Delta wins Business Travel News Survey for third consecutive year

Corporate travel managers vote Delta top airline for third year in a row

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Nov 25, 2013, 09:00 ET

ATLANTA, Nov. 25, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Corporate travel managers rated Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) No. 1 in this year's Business Travel News Annual Airline Survey for the third year in a row. The airline ranked first among all carriers in nine of 10 categories scoring particularly high in key areas of the survey including: Value of Relationships with Account Managers and Sales Representatives; Quality of Airline Communications; and Networks, Airline Partnerships and Frequencies.

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Earning the top ranking for the third consecutive time puts Delta among a select group to garner the survey's highest honor in three consecutive years during the survey's 16-year history. The latest endorsement from the nation's top travel managers continues the momentum Delta has built as the industry's preferred airline.

"Being acknowledged by our corporate customers for the hard work and commitment of our 80,000 worldwide employees is among the most important recognition we can receive," said Ed Bastian, Delta's president. "We've fostered a culture of unrelenting continuous improvement to the travel experience and we are committed to providing our customers with an unparalleled level of global service."

"We congratulate Delta for being selected by the Business Travel News subscribers to once again receive our highest honor in this year's Annual Airline Survey," said Tim Reid, vice president - Group publisher, The BTN Group. "Delta's performance in the annual survey clearly demonstrates that the efforts of Delta people over the last several years continue to be recognized by industry professionals across all survey categories."

The No. 1 ranking in the BTN Annual Airline Survey further validates Delta's industry leadership in exceeding customer expectations by being the first U.S. airline to allow customer use of portable electronic devices below 10,000 feet, introducing in-flight Wi-Fi five years ago, the Sky Deck at Delta Sky Clubs in New York-JFK and Atlanta this year, being the only U.S. domestic carrier to offer personal, on-demand entertainment at every seat on all long-haul international flights by the end of 2013 and offering full flat-bed seating with direct-aisle access across its international widebody fleet by mid-2014.

Delta's operational performance data as tracked by the U.S. Department of Transportation through September 2013 illustrates its industry-leading efforts among major domestic carriers. In four of the top reported categories, Delta is top-tier in on-time arrivals, completion factor, baggage handling and customer complaints

The BTN Survey is voted on by corporate travel managers, who are key influencers of business travel decisions. Participating airlines surveyed include American, Southwest, United and US Airways.

Since 2010, Delta has invested billions of dollars in the customer experience including installation of full flat-bed seats on Delta's widebody international aircraft, a new Terminal 4 at New York-JFK, Maynard H. Jackson Jr. International Terminal in Atlanta. Delta has also spent more than $100 million to expand, renovate and consolidate terminals C and D at New York-LaGuardia Airport. Additionally, customers have seen Delta's investment in its more than 50 Delta Sky Clubs throughout the system, power poles at dozens of airports, mobile apps which include features such as baggage tracking, and Wi-Fi on more than 800 aircraft.

Delta Air Lines serves more than 160 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 314 destinations in 58 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. 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 and Facebook.com/delta.