This week, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation (HRC) let the world know something each LGBT (lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender) employee at Delta already knew – this is a great place to work!

Through the work of many employees from both pre-merger Delta and pre-merger Northwest, our newly combined airline has aligned all of the right policies, marketing and support for the communities we live in and service to achieve a perfect 100 score on HRC’s Corporate Equality Index and earn the right to proudly proclaim that Delta is one of the Best Places to Work for LGBT Equality in 2010!

Earlier this year Delta supported Pride and Aids Walk events in New York and Minnesota and was one of the leading sponsors of our local Atlanta HRC annual dinner. In May, we were honored to receive the Best Airline award from gay.com members and are working hard this month to win this year’s 2009 TripOut Gay Travel Awards – please vote for us! In October, we look forward to being the presenting sponsor for the 19th Annual Atlanta Aids Walk & 5K Run and a diamond sponsor of the 2009 Atlanta Pride Festival in addition to being a gold level supporter of this year’s Reaching Out MBA Conference being hosted in our hometown. Throughout the year, we offer our LGBT customers delta.com/gaytravel for more information and travel tips to some of the most gay-fabulous destinations in our network.

Being one of the best places to work means more than supporting our communities – it’s the way Delta employees respect one another each and every day. It doesn’t matter if the employee is an executive, pilot, flight attendant, or below-wing employee working on the ramp – we understand that there are a lot of things that we can learn from one another. At the core of our values is a deep commitment to respecting each other and drawing strength from our differences. That is what makes Delta so special and it shows – so yes, for LGBT employees and customers, we are simply the best!

Paul Skrbec
Manager
Corporate Communications

Each summer Delta and the Organization of Black Airline Pilots (OBAP) invite more than seventy students to attend the Aviation Career Education (ACE) Academy in Atlanta. During the two annual week long sessions, ACE campers take field trips to different aviation facilities, including tours of World Headquarters and the Atlanta airport, and they hear from a variety of guest speakers.

Today we went to Warner Robins Air Force Base in southern Georgia. It was a long ride down there, but it was well worth it. For the first part, we got to walk around and see the museum by ourselves or with friends. It was sort of like giving ourselves a self guided tour. With plenty to see, I first hit the World War 2 exhibit, where there were countless artifacts pertaining to the war. Something that interested me was on the second level of the museum, where there were many hand carved aircraft models. You could easily tell the distinction between different planes and helicopters used in previous years of the military.

Probably the best part of the self guided tour was when I got to the century of flight, which was one of the hangers at the museum. This hanger had several well known aircraft, such as the SR-71 and MiG 17 Fresco. Also there was one of the aircraft that I hope to fly in the future, the F-16 fighting falcon. This was a new exhibit was very special because their F-16 had been used by the Thunderbirds in actual flight demonstrations.

The second and last part of the day was going on to mission quest. I had been to Warner Robins Museum before, but I had never been to mission quest, so I didn’t really know what to expect. It turned out that mission quest was pretty much the flight simulators. I got the chance to go inside a simulator, equipped that was shaped like a cockpit and had all the bells and whistles. This experience was so much fun because I was getting to fly a F-15 Eagle alongside my classmates. We got to learn several things about flying and navigation, but mostly this experience taught me the need to communicate in life.

Olivia Fisher
Age 15
Yipsilanti, MI

Last month, the National Conference on Volunteerism and Service convened in San Francisco, California. Delta Air Lines was the official airline partner and gold sponsor of the event, which brought together thousands of people from nonprofits, government, and the corporate sector.

The opening session featured a number of famous people who have shown their dedication to service – John Bon Jovi, Maria Shriver, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Nancy Pelosi, and even Matthew McConaughey. But the star of the plenary session, the person attendees lined up hours before the start to see, was First Lady Michelle Obama.

The First Lady issued a call – a call to service. She made it clear that the problems we face as a nation cannot be solved by government alone. We must all work together. Volunteerism and service are not an option, or something that is nice to do, but the only solution. “This administration,” she said, “doesn’t just see service as something that transforms individual lives, or individual communities—but as a force with the power to transform this nation.”

Delta Air Lines and its 75,000 employees are proud to answer this call to service. Delta’s employees, known as our “Force for Global Good,” volunteer for countless hours, walking in Relays for Life for the American Cancer Society, donating blood to the American Red Cross, marching in AIDS Walks, raising money for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, delivering food for Meals On Wheels, building houses for Habitat for Humanity in the U.S. and abroad, mentoring our youth… The list goes on and on!

Delta’s culture has always been about service. Founder C.E. Woolman spoke of “hospitality and service from the heart.” But don’t be surprised if you find that the service Delta’s people deliver isn’t just on board or at the airport, but at work transforming your own community.

For more information on how you can get involved and how you can volunteer your time, visit: http://www.serve.gov/

Frank
Manager
External Affairs and Community Relations