Delta Air Lines

Delta tightens leash on emotional support animals- again.

Animals, ,

Delta Air Lines is issuing a new round of rules for service and support animals . 

Don’t be surprised if these rules are adopted soon by other airlines. 

Delta’s new policy goes into effect December 18. Under the new rules, service and support animals under four months of age will be banned from any Delta flight.

Delta will also no longer allow emotional support animals – of any age – to be booked on flights longer than eight hours.

If you purchased a ticket before December 18th and have requested to travel with an emotional support animal, Delta will still allow you and your emotional support animal to travel.

Come February 1, 2019, however, emotional support animals will not be accepted on flights longer than eight hours, regardless of booking date.  

“These updates support Delta’s commitment to safety and also protect the rights of customers with documented needs, such as veterans with disabilities, to travel with trained service and support animals, ” said John Laughter, Senior Vice President – Corporate Safety, Security and Compliance.

Delta said the updated policy comes on the heels of an 84 percent increase in reported incidents involving service and support animals from 2016-2017. 

Those incidents include urination/defecation, biting and an attack by a 70-pound dog. Delta also notes that its updated support and service animal age requirement aligns with the vaccination policy of the CDC and the eight-hour flight limit for emotional support animals is consistent with principles outlined in the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Air Carrier Access Act.

The full policy, including rules about what kind of animals can be considered service or emotional support animals, is on the Delta website. 

The new rules don’t apply to animals traveling in the cabin inside closed carriers as pets on paid tickets. 

Airlines, airports go pink for Breast Cancer Awareness month

Health, , , , ,

Airlines and airports are going pink to promote Breast Cancer Awareness month.

Throughough October, Tampa International Airport is lighting up its SkyConnect stations in a shade of pink. TPA’s Guest Service Representatives are all wearing pink scarves and ties and airport police officers are wearing pink ribbon-adorned badges.

Miami International Airport is also going pink during October.

Travelers will see pink signage on MIA’s Central  Boulevard welcome sign,  flight information screens, ticket counter monitors and more.

Last year, the Miami-Dade Aviation Department (MDAD) raised more than $35,000 for the American Cancer Society’sMaking Strides Against Breast Cancer (MSABC) Walk – the most of any Miami-Dade County department – through employee-led food sales, raffles, auctions and activities. This year, MDAD has partnered with concessionaires at Miami International Airport to raise more than $16,000, with the goal of surpassing its 2017 total.

Airlines are also going pink.

To raise awareness and support for breast cancer research, Delta Air Lines employees will wear pink uniforms and sell pink products, including pink lemonade and pink headsets, on board and in Delta Sky Clubs throughout the month of October.

This year, customers can also purchase Pink Boutique merchandise through the Pink Boutique online store. Proceeds from the onboard sales and online Pink Boutique benefit the Breast Cancer Research Foundation’s research projects and the overall mission of finding a cure. Delta will also donate 10 percent of all on-board sales directly to BCRF during the month of October.

American Airlines is also participating in Breast Cancer Awareness month by raising fund for the Susan B. Komen group:

  • AAdvantage customers can receive 20 AAdvantage miles for every $1 donated to Susan G. Komen with a minimum donation of $25 from Oct. 1 to Oct. 31.
  • Team members who are survivors of breast cancer will be prominently featured on aa.com, on AA flight and gate information display screens and in Admirals Clubs.
  • On planes, there will be pink beverage napkins and pink inflight menus, amenity kits, Wi-Fi portal and more.
  • Passengers will also be invited to donate directly to Susan B. Komen during flights. flight.

Other airlines and other airports will be marking Breast Cancer Awareness Month as well with fundraising efforts, information campaigns and lots of pink. If you know of a campaign, let us know.

Alaska Airlines adds 40 west coast flights for CES 2019

Flights, , , ,

Alaska Airlines joins the list of airlines adding extra flights to Las Vegas for CES 2019, the big electronics show.

Alaska Airlines plane

Alaska Airlines is adding 40 additional flights to Las Vegas from west coast tech hubs in Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Jose for people traveling to CES 2019 (the Consumer Electronics Show) next year.

The extra flights are scheduled from January 7 to January 12 and represent approximately 6,000 additional seats to and from these cities for that week.

While hotels will be very full and hotel room rates may will surely spike during the CES 2019 week, you don’t need to be attending the show to take advantage of these extra flights to and from Las Vegas.

But since these flights just got loaded into Alaska’s system, you might want to book them soon.

Other airlines are adding temporary flights for these days as well. American Airlines and Japan Airlines recently announces extra CES flights between Tokyo and Las Vegas.  Delta Air Lines, which has added CES flighs in the past, will likely announce this year’s batch shortly.

Heading to Las Vegas for CES 2019 or some other event? Be sure to make some time to visit the Neon Museum.

The museum tells the history of Las Vegas through classic, cast-off neon signs and is a great place to visit in the evening when many signs are lit.

Neon Museum Las Vegas

Neon Museum Las Vegas

Delta Air Lines’ new uniforms. Passport plum and all

Uniforms, ,

Delta Air Lines’ 64,0000 uniformed employees will look different.

It is the new uniforms created by fashion designer Zac Posen and produced by Lands’ End that we’ve been hearing about and now get to see in the sky and in airport terminals being worn by  Airport Customer Service, Delta Cargo, In-Flight Service, Ground Support Equipment Maintenance and TechOps employees.

Delta didn’t just give Zac Posen the contract and say “Come back when you’re done.” Here’s the process the airline says it used to get from the old uniforms to here:

  • A Cross Divisional Uniform Committee made up of 24 employees from each frontline division helped guide the three-year uniform creation and development process
  • 80+ employee focus groups that Zac Posen and Lands’ End teams attended
  • 165+ changes made based on direct employee feedback
  • 73 hours spent collecting data via job shadows by Zac Posen and his design team
  • 52 stations across the globe involved in focus groups and job shadows
  • 1,000 employee wear testers who put the uniform to the test over 3 months and across 5 continents
  • 30,000+ survey responses and emails from employees
  • 64,000 uniformed employees across 300+ stations around the globe
  • 60,000+ Wings and Name Bard handmade in the U.S. by Engage2Excel
  • 200+ show options available via Zappos at Work
  • 3+ years in the making
  • 25,000+ employees fitted
  • 1.2M items were produced for the May 29 launch

Delta’s uniforms used to be navy and red. Now they’re Passport Plum – a shade said to flatter every skin tone – Cruising Cardinal, Groundspeed Graphite, Traveling Thistle and Skyline Slate – and have signature details incorporated such as a collar on the women’s blouse that is inspired by the wing of an airplane, and pockets for passports and pens.

Here’s Delta’s new in-flight safey video, with special appearances by – the new uniforms:

Fingerprint entry to DELTA’s Sky Club

Technology, ,

Delta Air Lines is expanding the places where flyers can use itheir fingerprints as their ID.

Starting this week, Delta Sky Club members who are already signed up for the airline’s CLEAR biometric program – and those who get signed up now – can use their fingerprints instead of a paper or mobile boarding pass to gain entry to any of the 50 any of the U.S. Delta Sky Club locations – making it even easier and faster to get to all those snacks and free drinks.

Now, qualified CLEAR members can just put two fingers on the designated fingerprint reader and they’re in.

Delta Sky Club members who already have CLEAR and are using it to at the security checkpoints can start using their fingprints at the club rooms now.

Delta Sky Club members without a CLEAR membership who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents, can sign up for the program for free at CLEAR enrollment kiosk located in 14 Delta Sky Club locations across the country.

For those who have had trouble using the scanners in the past, it looks like they’ve been improved.

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Delta is big on biometrics and has been expanding its facial recognition programs as well.