020, the airlineĀ blocked middle seat use to honor social distancing, and now the airline is blocking off whole rows to allow families and groups to travel together.
The airline is blocking a handful of rows in the main economy cabin for those traveling as a group. A Delta spokesperson confirmed to The Points Guy that the “dynamic seat-map algorithm” depends on the aircraft, route, and other factors. For the time being, for groups of people on the same reservation, three or more grouped seats will be available for selection and will not be assignable for solo travelers.
The dynamic seat-map algorithm uses historical booking and seat assignment data to piece together how many rows to hold back on a flight. The number of seats set aside for groups can change based on the flight. “For instance, flights between New York and Fort Lauderdaleāa leisure-heavy routeāshows that the airline is holding back five rows,” as reported by The Points Guy. But for shorter flights, the airline will only reserve two rows.
There’s no definitive “rule” as to how many seats will be reserved on a given flight. Delta is only blocking the last few rows on any given plane right now, though that could change over time.