Delta Airlines
Delta Air Lines is a United States airline that holds its headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. Its main hubs are at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, John F. Kennedy International Airport and Salt Lake City International Airport.
Its predecessor was the Huff Daland Dusters founded in Macon, Georgia in 1924 and became the first aerial crop dusting company in the world. The following year, the company was moved to Monroe, Louisiana. In 1928, Collett E. Woolman bought Huff Daland and changed its name to Delta Air Service. Its headquarters was moved from Monroe to Atlanta in 1941.
Delta Air Lines employs around 75,000 including its mainline operations and subsidiaries which include Comair, Compass Airlines, Delta Shuttle, Delta AirElite, Mesaba Airlines and newly-acquired Northwest Airlines.
The Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines merger was approved by the United States Department of Justice on October 29, 2008. Delta is the 100% owner of Northwest and plans to gradually phase out the Northwest brand name and replace it with Delta’s name and brand. While the integration is still being undertaken, the two airlines will fly under their own brand names.
Delta Air Lines is one of the founding members of SkyTeam, the second largest airline alliance in the world launched in June of 2000.
Domestic and International Destinations
Delta Air Lines operates flights to 461 destinations in 96 countries, particularly to North and South America, Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, Europe, Oceania and the Middle East. It has a fleet size of 452 aircraft.
International destinations include Luanda in Angola; Sal in Cape Verde; Malabo in Equatorial Guinea; Cairo in Egypt; Accra in Ghana; Nairobi in Kenya; Monrovia in Liberia; Abuja and Lagos in Nigeria; Dakar in Senegal; Cape Town and Johannesburg in South Africa; Shanghai in People’s Republic of China; Tokyo in Japan; Seoul in South Korea; Mumbai in India; Tel Aviv in Israel; Amman in Jordan; Kuwait City in Kuwait; Dubai in United Arab Emirates; Brussels in Belgium; Prague in Czech Republic; Copenhagen in Denmark; Lyon, Nice and Paris in France; Berlin, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Munich and Stuttgart in Germany; Athens in Greece; Budapest in Hungary; Dublin and Shannon in Ireland; Milan, Pisa, Rome and Venice in Italy; Amsterdam in Netherlands; Bucharest in Romania; Moscow in Russia; Barcelona, Madrid, Malaga and Valencia in Spain; Stockholm in Sweden; Zurich in Switzerland; Istanbul in Turkey; Kiev in Ukraine; London, Manchester and Edinburgh in United Kingdom; Vancouver and Toronto in Canada; San Jose del Cabo, Mexico City, Acapulco, Guadalajara, Puerto Vallarta, Cancun and Cozumel in Mexico; St. John’s in Antigua; Oranjestad in Aruba; Nassau in Bahamas; Bridgetown in Barbados; Hamilton in Bermuda; Grand Cayman in Cayman Islands; Punta Cana, San Felipe de Puerto Plata; Santiago de los Caballeros and Santo Domingo in Dominican Republic; Montego Bay and Kingston in Jamaica; Kradlendijk in Bonaire; Willemstad in Curacao; Philipsburg in Saint Maarten; San Juan in Puerto Rico; Saint Kitts in Saint Kitts and Nevis; Vieux-Fort in Saint Lucia; Port of Spain in Trinidad; Scarborough in Tobago; Providenciales in Turks and Caicos Islands; Saint Thomas in United States Virgin Islands; Belize City in Belize; Liberia and San Jose in Costa Rica; San Salvador in El Salvador; Guatemala City in Guatemala; Roatan, San Pedro Sula and Tegucigalpa in Honduras; Managua in Nicaragua; Panama City in Panama; Sydney in Australia; Guam; Buenos Aires in Argentina; Fortaleza, Manaus, Recife, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo in Brazil; Santiago in Chile; Bogota in Colombia; Guayaquil and Quito in Ecuador; Georgetown in Guyana; Lima in Peru and Caracas in Venezuela.
In the US, Delta Air Lines operates flights to Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Washington D.C. area, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
In-flight Services
By summer of 2009, around 330 Delta aircraft would be ready to offer internet access particularly in MD88/90 and Boeing 737, 757 and 767-300 flying domestically.
Delta Air Lines has special meals for First and Economy class such as Asian, baby, child, bland, diabetic, gluten-free, kosher, low-sodium, Muslim, seafood and vegetarian. For special meal requests, passengers should inform the Reservations 12 hours (if it’s Kosher, at least 24 hours) before flight departure. You must also inform the gate agent and a flight attendant about the special meal that you ordered.
Entertainment such movies, TV and radio programs; power outlets for recharging your gadgets; ultra-comfortable business class, lie flat seats and onboard shopping are just some of the in-flight services.
SkyMiles and SkyTeam
Delta Air Lines’ frequent flyer programme was called “Frequent Flyer Program” when it was created in 1981. It was renamed SkyMiles in 1995. With various partnerships in place, SkyMiles was chosen as the “best frequent flyer program” in the Best in Business Travel Awards.
Delta has partnerships with Delta Connection and Delta Shuttle. It is a founding member of SkyTeam airline alliance which at present counts 11 as members (when Northwest Airlines is fully integrated with Delta Air Lines, it will be down to 10 full members). Depending on the frequent flyer programme of the member airline, benefits of SkyTeam membership include priority reservations waitlisting, priority airport standby, priority boarding, priority baggage handling, priority airport check-in, preferred seating, guaranteed reservations on sold out flights, additional baggage allowance, express airport security and airport lounge access.
Aside from SkyTeam airlines, Delta also has frequent flyer partnership with Alaska Airlines, Avianca, China Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, Singapore Airlines and U.S. Helicopter.
SkyMiles has three levels of membership namely: Silver Medallion, Gold Medallion and Platinum Medallion. Benefits include mileage bonus, upgrades for the member and companion, award ticket fee waiver, same-day confirmed fee waiver, international airport lounge access, check-in privileges, frequent traveller security line access and SkyTeam benefits.