Employees & their families fly on NW #2470

NW 2470 departed for LAS (on time I might add) with a crew of five and about 20 reservations and technology department employees (some accompanied by family members) who purchased tickets well in advance and traveled from around the system to be there. It was pretty impressive that this group of dedicated employees didn’t even stay to enjoy LAS — most boarded red-eyes to get back home! A certificate to commemorate flight 2470, designed by one of our flight attendants, was handed out to the employees and crew and many passed theirs along for autographs. Cameras were flashing, folks were cheering and two cakes were consumed as we boarded. I was so happy to be part of the celebration.

The crew of flight 2470

Joanne Smith, Senior Vice President

In-Flight Service

Shown here, Delta Douglas DC-10 (N603DA) on a rainy night in Atlanta in the early 1970s.

Thank you for your earlier comments & suggestions! We are working on incorporating them. Keep sharing your ideas & let me know if you see anything that needs a fact check.

Enjoy!

Marie Force

Archives Manager

Do you have other useful travel tips? Share them below or tweet them @deltablog.

Sean C, Delta Vacations

The Winter Caravan takes Tigers players, coaches, and broadcasters across the region for two days as they visit with fans. Delta is the official airline of the Tigers and the DTW visit was one of their first stops.

During the almost two-hour visit, Tigers players helped DTW staff make boarding announcements and scanned boarding passes for customers as they helped board flights to Seattle and Kansas City, Mo. Players also visited with employees in break rooms, and toured the DTW Hub Control Center, operations tower, and toured the cockpit of a Boeing 747.

The event wrapped with the Tigers hosting a rally with more than 100 Delta employees, who chatted with the players.

Get a peek into our day by checking out the video below!

Detroit Tigers Caravan on YouTube

Roger H., DTW

Director – Airport Services

Montego-Bay, Jamaica

1. Ocho Rios, Jamaica- Be sure to visit Dunn’s River Falls, a 600-foot waterfall. You can climb the falls in a human chain (led by guides), and stop at the “massage parlor” for some falling water therapy. And if you like Bob Marley, you can write him a chalk message at the mausoleum in Nine Mile. Check out the Harmony Hall art gallery to find a one-of-a-kind memento of your trip to Jamaica—you’ll find lots of handmade Jamaican crafts and art.

2. Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands - The real beauty of Grand Cayman is underwater where there are more kinds of fish than you’ve ever seen. It is one of the world’s favorite scuba diving and snorkeling spots. If you don’t like to or you can’t dive, you can still see the awesome marine life from the windows of a submarine.

3. Cozumel, Mexico – This is another underwater paradise for you divers and snorkelers, with lots of coral reefs to explore. Charter a fishing boat if you want to try and catch sailfish, swordfish, and marlin. I caught a marlin in Mexico! In San Miguel you can shop or chill at a waterfront cafe. There are also several small Mayan ruins to visit on Cozumel.

4. Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo, Mexico - Watersports rule here. Golfers, be sure to play a round at the 18-hole Robert Trent Jones, Jr. course. Zihuatanejo (Zee-whah-tah-nay-ho) is a laid-back fishing town, with lots of handmade crafts, an open-air market, and restaurants.

5. Los Cabos, Mexico- Ahhhh, Cabo! San Jose del Cabo, a 200-year-old town, is very traditional Old Mexico. Cabo San Lucas is modern and full of action. The two towns are connected by “The Corridor”, where you will find some of Baja Mexico’s most beautiful beaches. Like Mexico sunsets? Take an evening cruise aboard Cabo Rey.

6. Isla Mujeres, Mexico– Isla Mujeres is a relaxing little island. Take a sail on the Sea Passion catamaran – a friendly crew will guide you to some fun snorkeling locales where you will find a private beach and enjoy the open bar (domestic brands) surrounded by a tropical environment.

7. Liberia, Costa Rica- This is where you go for adventure! Take the canopy tour, visit the many different hot springs, see the rainforest, and meet the wildlife!

8. Big Island (Hilo & Kona), Hawaii- You can see not one but 2 active volcanoes at Volcanoes National Park, and if you’re lucky you’ll see lava flowing into the ocean from Kilauea. For tamer sightseeing, visit Hulihee Palace, King Kalakaua’s summer palace (now a museum). Sample Kona coffee and macadamia nuts where they are all grown, cracked, and canned.

9. Maui, Hawaii - Maui’s has some of the most beautiful, and longest beaches. If you are there in whale watching season, the boat cruise to see them is fun. Plus, you get to see the island from a distance and the view is breathtaking! If you like adventure, you can ride a bike up to Haleakala, a sleeping volcano, and see the ranches and farm life on your way up are really cool. Lahaina is a great place to shop and eat (I had some excellent sushi there). The drive to Hana is really spectacular, but leave enough time, because there are many great places to stop and visit along the way. My all-time favorite place is the bamboo forest, along the old road to Hana.

10. St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands- St. Thomas also has great white-sand beaches, and lots of watersports to try. There is also one of the most beautiful harbors in the world on this island. Ritzy restaurants, upscale resorts, lots of nightlife, good golf courses, and duty-free shopping are all fine ways to spend your time. Some people say the best shopping in the Caribbean can be found on St. Thomas.

If you don’t see what you are looking for here, check out more great spring break and vacation destinations.

If you have additional recommendations on things to do in Hawaii, Costa Rica, the Caribbean, and Mexico, please let us know about them by commenting to this post or tweet them @deltablog.

Kathy L., Delta Vacations

Found this snapshot today in our Western Airlines Archives for the Yellowstone Historic Center–which is itself housed in a former railroad depot! They are celebrating 75 years of air service in West Yellowstone in June. The photo was a gift of Pete Woll to Western Airlines.

You know early Delta passengers in our first hometown of Monroe, Louisiana, traveled to/from a former gas storage building, which housed our headquarters offices and a tiny passenger waiting room in 1928.

Know of other unique airport terminal buildings from those early days of airline service? I’d love to hear about them!

Marie Force

Archives Manager

Our number one goal was to make the process seamless for our customers. We had to ensure that flight operations could continue unaffected while we made some major changes at each airport. That means we updated all airports between the last flight out and the first take-off the following day – quite the graveyard shift for a lot of Delta folks who made it happen.

So, how did we do it? We’ve been planning this integration since September 2008, and there isn’t a group or department at Delta that hasn’t been involved. From Airport Customer Service to Corporate Real Estate all the way to Information Technology and Cargo, this accomplishment is a true team effort!

While you may have only seen Northwest signs come down and the Delta signs go up, so much more was going on behind the scenes. We assessed each and every airport and completed an extensive 150-line checklist to make sure we had dotted our “I”s and crossed our “T”s.

Everything had to be reviewed and planned appropriately. In some cases, this was as “easy” as taking two operations (check-in counters, gates, etc.) and consolidating them into one. In others, we worked with other airlines to move their operations (and our employees did physically move other airlines) before we could start setting up our operations. Once we had the blueprint for the airport, we began the process to ensure that all necessary elements were ordered and in place prior to consolidation – things as big as new loading bridges and ticket counters all the way down to boarding pass readers and checked baggage tags – had to be moved, ordered or replaced. Finally, we worked with just about every department to confirm we were all ready for each respective big day. Sales, marketing, IT, operations, catering, customer service, even phone and janitorial services had to be ready at all 247 airports!

Minneapolis Airport Before

Minneapolis Airport After

Between November 2008 and January 2010, we rebranded 15 to 20 airports around the world per month. The end result: one combined airline with a consistent presence across the globe (not to mention $75 million in savings per year by ensuring more efficient airport operations).

All in all, we’re pretty thrilled to check off another major merger to-do. Tell us what you think. Have you noticed any changes at your hometown airport? How’s it look?

John H.
Corporate Real Estate

This Monday, January 18, Americans will be celebrating the life of Dr. King, Jr. Along with remembering his life, the holiday will mark the beginning of the year for service as millions of Americans honor the memory of Dr. King and answering his call to service through volunteering in their communities.

Points of Light Institute and HandsOn Network, the nation’s largest volunteer organization, are leading a call to service by hosting and engaging a MLK Day Virtual Town Hall on January 18, 2010. The call, “A Day On, Not A Day Off. Remember. Celebrate. Act.” builds upon President Obama’s call to service and to remember the legacy of Dr. King.  Delta Air Lines is a proud sponsor of this event.

In addition to the MLK Day Virtual Town Hall on Monday, January 18, HandsOn Network, in collaboration with civic and service organizations and its network of 250 affiliates and 70,000 nonprofit partners, will engage more than 100,000 volunteers in 1,500 projects to solve critical problems in education, the environment, and the economy through HandsOn Network’s Get HandsOn campaign across the nation.  The organization will then convene more than 150 “deliberate dialogue” discussions in cities across the nation led by mayors and HandsOn Corps members.

2009 volunteers refurbishing the Historic Prince Hall, near Ebenezer Baptist

These dialogues will be aired on MLK Day Virtual Town Hall site. As part of this Town Hall, HandsOn Atlanta will host a dialogue between Congressman John Lewis and Douglas Shipman, executive director of the Center for Civil & Human Rights Partnership. Delta Air Lines’ Scarlet-Pressley Brown, Director of External Affairs & Community Relations will also address the audience before event participants disperse to 30 local organizations to engage in service projects.

On Monday, I will be joining 160 Delta employees and their families in this Day of Service, not far from the very neighborhood where Dr. King was born. Delta employees are coming together to partner on beautification and landscaping projects at Kennedy Middle School and the New Horizon Senior Center, both located near downtown Atlanta.

In addition, Delta and American Express are hosting renovation projects in Minneapolis, Seattle, Detroit, and Memphis, TN, in honor of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service. The initiative is being organized through “Travel With Your Mind,” a year-round program that unites Delta and American Express employees with students, teachers, and parents of local schools to participate in high-impact volunteer projects.

How will you be spending this day of service? As Dr. King asked, ‘What are you doing for others?”

Frank W.

Manager, Community Affairs

There are many great places to dive and snorkel, but I was curious to find out some of my colleagues favorite dive and snorkel spots that they have experienced in these popular destinations.

Travel Tips for Diving

Cozumel, Mexico: You can snorkel out front of any hotel in the hotel zone and one of my favorites is the Cozumel Palace. Cozumel has amazing cave diving and wall dives. – David & Wendy

Ambergris Caye, Belize: Amazing colors and so many fish and sharks to see. Our guides caught fresh snapper for us and grilled it for us on the beach! – Sean

Hanalei Bay, Hawaii: This is great for snorkeling with its calm waters and great visibility. – Wendy

Kanapali Beach by Black Rock, Maui: This is great for snorkeling because of the great ocean conditions and the endless white sand. – Libby

Molokini, Maui: A partially sunken volcanic crater (that looks like a tiny Island) off the coast of Maui is a wonderful snorkeling and diving experience. – Jeannie

Big Island/Kona, Hawaii: You can do night diving with manta rays. Each diver is given an underwater light which attracts plankton. As the manta rays go after the plankton, they glide over and around you in the darkness. – Susan

Grand Cayman, Caribbean: The water is perfectly clear and warm and the fish are colorful. Also, many dive locations aren’t far from shore, so it doesn’t take long to get to the dive site. – Susan

Xel Ha National Park, Riviera Maya, Mexico: You can see almost every color of the rainbow when snorkeling. It’s a controlled environment so it’s excellent for beginners, yet large and deep enough if you are looking for adventure. – David

West Caicos Walls, Turks & Caicos: This is the best wall diving in the World! The diving conditions are excellent for all levels and the visibility is awesome. A very colorful variety of coral reef and fish. – Missy

Cow and Calf Rocks, US Virgin Islands: This is a great shallow dive, you can swim through natural arches and ledges attached to the reef. – Kathy

Grand Bahama Island: The island is bordered with these reefs, the Wall, the Caves (where a long-ago disaster known as Theo’s Wreck occurred), and Treasure Reef. – Kate

If you know of any other great dive or snorkel spots and would like to share them with us, please send a comment to this post or tweet us @deltablog and let us know your favorite spot!

Sean C.
Delta Vacations

In celebration of music everywhere, Delta is providing our customers the gift of music. Visit www.pandora.com/delta where we’ve provided personal listening stations inspired by The GRAMMYs. While you’re there, enter-to-win a trip to the 52nd GRAMMY Awards in Los Angeles, including flying in our new Business Elite service from JFK to LAX and staying with our partner Hilton Hotel with your own Avis car rental. And there are plenty of other prizes. You’ll find all the information in tiny little print at the bottom of this post. And don’t forget to tell your friends! From January 5th- January 22nd, for every tweet using #DeltaGRAMMYs we will donate $1 up to a total of $10,000 to The GRAMMY Foundation.

What’s your favorite artist or album of the year? Post below or tweet us @deltablog. Then follow me @deltablog as I tweet LIVE from The GRAMMYs.

Rachael R,

Manager, Marketing

DELTA “GRAMMY AWARDS” SWEEPSTAKES. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Open to legal residents of the U.S, 18 or older as of 1/4/2010. Void in Puerto Rico, U.S. territories and possessions, and where prohibited. Sweepstakes begins 12:00:01 AM, U.S. Eastern Time (U.S. ET), on 1/5/2010 and ends 11:59:59 PM, U.S. ET, on 1/22/2010, See official rules by visiting www.pandora.com/delta Sponsor–Delta Air Lines, Atlanta, GA 30354.

Email abbreviated rules:

DELTA “GRAMMY AWARDS” SWEEPSTAKES. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY – A PURCHASE WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCE OF WINNING A PRIZE. Open to legal residents of the U.S, 18 or older as of 1/4/2010. Void in Puerto Rico, U.S. territories and possessions, and where prohibited. Beginning 12:00:01 AM, U.S. Eastern Time (U.S. ET), on 1/5/2010 and ending 11:59:59 PM, U.S. ET, on 1/22/2010, enter by visiting www.pandora.com/delta and providing your First Name, Last Name, Delta SkyMiles number and e-mail address. Limit one (1) entry per person, SkyMiles number and/or e-mail address per day. Sweepstakes subject to complete Official Rules at www.pandora.com/delta Prizes: Two (2) Grand Prizes – 3 day/2 night trip to 52nd Annual Grammy® Awards in Los Angeles on 1/31/2010. Trip includes air travel, hotel accommodations, rental car, tickets to Grammy® Awards Show and after-party. Trip must be taken 1/30/2010 – 2/1/2010 or prize will be forfeited. Trip components, including rental car, are subject to additional restrictions; see Official Rules for details. (Approximate Retail Value $6,900 each). Actual Grand Prize value depends on various factors, including Winner’s city of residence. Two (2) First Prizes – Delta Gold Medallion Status in SkyMiles program for one (1) year. ARV: $6,000 each. All SkyMiles program rules apply to Medallion prize. Taxes and fees for any Award Travel are the responsibility of the Winner and must be paid at the time the ticket is booked. Please visit delta.com/fees for current fee schedule. Award Travel seats are limited and may not be available on all flights or in all markets. Five (5) Second Prizes – $50 Delta SkyMall® gift card. Five (5) Third Prizes – GoGo® inflight wireless Internet access pass. (ARV: $49.95 each.) Gift card and access pass prizes subject to terms/conditions of use. No more than 14 prizes will be awarded with a total Approximate Retail Value not to exceed $26,299.75. Odds of winning a prize depend on number of eligible entries received for drawing. Limit one (1) prize per person/SkyMiles number/e-mail address. SkyMiles account necessary (obtain one at no cost at delta.com/skymiles or call 1-800-323-2323). SkyMiles offers void where prohibited by law and other restrictions may apply. SkyMiles offers subject to change without notice. Sponsor–Delta Air Lines, Atlanta, GA 30354.