Five Ways Delta is Making it Easier to Travel with its Global Airline Partners

Staff Report From Georgia CEO

Friday, September 6th, 2019

Delta is focused on providing customers across the globe with a consistent and seamless experience when they travel between the airline and its partners.  By looking at all aspects of the customer journey from booking right through to bag collection at your destination, Delta has found innovative, industry-leading ways to improve and ease the travel experience.

“Creating that consistency of experience when a Delta customer connects to a partner flight is critical and is a key focus across the airline and at our world-class partners,” said Steve Sear, Delta’s President — International and Executive Vice President — Global Sales. “We are removing gaps in technology and bridging differences between airline policies and processes, to create seamless connections. It’s all about making the journey easier and allowing our customers to re-discover how much fun travel can really be."

Here are just some of the ways we are making a difference to our joint customers:

Check-in

An industry first, Delta customers can now check-in for Delta codeshare flights that are operated by our partners Air France, KLM and Virgin Atlantic through the Fly Delta app or on delta.com. This works even if the first flight in the itinerary is operated by Air France, KLM or Virgin Atlantic and customers will receive a boarding pass and seat assignment for every leg of their journey.

Seats

An industry-leading initiative that enables Delta customers traveling on itineraries that include Air France and KLM flights to select free and paid-for seats during the booking process on the Fly Delta app or on delta.com. Customers traveling with Aeromexico can also select complimentary and paid-for seats after the booking process. Plus seats can be selected for free by customers traveling with Virgin Atlantic, Korean Air and WestJet through Delta’s digital channels.

SkyTeam Rebooking

The introduction of the SkyTeam Rebooking feature enables Delta’s Reservation specialists to access, rebook and reissue tickets for customers flying with any of SkyTeam’s 18 other members, in a matter of minutes when a customer is impacted by travel disruption.

TSA Pre-Check

Delta customers who have obtained TSA Pre-Check will now have this printed on their boarding passes when traveling with Virgin Atlantic, Korean Air, Aeromexico and WestJet.  It will be introduced across Air France and KLM this month, with the rest of Delta’s airline partners in 2020.

Corporate Priority

Delta led the industry in expanding its Corporate Priority to include partners, and the program now includes five global airlines so that corporate travelers can rely on consistent benefits around the world. These benefits are available with Aeromexico, Air France, KLM, Virgin Atlantic and Delta and provide:

Better Seat Choice: Where available, corporate travelers will be able to select better Main Cabin seats, without paying an additional fee.

Priority Boarding: Corporate travelers will be prioritized according to each carrier's boarding process.

Priority Service Recovery: In the event of an irregular operation, corporate travelers will be prioritized for re-accommodation. Additionally, corporate travelers will receive Denied Boarding Prioritization and Downgrade Prioritization in the unlikely event that Delta or our partners are unable to accommodate all passengers as originally planned.

“Our frontline teams are the key to improving the customer experience across the travel ribbon,” adds Tori Forbes-Roberts, Delta’s Vice President — Reservation Sales and Customer Care. “The feedback they hear from our customers is integral to driving changes in our processes, policies and technology to improve the overall customer experience.”

Delta continues to work with our partner airlines to remove all customer experience seams and is investing in technology to goal.  Example are Delta’s industry-leading implemented customer solutions like RFID baggage handlingautomatic check-in and bag tracking via the Fly Delta mobile app, a cross-industry alliance that will empower customers with a seamless in-cabin connectivity experience, more efficient and high-tech automated screening lanes, and a groundbreaking app that helps Delta pilots avoid turbulence for a more comfortable flight. Delta was named one of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies Worldwide in 2018, earning the No. 6 spot among travel companies.