Insider Knowledge: What Delta Air Lines thinks of business travelers

Thoughtfully contributed by William Waldron, Sales Account Executive of New York and Global Sales for Delta Air Lines

William Waldron, Delta Air Lines

Over the past 4 or 5 years, the competition for business travelers has grown even more intense. As our economy rebounds all over the globe, businesswomen and men are traveling more and have more options in front of them than they ever did before. At the end of the day, those things that all travelers now enjoy and benefit from stem from the airlines’ (and hotels and cars, too) desire to capture more corporate travelers. Whether it be the advancements in comfort and privacy, as seen in the now-standard lie-flat seats one will find in international business class, or perhaps the recent push for quick and reliable internet connectivity at 30,000 feet. Or maybe it’s the healthier meal options, now available in Economy and sourced from local markets and restaurants. A family of 5 going on vacation will surely enjoy, and now expect, many of these luxuries when traveling, but it’s the loyalty of those business travelers who fill our planes every day that have driven much of the progress recently.

Business Travel News does an annual airline survey, and this year Delta won its 7th consecutive BTN title, and its 5th title sweeping all 10 categories. So, while we always look forward and strive to do even better, I think we know a thing or two about business travel and the needs of those travelers.

When you travel often, the last thing you want is to waste time away from home waiting around in an airport for your flight or your bag. First, and most importantly, we have an unrelenting dedication to our safety and performance – Delta is the most on-time airline with the least cancellations, with over 260 consecutive days last year without a single mainline cancellation. On the topic of checked bags, we've got you covered with our RFID bag tags – we’ll alert you that your bags been loaded or is at the carousel, and you can even follow its progress on a map.

To show our corporate travelers how much we value their loyalty, we put our money where our mouth: every Delta corporate agreement in the US comes with our Operational Performance Commitment. Each quarter we stack ourselves against the competition, and if at any time our performance (on-time arrivals, cancellations, and lost bags) falls below that of the other legacy carriers, we actually pay your organization for your lost time and lost productivity, including hotel nights, extra rental car days, meals, etc.

Just as important as our planes are our facilities on the ground (though, by the way, we also have over 250 new airplanes with brand new on-board products being delivered over the next 5 years). Across the network, Delta is spending over $10 billion of its own money on building the airports-of-the-future. That means new and more efficient check-in lobbies, bigger and better lounges, easier connections, and things you haven’t even thought of yet... like the ability to use GPS on your Fly Delta App so that we can see where you are in real-time. If you are stuck in traffic and might miss your flight, we can proactively send you a message to see if you want to rebook on the next available one).

Lastly, it’s important to point out our network and our partners. We’ve invested in the best airline partners in every region (and have worked hard to make these partnerships valuable to our customers) so that we can easily and efficiently get you anywhere you need to go while ensuring that you have the safest and best experience possible. Our joint-venture partners make this possible – from the oldest JV partnership in existence between Delta and AirFrance/KLM to our newest partners, Aeromexico and Korean Air.

We also know that our corporate travelers don’t work all those grueling hours and spend much of their lives on the road without any reward. When they finally take vacation and can spend all the miles they’ve accumulated, there is no better network to get you anywhere in the world than the network that Delta provides with its partners. And, as icing on the cake, you have special personal vacation perks through Cadence for Delta Vacations and Delta Private Jets.

Have any questions regarding Delta Air Lines for corporate travel? We're here to talk!