“I have the opportunity to serve as Chief Marketing Officer, but 85,000 people are all brand ambassadors,” says Delta CMO Tim Mapes. “All 85,000 members of the company are selling, they’re promoting, they’re providing a brand experience in what they do each day,”
Tim Mapes, Chief Marketing Officer of Delta Airlines, recently discussed how Delta uses its army of employees in its marketing:
All 85,000 Employees Are Brand Ambassadors
One of the dynamics of being in this role of Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of Delta Airlines for ten years, when I think the average used to be 23 months, is the fact that Delta is such a values-driven organization and values transcend time. Marketing’s role within Delta is really seen to be everybody’s role. I have the opportunity to serve as Chief Marketing Officer, but 85,000 people are all brand ambassadors.
All 85,000 members of the company are selling, they’re promoting, they’re providing a brand experience in what they do each day. That’s very much conscious on our part. We share that view with everybody that we’re all having a net impression. I say often within the company, everything communicates.
Whether the flight attendants are happy, whether the coffee works, whether the lavatory is clean on the plane, whether the flights operate on time, all of that in your customer experience is a part of the net impression you have on your impression of Delta at the end of the day.
Delta is Using Data to Drive the Customer Experience
When you carry 185 million passengers a year and we know where you’re going when you’re going, whether you’re a Sky Club member, whether you have the American Express co-branded credit card, all of that data is resident in Delta.
Taking that in and knitting it together horizontally, not just so that we in the loyalty program can know that you as a Diamond flyer prefer to sit on an aisle seat and like gin and tonics, but also that the last three flights you took had your bag misdirected, so we’re able to say up or down what type of experience are we delivering.
Prosperity Coming Out of the Roots of Austerity
I think one thing that’s fascinating about Delta is you’re talking about a 90-year-old company that nonetheless in the last 10 years has experienced the best in the worst year in the history of the company. So 9/11 2001 you’ve got obviously all the fallout and the impact of that on travel and then experiencing record profits more recently.
We’ve been paying our employees profit sharing in excessive of a billion dollars a year each of the past four years so even in a short decade of time you’re seeing prosperity coming out of the roots of austerity and problems.
Delta CMO: How Cool is That…
I grew up watching really two programs that I can consciously recall. One was Mr. Rogers. People think about puppets and silliness and kind of milk toast Mr. Rogers bless his heart. The transcendent qualities that he taught in terms of respect and that you’re special just the way you are, from a hospitality perspective and a diversity and inclusion, he was way ahead of his time. In a way, with kindness and grace that the company and all of our world would do well to have more of today.
The other was Bewitched because I got to watch Darrin, and this as a kid, but he just looked like he was having fun in advertising with a great social life and great personal life. I just thought wow, advertising art that actually generates commerce. How cool is that…
T-Mobile and Delta Airlines have announced a partnership to offer free in-flight Wi-Fi, regardless of the customer’s carrier of choice.
T-Mobile customers have enjoyed free in-flight Wi-Fi for some time, but now Delta SkyMiles members will receive the same benefit. The expanded partnership between the two companies goes into effect February 1.
“At T-Mobile, we believe staying connected while traveling should be an easy, seamless experience,” said Mike Sievert, T-Mobile CEO. “T-Mobile customers already get free in-flight Wi-Fi, and now we’re partnering with Delta to bring that experience to all SkyMiles Members so that anyone flying Delta can enjoy online access from takeoff to touchdown.”
The service will first be available on domestic mainline Delta flights, with some 700 aircraft equipped by the end of 2023. The service will expand to include international and regional flights by the end of 2024.
“The ability to stay connected while seeing the world is simply foundational. Delta’s new partnership with T-Mobile signifies another exciting step forward as we lead the industry in delivering a differentiated onboard experience that’s as comfortable and personalized as sitting in your own living room,” said Delta CEO Ed Bastian.
Facebook is the latest company to push back its return-to-office date, shooting for January 2022 amid the Delta surge.
The Delta COVID variant has upended many companies plans, with a number of high-profile organizations opting to delay a return to the office, require vaccination or both. Facebook is the latest to join that club, pushing its date back to January 2022.
At the same time, the company indicated it would make decisions based on data, not arbitrary dates.
“Data, not dates, is what drives our approach for returning to the office,” the company said in a statement, according to CNBC. “Given the recent health data showing rising Covid cases based on the delta variant, our teams in the U.S. will not be required to go back to the office until January 2022. We expect this to be the case for some countries outside of the US, as well. We continue to monitor the situation and work with experts to ensure our return to office plans prioritize everyone’s safety.”
Amazon is the latest company to push back a return to the office, telling employees they won’t come back until January 2022.
Like other companies, Amazon was originally planning on employees returning in September. The rise of the Delta variant of COVID is changing those plans, with multiple companies pushing back their return dates.
Amazon is the latest to do so, and is pushing back its return date further than most. Whereas Apple, Google and Microsoft pushed theirs back to October, GeekWire reports that Amazon is pushing theirs to January 2022.
So far, Amazon has not rolled out a vaccine mandate, although it does require unvaccinated individuals to wear masks.
Microsoft joins Apple, Google, Walmart, Twitter and others in either requiring vaccination onsite, pushing back reopening or both.
As the Delta variant of COVID sweeps across the world, cases are once again surging. The surge has prompted some of the nation’s biggest companies to take additional precautions to protect employees. Apple and Google pushed back their reopening date, Twitter shuttered its offices once again, and Google and Walmart will require vaccinations of their employees.
Microsoft is now taking similar measures, telling The Verge its offices will open “no earlier than October 4th, 2021.” In addition, the company will require all employees entering a Microsoft building to be vaccinated starting in September.
Here’s the company’s statement:
As we have done since the beginning of the pandemic, we continue to closely track new developments and adapt our plans as this situation evolves, keeping employee health and safety top of mind. Based on our continued consultation with health and data experts, our earliest date for the full opening of our U.S. worksites will be no earlier than October 4, 2021. Starting in September, we’ll also require proof of vaccination for all employees, vendors, and any guests entering Microsoft buildings in the U.S., and will have an accommodation process in place for employees. We continue to review the situation on a local basis in each region/country/state where we work and will adjust dates and policies as needed.
Walmart has announced it will require some employees to be vaccinated, a response to the more contagious Delta variant.
A number of organizations have announced vaccination requirements for their employees, including Apple, Google, the NFL and others. Walmart now joins that list, requiring some of its employees to be vaccinated by October 4.
Doug McMillon, President and CEO, announced the new policy:
As we all know, the pandemic is not over, and the Delta variant has led to an increase in infection rates across much of the U.S. Given this, we have made the decision to require all market, regional and divisional associates who work in multiple facilities and all campus office associates to be vaccinated by Oct. 4, unless they have an approved exception. This includes all new hires.
It’s a safe bet many more companies will follow Walmart’s example, especially as the Delta variant continues to wreak havoc on attempts to return to normal.
In what is becoming an all-too-familiar routine, TheNew York Times has announced it is pushing back its return to the office.
After more than a year of working remotely, many companies have been eager to have their return onsite. Many were shooting for sometime in September as the deadline. The Times had set September 7 as the day for employees to return to the office, at least three days a week.
Like Apple and Google, however, the Times is pushing that date back as the Delta variant of COVID leads to an increased surge in cases.
“In light of the evolution of the virus, including new trends around the Delta variant and the updated guidance from the C.D.C. this week on masking, we have decided to push out our plans for a full return at this time,” Meredith Kopit Levien, chief executive of The New York Times Company, told staff in an email on Friday.
The news comes a day after President Biden addressed the nation, urging individuals to get vaccinated. Biden emphasized that vaccination is not a political issue, but one of “life and death.”
Twitter has closed its San Francisco and New York offices amid surging COVID cases.
A return to the office will have to wait, at least for Twitter employees, as the company is shuttering offices and delaying any further openings.
“After careful consideration of the CDC’s updated guidelines, and in light of current conditions, Twitter has made the decision to close our opened offices in New York and San Francisco as well as pause future office reopenings, effective immediately,” a Twitter spokesperson said, according to CNBC.
Much of the blame lies with the Delta variant of COVID, which is far more contagious and has even been infecting some vaccinated individuals. As Twitter acknowledged, the CDC has been forced to update its guidelines in an effort to combat the aggressive variant.
Some of the biggest websites on the internet were down, thanks to a service disruption at Akamai Technologies.
Users (including yours truly) started getting DNS errors when visiting common websites. The list of impacted sites include Airbnb, Delta, FedEx, McDonald’s, UPS and many more.
Akamai has said the issue was the result of a service disruption, and has already taken steps to fix the it.
We have implemented a fix for this issue, and based on current observations, the service is resuming normal operations. We will continue to monitor to ensure that the impact has been fully mitigated.
“Digital changes the game entirely,” says Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian. “The big thing you’re going to see us do is to bring the technologies, not just into the hands of the customers going mobile in terms of controlling your experience with Delta, but into the hands of our employees. This is so that our flight attendants, our pilots, our gate agents, our people in reservations and in maintenance, can actually start to interact more efficiently with each other and with customers to continue to run an even better operation.”
The data is already there. Yes, the new variants are throwing off more data. The problem we have with a lot of the aircraft and the engine data that’s being produced is trying to figure out what you do with it, what’s relevant, what’s the real meaning behind it? We’ve got amazing predictive maintenance technologies that we’ve already at Delta deployed. We run the best maintenance operation in the world.
Ten years ago we bought Northwest Airlines and we had a really difficult year in our first year of integration. We had 6,000 cancellations due to maintenance alone in that year. In one year, in 2010. This past year we had 60 the entire year, a 99 percent reduction in maintenance cancels. No airline the world can talk to those types of numbers. It tells you that it’s predictive technology and engine technology. We’re using the data. I don’t know what more data we’re going to get to. You’re not going to get better than 60 in a year. We’re already pretty skilled in that knowledge set.
Digital Changes the Game Entirely
There’s a lot we can improve (with the consumer experience). I’ll tell you that we are within our peer set doing a great job as we’re innovating. The thing we had to do as a 95-year-old company is that we had to build the foundation. We’d spent several years building the infrastructure, the architecture, and being able to get at the data. It was truly an incredible maze of spaghetti thrown all around the company with all the legacy systems. We’re bringing the digital technologies almost on a weekly basis now into the market.
Our Fly Delta app is one of the best-rated airline apps out there and will get better. There’s more we can do. The big thing you’re going to see us do is to bring the technologies, not just into the hands of the customers going mobile in terms of controlling your experience with Delta, but into the hands of our employees. This is so that our flight attendants, our pilots, our gate agents, our people in reservations and in maintenance, can actually start to interact more efficiently with each other and with customers to continue to run an even better operation. Digital changes the game entirely.
We Are Not a Technology Company At Its Core
As we continue to expand our technology with digital and being able to let our consumers know more about us so we can know more about them and be able to engage in a deeper relationship, we have to maintain that same level of trust and care that we have with putting you in the sky as compared to protecting your private identity and your data.
We have a lot of people looking at all the technologies that we’re thinking about rolling out making certain that they comply with all privacy laws. We’re not a technology company at its core. We’re not ever marketing the data or selling the data but we still want to make certain that we’re adhering to those same privacy standards.
The Flight Experience Continues To Get Better
The flight experience continues to get better. Our operational performance has been incredible. We just ended this past weekend a run where we had over 40 days in a row without a cancellation around the world. These are running levels of excellence and performance that we’ve never seen. The flying experience is getting to a point where value for money is also significant because consumers today are paying 40 percent in real dollars less than they did 20 years ago for the price of tickets.
The deregulation of our industry back in the 1980s has worked and democratized travel and it has brought people out. I never stepped foot on a plane before I was 25 years old. How I ever got this job I’m still not quite sure. Flying wasn’t affordable. It wasn’t something I did when we grew up now. Our kids think you are a dinosaur if you don’t fly.
The Big Change Is Going To Be In The Airports
I think the big change is going to be in the airports going forward. The airport’s going to look significantly different. We’re going to try to take the stress out of the airports. One of the things about airports, we’ve got to remember, these were built 50, 60, or 70 years ago, for an era that has long past us. So volumes, security apparatus, even the physical layouts. Back then people would come to the airports to look at the marvel of the front head house we call it, the front door, or the artwork.
When did you ever spend time in the front of an airport? You never go there. Now you just go directly to security. You don’t even stop at the counter, you’ve got your mobile. But all of our physical layout is up front. We’ve got to flip it around and put our physical layout back by the gates where people want to get to. We need to make that front almost the security, getting into the property, to begin with.
You’re Going To See a Very Different Boarding Process
You’re going to see a very different boarding process. That’s the other tremendous stress. This is where you see people looking to line up and everyone wants to get on at the same time and most of their earthly belongings. Why does anyone want to sit in an airline seat longer than they have to? People don’t, but they want to get on board and they want to make sure their property gets on board with them. If you have confidence (with RFID technology, which we’ve now rolled out) that your bag will be there waiting for you when you get to the baggage area at the end of the flight, would you really try to carry that bag on?
We’re looking at even taking the boarding cues out, taking the podiums out. With podiums it just gives people reason to line. What if there are no podiums? We will have chairs so people can sit down and agents with technology in their hands. With the digital technology that I’m talking about, they can serve as a host or hostess rather than a ticket taker. That’s how you build relationships. That’s what we’re designing.
5G Is Going To Be a Big Deal For Us In The Airports
We’re experimenting with it but it’s knowing that the agents are out there with the technology in their hand and that’s who you need to talk to. These people will be trained to try to scoop up bags if there are bags that can be checked, but again it’s going to take some time. There has to be confidence that the technology works and it’s being delivered on. We put the technology in and there are still teething pains. A lot of it is going to be around network bandwidth. 5G is going to be a big deal for us in the airports. We actually will have the Wi-Fi capabilities to actually implement this at the level of fidelity that we’re looking to create.
With the RFID technology that we have today, we have scanners out there, we have sensors. They’ll pick up the bags that will be going on to the belt loader. The belt loader is trained that if a bag is going to the wrong destination it will stop the belt loader. It will cause the gate agent or the ramp agent to go look at it and figure out where that tag is and get it onto the right plane. It will also be able to track it. You can track your bag on the Fly Delta app, you’ll know where it is. You’ll see it get to the baggage claim before you do. It will tell you what baggage area you need to go to. That what we’re creating for the future and technology is going to be critical in getting there.
Digital Changes the Game Entirely, Says Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian
Delta Air Lines announced on Tuesday that it is providing its international customers with a new payment option. Those booking flights via delta.com will be able to pay with online bank transfers in real time.
The company says it’s the first airline in the United States to offer the payment method to customers in eleven countries. These include: Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
Other payment options include gift, debit, and credit cards.
Nat Pieper, Delta SVP, Europe, Middle East and Africa said, “As a global airline we are focused on making Delta easier to do business with and this includes acknowledging that customers around the world have different preferences when it comes to paying online.”
“Offering online bank transfers provides greater choice and convenience, expanding payment options available to deliver a safe, secure and increasingly popular way to purchase travel on delta.com,” Pieper added.
The feature is available thanks to a partnership between Delta and Global Collect, which is Ingenico Group’s ePayments division.
When a customer selects the online banking option on the website, they’ll be directed to the right banking network for their market. When the amount is confirmed, they’ll be redirected back to delta.com to complete the transaction.
Delta Air Lines topped U.S. airlines in August on-time arrivals and cancel rate, according to a recent report from the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Today Delta Air Lines announced that it will spend over $770 million through 2016 to refurbish 225 of its domestic narrowbody planes, including the Boeing 757-200, 737-800, Airbus A319 and A320 aircraft, bolstering its stock price after seeing a strong 2013 holiday.
Planned upgrades will include the addition of slim-line seats with adjustable headrests, power at every seat, restroom overhauls and upgraded galleys for better efficiency.
Delta, who was recently in the news for honoring a ticketing glitch which sold flights for extremely low fares, seeks to add more seats to the planes – 19 seats into the 757-200s, six on the A319s, and 10 on the A320s.
Glen Hauenstein, executive vice president and chief revenue officer, commented in a press release, “We’re continuing to make smart long-term investments in our products and services to meet the expectations of our customers. In just six years, we will have made updates to interiors throughout Delta’s fleet giving customers improved comfort and more options to work or relax and be entertained.”
More specific 757-200, 737-800 aircraft improvements include in-seat video, satellite TV and access to power for every passenger, as well as a 50% increase of overhead bin capacity. Delta’s A319 and A320 planes will receive new seats in both First Class and Economy cabins, with in-seat power throughout the aircraft. Updated, space-saving galleys, new heads, updated LED cabin lighting systems and a 60% increase of overhead bin capacity will also be included.
As of 2010, Delta’s slogan has been “Keep Climbing,” which is quite a change from its 2007 post-bankruptcy slogan of “Change Is:__________.” As of writing, Delta stock is hovering just below $30, up from just above $8 a year ago. Delta stock rose $1.20, or 4.3 percent, to $28.73 last Friday, after revealing that a measure of its revenue for December rose 10 percent, after a strong late Thanksgiving holiday.
Delta Airlines is expected to spend $770 million over the next 3 years on a major interior overhaul to most of its planes. The airline announced Wednesday that it will install new seats and bigger bins on 225 of its planes within the U.S.
Delta said Wednesday that each of the new seats on the 225 planes will have electrical power to improve passenger comfort.
More seats will be fitted onto many of those planes including 10 more on its A320 planes, 19 more on its Boeing 757-200s and 6 more on its Airbus A319s.
By using a new seat technology called “slim-line”, more space will be created because the new seats will have smaller and lighter weight frames in both the front and back. The new kitchens, known as galleys, will also take up less space on the Boeing 757s. Also, a fraction of the 737s will have the number of their business-class seats reduced and the number of coach seats increased.
Delta’s spokesman Paul Skirbec said that the legroom on the planes will remain unaltered but the seats on the Airbus planes will be a bit broader.
Delta isn’t the first airline to retrofit its airplanes using slim-line technology, Southwest and American Airlines have already gone this route. Some will argue that the real reason for the overhaul is less about passenger comfort and more about profits. The new slim-line technology will allow more seats to be placed in the cabin. For example, an additional six seats to an economy cabin that previously had 140 seats could increase revenue by 4 percent or more. Also, lighter seats result in greater fuel economy. Southwest expected to save $10 million a year on its fuel cost with the new design.
So what about comfort?
“When designers think seat, they think butt, but the widest part of the body is the shoulders,” said Kathleen Robinette, a seasoned designer at the Air Force Research Lab.
In addition, Americans are getting bigger- their waistlines that is. Shrinking down seat size will be good for Delta’s bottom line but will likely result in many passengers feeling cramped and uncomfortable.
Slim-line Seating may not be so comfortable after all
Delta Air Lines is planning for a huge overhaul that will effect many members of their fleet, with the renovations planned including talk of new seats, larger overhead bins, and electrical power outlets for every seat. The news comes as a pleasant surprise to many frequent flyers, and for good reason; the renovations are set to take place on 225 different planes, so almost all flyers will be able to experience the expanded comfort and efficiency that Delta implies with these renovations.
The new seats don’t come as an added bonus only for flyers, however; with the renovations comes room for more seats on the same planes that Delta already has. This is made possible by the fact that the new seats are “slim-line,” which allows for more space due to a smaller, lighter frame. That means expansion of both space and income for the airlines without having to invest in completely new air crafts, spelling out for a growth of profit for the company.
The renovations will also provide newer galleys on certain airplanes, which will take up less space, also helping the airline in its quest for more space and, thus, expanded seating. Not to fear, though; leg space will remain about the same after the renovation, and the seats will also be a bit wider once all is said and done. Some aircrafts will also have less business-class seating in order to make room for expanded seating in coach. The remodeling will also make the interiors of the aircrafts purchased from Northwest Airlines back in 2008 the same as all the others being remodeled, giving a more uniform look a majority of the airline’s planes.
The project is set to begin this winter, and will cost around $770 million. As it is a three year project, the remodeling is projected to wrap up sometime in 2016.
Following a flight from Minneapolis to Atlanta on Monday, Delta retired the last of its DC-9 aircrafts after nearly 50 years of use.
The DC-9 was the oldest passenger plane left in service in the United States. It was originally constructed by McDonnell Douglas in 1965, and its production was halted in 1982. Throughout its run, 976 total DC-9 planes were made.
The small plane gained popularity due to its ability to take off and land on small runways in smaller cities, replacing older and less-efficient propeller-driven planes. Due to its use in smaller airports, it was mainly a passenger plane for smaller airlines, such as Delta, Northwest, and Continental. The plane that made the flight Monday was built in 1978 and flew for North Central Airlines before it was bought by Northwestern Airlines.
Delta originally retired all of its DC-9s in 1993, but after acquiring Northwest Airlines (who had a stockpile of DC-9s), it put the DC-9 back into commission.
The DC-9 had several distinctive qualities which made its appearance unique from other passenger planes. First and foremost, it was smaller than most other passenger planes. When Northwest put the DC-9 back into commission in 1995, it completely refurbished the interiors to create more room.
The DC-9 is also known for its unique T-tail design, a feature that was later adopted by such planes as the McDonnell-Douglas MD-80 and Boeing 717. Along with its T-tail design, the cockpit of the DC-9 contains dials rather than more modern computer systems, making it a “pilot’s airplane,” according to pilot Scott Woolfrey, the man who flew the DC-9s last flight.
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As it currently stands, Delta has put all 6 of its DC-9s out of commission. However, it has kept two in reserve to serve as “substitute” planes in case of emergencies or repairs.
“The DC-9 has been a workhorse in our domestic fleet while providing a reliable customer experience. The aircraft’s retirement paves the way for newer, more efficient aircraft,” stated Nat Pieper, Vice President of fleet strategy for Delta.
The state of California has filed the first lawsuit as a result of their new app privacy initiative, and the target is Delta airlines.
Attorney General Kamala Harris announced the civil suit, claiming that the app fails to have a clear privacy policy, despite collecting tons of personal information for users.
The complaint alleges that since at least 2010, Delta has operated a mobile app called “Fly Delta” for use on smartphones and other electronic devices. The Fly Delta app may be used to check-in online for an airplane flight, view reservations for air travel, rebook cancelled or missed flights, pay for checked baggage, track checked baggage, access a user’s frequent flyer account, take photographs, and even save a user’s geo-location. Despite collecting substantial personally identifiable information such as a user’s full name, telephone number, email address, frequent flyer account number and pin code, photographs, and geo-location, the Fly Delta application does not have a privacy policy.
In February, the AG’s office announced the new mobile app privacy initiative that was designed to bolster enforcement of the California Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). The new act stated that app providers that routinely collect personal info from consumers must provide a “conspicuous” privacy policy within their apps. The new act received support from major tech companies like Amazon, Apple, Google, HP, Microsoft, RIM, and eventually Facebook.
In October, AG Harris sent the first formal notification to companies they felt were in violation of the act. The companies (including United, Delta, and OpenTable) were given 30 days to fix the issue regarding their privacy policies or face fines.
Today marks the first lawsuit to spring from these actions.
“Losing your personal privacy should not be the cost of using mobile apps, but all too often it is,” said Attorney General Harris. “California law is clear that mobile apps collecting personal information need privacy policies, and that the users of those apps deserve to know what is being done with their personal information.”
With the suit, the AG’s office wants Delta to be barred from distributing the app without new privacy policies, and also seeks up to $2,500 for each violation. That could add up to a hefty fine, as the app is one of the top free travel apps in the U.S.
Monkeypox? On an airplane? Sounds like the beginning of a really bad SyFy original movie. Had the rash been on someone like Eric Roberts or Carmen Electra, this whole thing would have been insanely hilarious. Then again, all of that stuff is kind of funny until it happens in the real world.
Such is the case with Delta Airlines Flight 3163. Fearing that someone had actually contracted the disease, officials kept passengers on the plane for two hours while individuals wearing HazMat suits investigated the symptoms. Since very little information was given to those who were trapped in such close proximity to the mysterious rash, speculation as to what, precisely, was causing the problem led to all sorts of theories. That’s when the term “monkeypox” started getting tossed around.
“It’s just a case of bed bugs,” 50 year-old Lise Sievers told ABC News.
Sievers was on her way back home from Africa when she noticed the rash. Considering the recent outbreak of monkeypox in the region, concerns were running extremely high that someone was brining it to the US. The Center for Disease Control was alerted to issue, giving officials enough time to prepare for the ensuing investigation. After properly reviewing the case, it was determined that nothing outrageously serious was taking place.
Passengers, as you can imagine, were understandably freaked out, particularly since officials were tight-lipped about the situation. However, after two hours of patiently waiting to see how the scenario unfolded, they were allowed to leave the plane and return to their monkeypox-free lives.
“I think I’m going to empty a jar of bed bugs on my mom’s bed tonight,” Sievers joked.
It is being reported that jet sustained significant damage when it rolled off a taxiway at Hartsfield-Jackson in Atlanta which is the world’s busiest airport. Delta Air Lines spokesman Eric Torbenson tells The Associated Press mechanics were testing the engines of the Boeing 737 when they experienced a problem with the braking system around 5 a.m. Tuesday. Torbenson says the jet sustained “significant damage.”
Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen says there were no passengers aboard the aircraft and no injuries were reported. Bergen says the jet rolled off the taxiway on the east side of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. She wasn’t aware of any effect on airport operations as of 6 a.m.
As you can read, there were zero passengers involved as this was an engine test at the Delta Atlanta hub. The plane that was being tested was a Boeing 737-700 when the brakes failed.
Delta Flight 486 from Atlanta to New York on March 8th had two very special guests flying in First Class. Pete and Penny, penguins from Sea World, surprised their fellow passengers as they waddled up and down the aisles.
Before giving these little guys the opportunity to move freely about at an altitude of 30,000 feet, the captain asked if anyone was allergic to them.
The passengers thought it was a joke and commented to each other:
“How would we even know if we were?”
“He can’t be serious.”
Passengers were allowed to take pictures of Pete and Penny as they walked past, but the captain prohibited any petting.
These 18 inch seabirds were on their way to the premiere of “Frozen Planet,” a new Discovery Channel documentary series narrated by Alec Baldwin. The screening, held Thursday at the Lincoln Center, was followed by a “polar-themed” party, hosted by Baldwin, Dustin Hoffman and Glenn Close, among others.
This is not the first time that penguins have gained flight; last month, three penguins on Southwest’s Orlando-to-La Guardia trek were released from their kennels mid-flight to surprise passengers.
Another two penguins from Sea World made an appearance last March on a Southwest flight to San Diego from San Francisco where they attended a science convention.
Delta Airlines is adding pay-to-download content to their ever-growing selection of a la carte services. Passengers can access the airline’s wifi to get TV shows for 99 cents, and movies for $3.99. This content can be ordered without having to pay for wifi access as well, on longer U.S. flights, according to Delta.
Delta has been expanding upon a variety of services to boost sales, including baggage fees, airplane restroom usage and exclusive Sky Club memberships. It has been reported that the airline was able to bring in $200 million from the added services last year, and hopes to bring that number to $1 billion in 2013.
“We are constantly looking for ways to enhance the customer experience in flight,” said Delta spokesman Paul Skrbec. Once a user pays the fee to get the content off of Delta Connect, the show or movie can be played or paused for 24 hours after the plane lands. No word on what sort of content would be included in the service.
Delta has been modifying its entertainment services since October, when it outfitted 10% of its 757 fleet. Skrbec added that so far customer feedback has been positive. It has been recently reported that the airline is the number one tech-friendly flyer.
The Google Chrome browser team said today it has partnered with AirTran, Delta and Virgin America, to provide free Gogo Inflight Internet to travelers during the holiday season.
People flying on AirTran, Delta or Virgin America between November 20, 2010 and January 2, 2011 will have free Wi-Fi on any of their domestic flights.
“We are constantly working to help provide a better web experience to users around the world,” said Sundar Pichai, Vice President of Product Management at Google.
“Whether it be building a better browser with Chrome or bringing free Wi-Fi to air travelers this holiday season, we are constantly innovating to ensure users’ access to the web is fast, simple and seamless.”
As the three airlines that have outfitted their entire domestic fleet with in-flight Wi-Fi, this promotion will bring free Internet service to more than 700 planes and approximately 15 million expected passengers this holiday season.
This season marks the second straight year that Google has provided free Wi-Fi to travelers over the holiday season. Last year, Google worked with Virgin America as well as more than 50 airports to provide free Internet both on the ground and in the air.
