Interested in purchasing a reproduction of this poster? See the Delta Air Transport Heritage Museum’s online store.

Happy travels!

Marie Force
Archives Manager

The opening session featured a number of famous people who have shown their dedication to service – John Bon Jovi, Maria Shriver, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Nancy Pelosi, and even Matthew McConaughey. But the star of the plenary session, the person attendees lined up hours before the start to see, was First Lady Michelle Obama.

The First Lady issued a call – a call to service. She made it clear that the problems we face as a nation cannot be solved by government alone. We must all work together. Volunteerism and service are not an option, or something that is nice to do, but the only solution. “This administration,” she said, “doesn’t just see service as something that transforms individual lives, or individual communities—but as a force with the power to transform this nation.”

Delta Air Lines and its 75,000 employees are proud to answer this call to service. Delta’s employees, known as our “Force for Global Good,” volunteer for countless hours, walking in Relays for Life for the American Cancer Society, donating blood to the American Red Cross, marching in AIDS Walks, raising money for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, delivering food for Meals On Wheels, building houses for Habitat for Humanity in the U.S. and abroad, mentoring our youth… The list goes on and on!

Delta’s culture has always been about service. Founder C.E. Woolman spoke of “hospitality and service from the heart.” But don’t be surprised if you find that the service Delta’s people deliver isn’t just on board or at the airport, but at work transforming your own community.

For more information on how you can get involved and how you can volunteer your time, visit: http://www.serve.gov/

Frank
Manager
External Affairs and Community Relations

The Wi-Fi installation on the 767-300 prototype (ship 138) is nearing completion and the test flight is currently scheduled for July 13. Cool factoid…aside from military aircraft (i.e. Air Force One) this will be the largest aircraft (in terms of actual size and passenger count) in the world to be equipped with broadband in-flight Internet access.

Some late-breaking and exciting news is the decision to install Wi-Fi on the (17) 757-200 ETOPS birds. These aircraft will begin flying more transcontinental routes between JFK and the West Coast this fall.

Engineering teams have completed more than 60% of the pre-merger Delta mainline domestic fleet and we expect to have 200 aircraft flying with Wi-Fi by the end of the week. The total as of July 8th is 195.

Fleet Deets:

MD88 - 117 A/C

MD90 - 16 A/C

B737-800: 1 A/C

B757-200 - 61 A/C

Tail Numbers:

MD-88 Tail Numbers : All

MD-90 Tail Numbers : All

B737-800 Tail Number : 3742

B757-200 Tail Numbers : 602, 608-610, 614-615, 617, 619, 621, 625-626, 628-630, 632-633, 636-638-641, 644-645, 647, 649-652, 653-655, 667, 672, 678-679, 684-685, 690-694, 696-699, 6701-6706, 6708, 6711-6714, 6716, 6902, 6904

Chris B.
Sr. Product Manager
In-Flight Entertainment

I wanted to fill everyone in my trip to Delta last week. On Thursday, July 2nd I visited the Delta TechOps before our last game against the Phillies (we completed the sweep that night). Delta’s TechOps is located down at the Atlanta airport and they provide maintenance and engineering support for Delta’s fleet. They have the best mechanics in the world! Not only do they maintain Delta’s fleet, but they also serve as the Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO is what I’m told) provider for more than 150 other aviation and airline customers.

This kind of inside look into Delta and its airplanes was really cool for me and the reception I got from the employees was so great. And trust me, I had to take notes during my tour so I could remember all the names, departments, statistics, etc. So I may sound fluent in aircraft terminology (like frequent contributor Mike Kotas), but don’t let me fool you too much, I wrote most of it down so I could repeat if for all of you. I wish you guys could have seen seen how many questions I asked.

The whole place was pretty overwhelming…the facility is 7.2 million square feet and they have more than 8,500 employees. I rode around most of the facility in a golf cart. I had to save my legs for the big game that night, and the place is so big there’s no doubt I would’ve been exhausted if I had walked the whole thing. So, let me walk you through my visit because I got to see and do some pretty cool things…

First stop was Engine and Component Maintenance where I met David Garrison, the Managing Director of Engine and Component Maintenance. David and Matt Mullis took me through their department, including engine overhaul, final testing, composite repairs, flight controls, instruments and engine components. I went down a line of engines being overhauled (by the way, a typical engine overhaul costs about $1 million!) and saw a GE CF34, GE CFM56-7, Pratt and Whitney PW2000, and PW4000. They’re huge! I also got to see them putting an engine through one of their test cells. They can set the cells to test an engine at different times of the day, different temperatures/weather conditions, etc. They test the engines at takeoff power and the engine that I saw running was a CFM56-7; it burns 60 gallons of fuel per minute. Not exactly cheap.

I ate lunch in Department 299 which is the General Electric CF34 shop (are the abbreviations and numbers giving you a headache yet??)…hamburgers, hot dogs, chips and cookies, just like a good old fashioned meal at the ballpark. During the summer the departments have big lunches brought in every now and then. I happened to time my visit just right and joined them for a pre-game burger. My last stop in Engine and Component Maintenance was Components, in particular Department 361 Electro-pneumatics. They repair engine starters, air cycle machines (in plain English: air conditioners), engine start valves, etc. As I left that department I made sure to tell them, “Whatever you guys do, make sure the planes the Braves fly on are the coldest!”

My next stop was Base Maintenance where I met and toured the hangars with Van Kale. Delta TechOps has three maintenance hangars and they can hold many wide-body and narrow-body aircrafts at once. We went through the hangars and even got to climb on-board of a couple of aircrafts, including an international Boeing 767-400ER (the ER stands for extended range). That plane will be put on the Atlanta to London route, and they were looking to have it finished by early this week, which is amazing considering how it looked when I was in there. They were still installing the seats in the business class section…the ones that recline all the way down and your feet slide up underneath the seat in front of you and your head sinks down almost to the floor. Now that’s what we need when we fly! I also got to go sit in the cockpit and learn about the different controls, taking off, landing, etc.

Next in Base Maintenance was the paint hangar bay. This was a HUGE room with an aircraft sitting in the middle. There were guys in full white suits and head gear/face masks (to give you a clearer picture they honestly looked a little like the guys from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) working on a paint scheme. They’ve done some pretty cool paint schemes in the past and I got to see some pictures of their work, including Hooters, the Atlanta Olympics, Breast Cancer Awareness, a Hank Aaron tribute, and Cartoon Network.

Last but certainly not least I visited Tim Dugger, General Manager of Materials and Logistics, and his team. This department manages the inventory needed to support the day-to-day operations of Delta’s 460-plus aircraft, as well as the planes they work on for other airlines. Here I was able to just sit and sign autographs and take pictures with the Materials and Logistics team.

All in all it was a great day. I learned so much about what goes on behind-the-scenes of all those Delta flights my teammates and I so frequently take. The Delta TechOps employees did get to learn a little more about me too…this visit came a couple days after all the news on my lucky “Thanksgiving Turkey Underwear.” I happened to have my Turkey Underwear on that day so I was happy to give them a first-hand peek at the underwear that was all over Atlanta sports news, as well as a lead story on ESPN! And they worked; we won that night so the winning streak continued.

Thanks again to all of the employees at the Delta TechOps for showing me a great time.

If anyone has any questions on what I saw there, let me know and I’ll do my best to get an answer for you. If it’s not on my cheat sheet, then I’ll just call some of the guys I met there last week.

Jeff Francoeur
Atlanta Braves

Hello Delta Bloggers! Delta Vacations is glad to join the Delta blog and share the joys of travel with you.

Now you might be asking yourself, “Who is Delta Vacations?” We are the official vacation packages provider for Delta Air Lines. We get to spend our time bringing together all of the components you need to make your vacation a great experience. Our goal is to make your vacation easy, affordable, and most of all FUN! Yes, we actually get paid for this!

So, how do we make your vacation easy, affordable, and fun? Let me count the ways.

1. Easy

• We give you one stop shopping to get all of your vacation needs in one place. No need to go to multiple places to buy what you need. You can do it all, right here–air, hotel, car, attractions and activities
• We offer destination wedding vacations and luxury vacations
• We give you a web site with access to information about all of our great destinations, hotels & resorts, and attractions
• We give you tips and share our stories about ways to make your vacation experience an even better one

2. Affordable

• You get access to the best airfares available on Delta when you buy a Delta Vacations package–our specially priced airfares are only available when you purchase a Delta Vacations package
• You get access to some of the world’s best hotels and resorts at great rates. We negotiate savings with all of our hotel partners and pass them on to you.
• Affordable options for car rentals, transfers, theme park tickets, & other attractions.
• On top of the best prices available, you also get flight miles in addition to bonus miles!

3. Fun

• This is the most important part. With Delta Vacations you can go to some of the world’s most popular vacation destinations and make incredible memories.
• Pick from all-inclusive resorts in Mexico, go whale watching in Hawaii, tackle everything theme park possible in Orlando, sail in the blue waters of the Caribbean, risk it all in Las Vegas, experience the history of Europe, take a tour down the Yangtze River in China–we give you a world of choices
• What makes your vacation even more fun is sharing it with someone. We want you to share your stories, pictures, and videos on our blog with your fellow Delta Vacationers - either add in the comments or email us here.

We’re glad to be part of the blog. We hope that you will experience all that Delta Vacations has to offer and that you will share your ideas, tips, and experiences with all of us.

Michael Warnken
VP of Marketing
Delta Vacations

Here is the one piece of commemorative mail from that day, now housed in the Delta Archives:

Winning an air mail contract made possible Delta’s real transition from crop duster to passenger-carrying airline.  With the revenue from the mail, we soon started up passenger service again, which had been suspended since 1930, and grew into a national airline.

Happy 4th of July everyone!

Marie Force
Archives Manager

I’m sure many of you have great plans for Independence Day – unfortunately, I’ll be missing the Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta. This is the 40th year of the race, held every year on the Fourth of July. 55,000 runners will start at Lenox Square in Buckhead and finish in Piedmont Park. It is actually the largest 10k road race in the United States! The streets of downtown Atlanta are packed with runners, walkers and joggers, not to mention lined for miles with spectators. It’s a really great race and everything ends up in Piedmont Park where they have a live band throughout the afternoon. The sea of people that gather to run and watch the race at 7:30am is unbelievable.

I hope you all have a great day filled with fireworks, food, friends and family. I can imagine the lake and beach will be hot spots this weekend!

It’s tough sometimes to miss holidays and other events because I’m on the road so much. But at the same time, I am getting to play baseball every day for a living – not a bad day job if you ask me! And I always find a way to stay on top of everything I’m missing, especially sporting events like the PGA Tour, College World Series, NBA, NFL, NCAA football – just to name a few. As most of you know, I’m a huge golf fan. A couple weekends ago the US Open (one of the PGA majors) was played in New York and I had to miss most of the coverage because we were in Boston playing the Red Sox. I followed as much of it as I could on my phone. A lot of the guys on the team have iPhones, smart phones, etc. so we don’t miss much action. I always track Tiger on ESPN.com. I’ve played with him a couple times now so I have to keep an eye on my boy!

I also love following Jason Sobel’s golf blog on ESPN.com. He’s there for every second of action that I’m missing, so I read his blog from my phone when I’m on the road – makes me feel like I’m there, even when I’m hundreds of miles away! Another cool thing I can get on my phone now is Twitter and it helps me follow the action on the PGA Tour. So many golfers, broadcasters and other athletes are tweeting now and I have just started to check those out. Stewart Cink tweets about the tournaments he’s playing and even about his life off the golf course. Those are really cool.

I’ve seen a couple teammates tweeting here and there…maybe it’s something I should get into. Any thoughts? I haven’t fully caught on to the Twitter craze yet, but it’s interesting. Do any of you guys tweet? I may need a crash course on the whole thing!

Well, it’s back to the grind for me – hope everyone has a great Fourth of July! I’ll be live at Delta tomorrow touring TechOps for my next blog, so if anyone has any questions for me to answer, post them here!

Jeff Francoeur
Atlanta Braves

Our first widebody with Wi-Fi – ship 139 – will be the 767-300 prototype. Installation is scheduled to be complete on July 9 with the test flight scheduled for July 13. On the narrowbody side, the 737-700 prototype is scheduled for early September. 737-800 production is expected to start on July 26.

On the pre-merger Northwest fleet, engineering teams have been establishing the scope of work for the 757-200 fleet. The A319/A320 final design review is scheduled for July 16.

We’ve now completed 56.7% of the pre-merger Delta domestic mainline fleet with 183 aircraft now equipped with Wi-Fi.

Fleet Deets:

MD88 - 117 aircraft

MD90 - 16 aircraft

B737-800: 1 aircraft

B757-200 - 49 aircraft

Tail Numbers:

MD88: All

MD90: All

B737-800: 3742

B757-200: 604, 608, 610, 615, 617, 619, 621, 625, 628-630, 632-633, 638-641, 644-645, 647, 649-651, 654-655, 667, 672, 679, 684-685, 690-692, 693-694, 696-697, 6701- 6702, 6705-6706, 6708, 6711-6714, 6716, 6902 and 6904.

Chris Babb
Sr. Product Manager
In-Flight Entertainment

I’ve heard though, that the signature red jacket was not always red.  One of our early agents told me that Delta first tested yellow jackets–yellow being the favorite color of C. E. Woolman, Delta’s principal founder and first CEO.  After a couple of months, they were replaced with the now iconic red coat for better visiblity of the agents in airport crowds and to tie in with new Delta’s jet age branding–the red/white/blue Delta widget logo–introduced in 1959.

Do you have a story to share about a Red Coat’s exceptional customer service? I’d love to hear about it and add it to our story collection in the Delta Archives!

Marie Force
Archives Manager

This weekend marks Delta’s continuing presence at Pride events held throughout the U.S. Hundreds of Delta employees will participate in New York City’s Heritage of Pride celebration and the Twin Cities Pride celebration in Minneapolis.

And we haven’t forgotten our hometown…Pride events in Atlanta have moved to Halloween weekend this year and Delta will again be an official sponsor.

So, what do we have planned for the big weekend? Delta’s Marketing team, working with several of our agency partners, will ensure the rainbow colors are flying high – along with Delta’s red, white and blue. We’ve got Delta’s classic “MINI Cooper with wings,” tons of great giveaways for the thousands that will be lining the parade route and a seriously tricked-out DJ truck that’ll be playing some of this summer’s hottest dance music.

I’d like to give props to our audio production partner – DMI Music & Media Solutions with consultation from Joel Salkowitz, Program Director of Pulse 87 FM in NYC – for creating an amazing four-hour set that will be sure to keep the energy flowing this weekend.

Some of the standout tracks include:

• Manny Lehman “Body Rock”
• Keri Hilson ft. Timbaland “Return the Favor” (Mike Rizzo Funk Generation Club Mix)
• Ron Reeser - Dan Saenz ft. Myah “Everything”
• Kaci Battaglia “Crazy Possessive” (Tony Moran & Warren Rigg Club Mix)
• Pink “Please Don’t Leave Me” (Digital Dog Remix)

Many of the songs from the Pride playlist can currently be heard onboard Delta via the “Party in the Sky” show and this month’s “Delta Pride” show.

As always, we’d love to know what you think of Delta’s onboard entertainment options.

Have a great weekend!

Chris B.
Sr. Product Manager
In-Flight Entertainment