Delta Air Lines

Northwest menu debuts at Delta’s Sky Club at Sea-Tac Airport

Food, Lounges, ,

 

 

It’s been six months since Delta Air Lines opened a new Sky Club on Concourse A at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. And, from the views of Mt. Rainier to the in-house spa, the artwork, the soaring ceilings, the bar and the food offerings, it’s still quite a thrilling and surprising space to visit.

 

A few weeks ago Delta upped the Sea-Tac Sky Club offerings quite a bit with the formal roll-out of a seasonal and locally-inspired menu created by highly regarded Seattle chef and restaurateur Ethan Stowell, who has about a dozen eateries in the city, including four in my neighborhood alone.

The snacks I nibbled on when Delta’s new Sky Club at Sea-Tac opened were fine, but now club visitors will find a variety of salads, including a house-roasted chicken salad with Washington-grown jazz apples, cranberries, dill and mint; a weekly rotation of crudité and dips, including mixed Mediterranean olives with orange zest and fresh herbs; a tasty pasta dish, as well as fresh popcorn with a hard-to-resist fennel pollen topping.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

In a phone chat, Stowell told me his goal was to create a menu that leans towards “lighter, fresher, brighter foods” that are vegetable and protein-focused, rather than “rib-sticking heavy foods,” and to offer “a taste of the bounty we have here” in the Northwest, such as asparagus and peas, which are definitely fresh right now.

As you might imagine, Stowell is a busy guy. So he said when Delta asked him to get involved with the club menu he was only interested if he was going to be allowed to put his own spin on it.

“They’re definitely let me put my take on it,” said Stowell. “I’m not saying it’s an Ethan Stowell restaurant in the club, but it’s as close to having a branded restaurant in a club as you possibly can.”

If the airport club partnership works out well, the next logical step might be for Stowell to create menus for Delta passengers to dine on in the sky.

“We’ll probably get there,” said Stowell, “We’re in that getting to know each other phase.  We both want this first project to be successful, but that will be the logical next step.”

 

Delta brings back main cabin meals

Flights, Food,

 

Here’s something we hope other airlines rush to follow.

Delta Air Lines is bringing back complimentary meals in the main cabin on some of its longest domestic flights, including transcontinental routes between New York’s JFK and Los Angeles/San Francisco.

Starting March 1, Delta will offer complimentary meals in the Main Cabin on flights between JFK and LAX/SFO.

The following month – starting April  24   –  the airline will expand complimentary meals to 10 other major domestic markets from Seattle, New York, Boston and Washington, D.C. including between BOS/SFO, BOS/LAX, BOS/SEA, DCA/LAX, JFK/PDX, JFK/SAN, JFK/SEA, SEA/FLL, SEA/MCO and SEA/RDU.

Delta has strong competition on many of these routes, so competitors may be be moved to match meal service.

Delta’s  meal options will vary by time of day.

In the morning, Delta says it will offer customers the choice between a Honey Maple Breakfast Sandwich, a Luvo Breakfast Medley or a fruit and cheese plate.

During the day, the choices will be a Mesquite-Smoked Turkey Combo, Luvo Mediterranean Whole Grain Veggie Wrap, or a fruit and cheese plate.

And on overnight flights, passenger will be offered a breakfast bar during the pre-arrival beverage service.

In addition to the Main Cabin meal service, customers seated in Delta Comfort+ will now get a pre-arrival snack basket on all 12 routes, along with complimentary beer, wine and spirits for customers 21+ and a mid-service Greek frozen yogurt bar on flights from JFK to/from LAX and SFO.

The airline says the meal service is part of its ongoing multi-million dollar investment in the on-board customer experience that includes upgraded main cabin snacks, better blankets, refreshed food-for-purchase options, free in-flight entertainment and – for customers on long-haul international flights –  complimentary beer, wine and spirits and sleep kits.

 

 

 

Off to work you go with Delta’s new promo

Airlines, ,

Yes, it’s a commercial, but who can resist (or not keep singing it all day long) the Heigh-Ho song from Walt Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs once you hear it in this new Delta Air Lines commercial.

And that’s the voice of Academy Award Nominee and Golden Globe Winner, Viola Davis, who has signed on to be the voice of Delta for the next year.

Delta outage: cancellations & waivers

Airlines, ,

Hassles on the agenda today for Delta Air Lines and its passengers as a result of a Sunday night systems outage that caused a ground stoppage  and the cancellation or delay of about 170 flights.

The airline is reporting that most of its flights are operating – but that about 110 flights have been canceled for today.

So far.

Delta CEO Ed Bastian has issued an apology to customers, saying “This type of disruption is not acceptable to the Delta family, which prides itself on reliability and customer service. ”

The airline has also issued a change fee waiver for passengers scheduled to fly on Delta today, with rebooking possible through February 3.

Does this sound familiar? A systems outage back in August caused Delta to have to cancel about 2000 flights over several days.

 

 

Travel Tidbits from DFW, YYZ & Delta

Events, Food, , , ,

North Pole ice santa

A few travel tidbits for a Friday in December

Dallas Fort Worth International (DFW) Airport and Coca-Cola have teamed up to bring some holiday cheer to travelers this holiday season with surprise give-aways of Coke products, Coca-Cola bears and other gifts delivered by the Coca-Cola Polar bear – who will be hidden inside giant gift boxes.

Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) is holding its fifth annual citizenship ceremony on Friday for 50 of the countries newest citizens and marking a milestone with the commemoration the first government-sponsored Syrian refugee flight at the airport on December 10, 2015.

Many of those refugees are now obtaining Canadian citizenship.

And good news for snack-lovers flying Delta Air Lines

Starting December 14, Delta will roll out a new, complimentary Main Cabin snack line up – with larger-size portions – of Snyder’s of Hanover pretzels, Squirrel Brand Honey Roasted peanuts and NatureBox Apple Cinnamon Yogurt Bars – along with the carrier’s signature Biscoff cookies.

The complimentary snacks will be available in the Main Cabin on all flights over 250 miles.

Passengers on shorter flights within North America from 251 to 599 miles will now receive a choice of Biscoff cookies or Snyder’s of Hanover® pretzels; before this they were only only offered one choice.

Passengers on flights over 600 miles will have four choices of snacks instead of three. And customers on international flights will receive a choice of Snyder’s of Hanover® pretzels or Squirrel Brand Honey Roasted peanuts.

To celebrate the new snacks, Delta has set up branded vending machines in Los Angeles, Seattle and New York to offer complimentary samples.