We Are Proud of This New Milestone and Look Forward to Continue in Providing
Celebrating a milestone while looking forward to the future
Ed Bastian
Ed Bastian
Chief Executive Officer at Delta Air Lines
I shared the below memo with my 80,000 Delta colleagues today, commemorating the 10th anniversary of the Delta-Northwest merger. As many of you are a part of the Delta family as customers and partners, I thought you might be interested in reading it.
Ten years ago today, Delta officially merged with Northwest Airlines. The merger created the foundation for what would become the world's No. 1 global airline, second to none in innovation, reliability and customer service, powered by the best people in the world.
It's hard to imagine that a decade has passed since those days. I remember being both thrilled and a little overwhelmed knowing the challenges and opportunities that lay ahead. Our family grew overnight to include tens of thousands of new people, new aircraft, and new routes to parts of the world Delta had never before served. At the time, we were in the middle of the worst recession to hit the United States since the Great Depression, and we knew we had to move quickly to take advantage of our combined strength. Most importantly, the guiding principle of the merger was that we had to do it with our people, not to our people. That was the only path to success.
In the months and years that followed, Delta people worked tirelessly to integrate the two airlines, creating the model for the industry's best-executed merger — a feat that has yet to be repeated. Together, we have forged a global brand that represents the very best in operational excellence and an unmatched customer experience, driven by our passion for serving our customers, our communities and each other.
We have accomplished things that were unimaginable a decade ago. Consider:
- In February Delta expects to pay out $1 billion in profit-sharing checks to our people for the fifth year in a row — something no other company has accomplished. Total compensation since the merger has increased by 80 percent.
- Our operational excellence is recognized as the best in the world. Delta consistently blows away the competition and we continue to widen the gap.
- The customer experience on our airline is second to none, which has a direct impact on our revenues — Delta today has a greater than 10 percent revenue premium versus our competitors. That means our customers will pay a premium to enjoy Delta's great service and reliability, making our profit-sharing checks even bigger.
- Innovation has become our hallmark, with our people finding new ways to serve our customers and manage our business, whether it's utilizing biometric technology in our airports, deploying RFID to improve our baggage handling, or developing new tactics to speed recovery from IROP situations.
- Delta has become the No. 1 airline in New York, and has built new West Coast hubs in Seattle and Los Angeles — markets where we once were marginal players at best.
- Delta is now considered an investment-grade company, with Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway as our largest investor. Our total value has risen from about $8 billion at the end of 2008 to about $36 billion today.
- Every year, Delta now gives 1 percent of our profits back to the communities we serve, resulting in tens of millions of dollars to support education, health care, the arts and other nonprofit organizations.
For those of you who were part of the Delta and Northwest families when we first came together a decade ago, I want to say thank you. You made history with your determination, hard work, innovative thinking and devotion to excellence. Every day our customers and our people enjoy the benefits of your accomplishments.
To those who joined us in the years following the merger, I am grateful for everything you have done to enrich our people-focused culture and strengthen our passion for service.
What is most amazing is that everything we have achieved together is just the beginning. I am incredibly excited about the years ahead as Delta continues to climb. Together we are building the No. 1 airline in the world, and I am confident the next 10 years will be even more momentous than the last.
Most of all, I am proud to be part of the Delta family. These past 10 years we have spent together have included some of the best moments of my life, and I wouldn't trade them for anything.
Ed
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Source: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/celebrating-milestone-while-looking-forward-future-ed-bastian
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