Delta Wins Top Airline Honors from Business Travel News Survey

Corporate travel managers vote Delta as Best Overall Airline for first time in prestigious survey

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Oct 10, 2011, 02:00 ET

ATLANTA, Oct. 10, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) issued the following memo from President Ed Bastian to the airline's more than 80,000 employees:

To:		Delta Colleagues Worldwide
From:		Ed Bastian
Subject:		DELTA WINS ANNUAL BUSINESS TRAVEL NEWS SURVEY

It is with great pleasure I congratulate you on Delta's most recent achievement: We have won the Business Travel News Annual Airline Survey, marking the first time in the contest's 14-year history that we beat all other carriers.

Business Travel News is important because it is the industry's most well-read magazine by corporate travel managers. These are the high value customers who purchase billions of dollars in annual air travel and BTN went straight to this audience to conduct the survey.

This win is no doubt thanks to all of your hard work. All of our 80,000 employees have a hand in an award such as this one. From the frontline flight attendants whose service sets the industry standard to the information technology specialist who ensures our computers can help travelers rebook a flight seamlessly, everyone here plays a role in how our customers perceive the way we fly.

The victory also reflects how our most important corporate customers have embraced the billions of dollars in upgrades and enhancements we've made in all areas of our flying experience, from our beautifully renewed Delta Sky Clubs, to our growing numbers of full flat bed seats in our BusinessElite cabins to our more than 800 Wi-Fi equipped planes that help keep business travelers productive.

Above all, this kind of recognition can only come when you run a tremendous airline operationally. Our significant improvements in on-time, completion factor and baggage handling are the kind of performance that our best customers appreciate.

Our strong performance this year helped win BTN's survey and these business travelers are continuing to help us generate solid revenue growth. Please congratulate Steve Sear, vice president - Global Sales and his team on a job well done with this award, and congratulate yourselves for all you do to make us a great airline.

About Delta

Delta Air Lines serves more than 160 million customers each year, and was named by Fortune magazine as the most admired airline worldwide in its 2011 World's Most Admired Companies airline industry list. With an industry-leading global network, Delta and the Delta Connection carriers offer service to 338 destinations in 59 countries on six continents. Headquartered in Atlanta, Delta employs 80,000 employees worldwide and operates a mainline fleet of more than 700 aircraft. A founding member of the SkyTeam global alliance, Delta 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 13,000 daily flights, with hubs in Amsterdam, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Detroit, Memphis, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York-JFK, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Salt Lake City and Tokyo-Narita. The airline's service includes the SkyMiles frequent flier program, a world-class airline loyalty program; the award-winning BusinessElite service; and more than 50 Delta Sky Clubs in airports worldwide. Delta is investing more than $2 billion through 2013 in airport facilities and global products, services and technology to enhance the customer experience in the air and on the ground. Customers can check in for flights, print boarding passes, check bags and review flight status at delta.com.