ATLANTA, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- With summer
quickly approaching, Delta Air Lines' (NYSE: DAL) 80,000 employees
worldwide are helping to ease long security lines and serve both
seasoned and first-time travelers.
Earlier this year, Delta and the Transportation Security
Administration began collaborating to take steps to improve the
security process at the national and airport levels. As a result,
the airline is investing up to $4
million in additional staffing at 32 airports across the
U.S. to supplement TSA staffing. Delta also invested nearly
$1 million in the research,
development and implementation of two new checkpoint lanes at
Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson
International Airport. The redesigned lanes, which opened this
week, are expected to increase throughput.
In a memo to Delta employees Wednesday, Chief Operating Officer
Gil West thanked the team for their
efforts to prepare for the busy summer operation as well as their
operational performance to date.
"We can't stop pushing forward," West said. "Your work has set
Delta apart from the pack. We are delivering unprecedented
performance and we need your help to keep it going through the busy
summer months. We want our customers to have a seamless experience
from check-in to pick-up. To ensure this, we partnered with the TSA
months ago to get a plan in place to support the increased customer
volume."
Four things the airline is doing to help reduce TSA line wait
times include:
- Staffing up – Providing staffing support at TSA
checkpoints for tasks that will free up TSA inspectors to open
additional checkpoint lanes at peak where possible or improve
throughput. Delta intends to deploy employees or vendors in areas
to manage lines, bins and other non-screening tasks. DELTA IS
providing nearly $4 million in
staffing solutions.
- Thinking differently – Lending subject matter
expertise from industrial engineers and other areas to make
recommendations on queue design and how checkpoints could be
redesigned for a more optimal flow and ease of movement.
- Innovating – Redesigned, at Delta's expense, two
checkpoint lanes at Atlanta's
Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. These lanes, a nearly
$1 million investment for Delta,
opened Tuesday and are expected to increase throughput.
- Giving customers a choice – Partnering with CLEAR
to provide complimentary enrollment to Diamond Medallions and
preferential pricing to SkyMiles members for expedited document
check-in and biometric verification for priority queuing at hubs
this year.
Additionally, Delta has created a video for customers noting
travel tips provided by an Atlanta-based Airport Customer Service
Employee.
Since Delta implemented supplemental staffing in early May, the
airline has seen a 10 percent increase in throughput at TSA
security lanes. Further shortening wait times, Delta's staffing
support at 32 airports has allowed TSA to open nearly 30 additional
lanes across the U.S. that would have gone unstaffed.
About Delta
Delta Air Lines serves nearly 180 million customers each year.
In 2016, Delta was named to Fortune's top 50 Most Admired Companies
in addition to being named the most admired airline for the fifth
time in six years. Additionally, Delta has ranked No.1 in the
Business Travel News Annual Airline survey for an unprecedented
five consecutive years. With an industry-leading global network,
Delta and the Delta Connection carriers offer service to 330
destinations in 61 countries on six continents. Headquartered in
Atlanta, Delta employs nearly
80,000 employees worldwide and operates a mainline fleet of more
than 800 aircraft. The airline is a founding member of the SkyTeam
global alliance and participates in the industry's leading
transatlantic joint venture with Air France-KLM and Alitalia
as well as a joint venture with Virgin Atlantic. Including its
worldwide alliance partners, Delta offers customers more than
15,000 daily flights, with key hubs and markets including
Amsterdam, Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, Los Angeles, Minneapolis/St.
Paul, New York-JFK and LaGuardia, London-Heathrow, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Salt Lake
City, Seattle and Tokyo-Narita. Delta has invested billions of
dollars in airport facilities, global products and services, and
technology to enhance the customer experience in the air and on the
ground. Additional information is available on the Delta News Hub,
as well as delta.com, Twitter @DeltaNewsHub, Google.com/+Delta,
Facebook.com/delta and Delta's blog takingoff.delta.com.
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SOURCE Delta Air Lines