Delta will soon start upgrading some flyers to private jets

Eligible passengers will be contacted by Delta Vacations via email up to 48 hours before their flight

Delta will start its new ‘Early Valet’ service on UK routes this week after trials in the US (Getty)

Delta Airlines have come up with the antidote to the aviation manufacturer seeking to patent backwards facing seats to cram even more passengers onto planes.

The US airline wants to take its top flyers off airliners entirely with a new scheme that will see some passengers upgraded to private jets.

Eligible passengers will be contacted by Delta Vacations via email up to 48 hours before their flight and offered the upgrade for a fee, Delta said.

The fee includes transportation to the airport’s private aviation area and complimentary on-board catering and could be anywhere between $300-$800, depending on the destination, according to Bloomberg.

Before you pack your bags, check your air miles: the service is only available to Delta’s most loyal customers. Passengers with ‘medallion’ status, meaning they have flown more than 25,000 miles in a year, will now have the opportunity to fly privately on one of Delta’s 66 private jets in certain locations, when the jet is not in use.

In fact, both the hexagonal seating arrangement and Delta’s private jet upgrade seek to address the same issue: the cost of flying. By using private jets to move upgraded passengers, Delta frees up seats in airliners and monetises the costly process of relocating private jets.

The upgrades will start after Delta has patented the idea.