Delta upgrades flights to avoid flying empty

New York

EVEN for an elite frequent flyer, it's a power trip to tell the pilot exactly what time to have your plane at the door, ready to go. But the most surreal thing about ditching your seat on a commercial flight for an impromptu private jet is the cabin noise: There isn't any.

"It's so quiet - I thought it'd be more like a commuter regional jet," says a clearly surprised Jeanette Rogovin, who with her husband Bruce became the first customers to upgrade from a Delta Air Lines flight to a jet operated by Delta Private Jets, a wholly owned subsidiary.