Delta Partners with LinkedIn to Connect Present and Future Business Leaders In-Flight

Delta's "Innovation Class" facilitates unique conversations at 35,000 feet; airline previews concept at TED2014 conference

News provided by

Delta Air Lines

Mar 19, 2014, 04:11 ET

ATLANTA, March 19, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) is partnering with LinkedIn to connect today's high-profile influencers with the business leaders of tomorrow at 35,000 feet. Through a unique program called "Innovation Class," Delta is offering its LinkedIn community the opportunity to meet with leaders from different fields on a designated flight. The airline will preview the concept at the TED2014 conference in Vancouver, British Columbia on March 17-21.

Individuals interested in the opportunity to fly with a titan in their industry, sharing ideas and discussing goals and future projects, may submit an application at Deltainnovationclass.com. Delta will select and pair applicants with industry leaders.

Delta's first Innovation Class in-flight pairing occurred enroute to TED2014: James Patten, CEO of Patten Studio, was awarded the opportunity to fly with influential technologist Eric Migicovsky, CEO of Pebble Technology, from Salt Lake City to Vancouver. Delta will host additional Innovation Class flights throughout 2014, including the next enroute pairing featuring Sean Brock, an Outstanding Chef finalist for The James Beard Awards in New York City on May 5. Future events and influencer pairings will be announced later this year.

"Every day Delta carries almost a half-million customers around the globe, many of whom are leaders in their respective fields of work," said Mauricio Parise, Delta's director - Worldwide Marketing Communications. "Innovation Class is our small contribution to enable collaboration by bringing together brilliant minds, and there is no better place to launch this program than at TED - an organization that was born to spread ideas and fuel innovation."

At the TED2014 conference, Delta will encourage attendees to learn about Innovation Class and apply for the program at the airline's activation exhibit - Social Soul. This unprecedented, immersive digital experience brings to life a user's personal Twitter feed in a larger-than-life structure where their social media profile is on display in a 360-degree immersive stream of monitors, mirrors and a sound system. Afterwards, Social Soul connects the user to another TED attendee using a custom algorithm that links attendees through their similar interests. After exiting Social Soul, users may connect with other TED attendees and also apply for Delta's Innovation Class.

Delta is the official airline sponsor of TED2014 and the only airline that features TED Talks as part of its premium entertainment onboard experience.

Delta Air Lines serves nearly 165 million customers each year. This year, Delta was named the 2014 Airline of the Year by Air Transport World magazine and was named to FORTUNE magazine's top 50 Most Admired Companies in addition to being named the most admired airline for the third time in four years. With an industry-leading global network, Delta and the Delta Connection carriers offer service to 324 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-JFK, New York-LaGuardia, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Salt Lake City and Tokyo-Narita. Delta has invested billions of dollars in airport facilities, 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.