Delta named Airline of the Year by Air Transport World

Airline is first U.S. carrier to win coveted award in a decade

News provided by

Jan 23, 2014, 10:00 ET

ATLANTA, Jan. 23, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) has been named the 2014 Airline of the Year by Air Transport World magazine, the first time for a U.S. carrier in a decade.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20090202/DELTALOGO )

The ATW awards are among the most coveted and valued honors in the airline industry. In February 2014, ATW editors will present the 40^th Annual Airline Industry Achievement Awards at a celebration in Singapore.

"It's an honor to have the hard work of Delta people recognized with the Airline of the Year award from Air Transport World," said Richard Anderson, Delta's chief executive officer. "Our values and culture are the foundation for our success. The professionalism and commitment of Delta people to our company, to one another and to our customers is unmatched."

In selecting Delta as Airline of the Year, ATW editors cited leadership in several categories, including innovation and leadership by executive management; strong financial discipline; a consistent and excellent safety record; proven leadership in community, environmental and technological endeavors; consistent high standards of customer service; and excellent employee relations.

"The airline industry, here in the U.S. and globally, has never been as competitive, so when ATW editors make their Airline of the Year selection they focus on those airlines whose leadership truly stand out from the crowd through strong financial discipline, innovative thinking, superb operational and customer service standards, and excellent employee relations, said ATW Editor-in-Chief Karen Walker. "Delta clearly met all those standards and has demonstrable, measurable statistics to prove it. Delta and its employees thoroughly deserve this award and I congratulate them on their achievements."

Winners and their achievements will be featured in a special section of the ATW March 2014 edition. Additionally, highlights of the Gala Awards event will also be published in the ATW April 2014 edition.

Delta in 2013 was named No. 1 airline on the Fortune magazine "Most Admired" global airline industry list for the second time in three years, received the No. 1 ranking in the Business Travel News Annual Airline Survey for the third year in a row and was recognized as Best Domestic Airline at Travel Weekly Reader's Choice Awards, among other accolades.

Air Transport World is part of the Penton Aviation Week Network.

Delta Air Lines serves nearly 165 million customers each year. Delta was named by Fortune magazine as the most admired airline worldwide in its 2013 World's Most Admired Companies airline industry list, topping the list for the second time in three years. With an industry-leading global network, Delta and the Delta Connection carriers offer service to 322 destinations in 59 countries on six continents. Headquartered in Atlanta, Delta employs nearly 80,000 employees worldwide and operates a mainline fleet of more than 700 aircraft. The airline is a founding member of the SkyTeam global alliance and participates in the industry's leading trans-Atlantic joint venture with Air France-KLM and Alitalia as well as a newly formed joint venture with Virgin Atlantic. Including its worldwide alliance partners, Delta offers customers more than 15,000 daily flights, with hubs in Amsterdam, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Detroit, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York-LaGuardia, New York-JFK, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Salt Lake City and Tokyo-Narita. Delta is investing more than $3 billion in airport facilities and global products, services and technology to enhance the customer experience in the air and on the ground. Additional information is available on delta.com, Twitter @Delta, Google.com/+Delta, Facebook.com/delta and Delta's blog takingoff.delta.com.