Click here to view the embedded video.

Those of you traveling through JFK have seen the construction areas — parts of the food court removed and expansion of the security lanes. With this expansion, security lane waiting times will be reduced and give you access to walk between concourses like you do now in Atlanta, Detroit and Salt Lake City. Think of all the concession choices!

The last heavy steel beam on the terminal is scheduled to go up on Nov. 2 to signal the framework of the building is near completion. Fun fact: the hard working hard-hat workers who have been building the addition to Terminal 4 will sign the last steel girder that will be installed for the concourse.

And a special thanks to Airport Customer Service here at JFK. They’ve shifted aircraft and closed gates to accommodate us, and we’re very grateful for all of their hard work in helping bring this terminal to life!

Our goal is to have the new Terminal complete by May 2013, so we hope you’ll come check it out!

Ryan Marzullo

Deputy Program Director for the JFK redevelopment project

Version 1.5 is now available with new features that let you view or change seat assignments and check upgrade/standby lists. Download it now.

Update (4/25):

Version 1.4 is now available and includes a rebooking function for cancelations as well as the ability to change your new flights. Download the latest version here.

Blog:

We heard you, our business traveler and BlackBerry^® user, when you asked for an app. Now, the wait is over.

Earlier this year we launched our Delta iPhone app and received overwhelmingly positive feedback. Today we launched our newest app to support devices running on BlackBerry OS 5.0 or higher. Now you can check in, view flight status and more from your BlackBerry device.

Download the free app now to:

• View flight status and gate information
• Search upcoming flight schedules
• Access your SkyMiles account information
• View airport information and weather updates

Remember, when you’re in the air you can use any of our apps or view delta.com for free by connecting to Gogo^® Inflight Internet. Stay updated with your business needs while also checking your connecting flight information or other travel plans.

We look forward to hearing your thoughts on the new app!

Jonathan M.

delta.com

This Spanish language assistance channel will operate very similarly to our current @DeltaAssist channel when it was in its infancy. We’re launching this program as a pilot, operating a Monday through Friday schedule to help us gauge volume and demand, and test the waters a bit.

So what can you expect? As with @DeltaAssist, our @DeltaAssist_ES agents can:

• Answer questions about Delta policy and procedures
• Assist with lost baggage
• Rebook a canceled flight
• Help customers affected by general service failures

So check us out and tell your Spanish speaking friends about this new service. We’re eager to hear your feedback.

Jerry Fletcher

Manager – Delta Assist

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Delta se expande en el mundo de las redes sociales con su nuevo lanzamiento de Delta Assist en Español.

Estamos seguros que muchos de ustedes ya conocen y han utilizado el  Delta Assist, nuestro programa diseñado  para dar asistencia inmediata a nuestros clientes en relación a asuntos de viaje y a través de las diferentes redes sociales como Twitter y Facebook. Es por este gran éxito obtenido, tanto en Twitter como en Facebook,  que hoy en Delta, nos enorgullece presentar la siguiente fase de nuestro servicio al cliente en redes sociales: @DeltaAssist_ES.

Este canal de ayuda en español funcionará de forma muy similar a nuestro  canal actual @DeltaAssist. En una primera etapa, esta iniciativa se lanzará como programa piloto, el cual  dará servicio al cliente de lunes a viernes. De esta manera iremos recorriendo el camino juntos en la medida en que vayamos creciendo.

¿En qué nos ayudará este servicio? Con @DeltaAssist y @DeltaAssist_ES, nuestros agentes  podrán:

• Responder a las preguntas sobre políticas de Delta y procedimientos.
• Ayudar  en caso de pérdida de equipaje.
• Cambio de reserva de un vuelo cancelado.
• Ayudar a los clientes afectados por fallas de servicios generales.

Le invitamos a que nos visite y a que pase la voz a sus amigos que hablan español. Dígales que también se animen y empiecen a utilizar estos nuevos servicios. Estamos deseosos de escuchar sus comentarios.

Jerry Fletcher

Gerente – Delta Assist

Q: What’s the best way to rebook a cancelled or delayed flight?

A: The fastest and easiest way to rebook is on delta.com.

There are many cities being affected by weather right now, so be sure to visit the Flight Status & Updates page on delta.com to check on your specific city. Remember, if your city has not been marked as affected, you cannot rebook online and need to call 800-221-1212 for assistance.

If you purchased your ticket from a travel agency or online travel site, you may need to contact that agency or site for assistance. Alternatively, if you are a Delta SkyMiles member make sure your contact information is up-to-date so we can reach you with updated travel information if needed.

Q: What’s the best phone number to call for help rebooking?

A: Our reservations assistance line is 1-800-221-1212.

Q: What if I can’t reach a customer service agent immediately by phone?

A: Because of the severe disruption the weather has caused, we’re experiencing an extremely high volume. While our call centers are fully staffed, you may still encounter a wait as we work to rebook customers and particularly those with travel plans occurring within the next 24 hours.

If you can’t get through to an agent right away please try back shortly. Because of the volume of calls it may take a few tries to get placed in line.

Q: If I want to get help through Twitter, what should I do?

A: Follow, tweet and direct message us at @DeltaAssist and an agent will follow up with you shortly. Please know that as with our other outlets, @DeltaAssist is also experiencing high volumes, so you may receive a response from a Delta Assist agent using @Delta.

Q: What else can I do to prepare for a possible delay or cancellation?

A: Check your flight status and weather advisories frequently and sign up for Delta Messenger to receive real-time alerts.

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I hope this helps answer your questions about the rebooking process. Thanks for your continued patience and we look forward to helping in any way we can!

Liz G.

Delta Social Media

Thank you to everyone who has participated in the recent conversations on baggage allowances for active duty U.S. military personnel. We appreciate all of your thoughts and insight, and want to share an update on the soldiers involved as well as changes to our official policies.

First and foremost, we want you to know we’re continuing to work with the soldiers individually to make this situation right for each of them. We regret that this experience caused these soldiers to feel anything but welcome on their return home. We honor their service and are grateful for the sacrifices of our military service members and their families.

After careful consideration, effective immediately, U.S. military personnel traveling on orders in First Class and BusinessElite can check up to five bags at no charge and 4 bags in economy class. This change also adds dependents traveling with active military on orders. Each bag may weigh up to 70 lbs. (32 kg) and measure up to 80 linear inches (203 cm), which offers added flexibility over the standard 50 lbs. and 62 linear inches (157 cm) allotment. Because of weight, balance and space constraints, Delta Connection carriers will accept up to four bags at no charge. You can read the updates to the travel policy on delta.com.

We hope these changes to our policies reflect the true respect we hold for our service men and women and again demonstrate our appreciation as both a company and as individuals who benefit from the freedom our troops defend. We also hope this echoes our commitment to listening, learning, and our continued dedication to constant improvement.

As an Army wife and 12 year Delta employee I also want to take this opportunity to shed some light on the additional ways we work to support U.S. Military personnel and their families throughout the travel process as well as in the community. We are a longstanding supporter military support organizations such as the Fisher House Foundation and United Service Organization.

At the airport, our employees are also committed to providing comfort to our military travelers on the plane, at the gates and in our Sky Clubs. We actively carry thousands of military personnel and equipment every week. I’m also proud to say that Delta is comprised of thousands of military service men and women—actively serving, retired, reserve, National Guard and more—and it’s another reason I’m passionate in Delta’s efforts to support our soldiers.

I want to again personally thank you for your passion and for participating in the discussions on our social media channels and beyond, and look forward to continuing the dialogue.

Rachael R. 

Manager, Delta Social Media

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We realize many of you have questions regarding members of the United States Military traveling with us on active duty today from BWI, and we want to take this opportunity to answer some of the recurring questions we’ve been hearing in our social media channels, as well as share some insight into our policies and procedures.

First and foremost we want you, our customers, to know how deeply Delta respects and admires the men and women who fight every day for our country. On a personal level, we as a company have very strong ties to the armed forces, with countless employees, family, friends and loved ones serving actively or on reserve, and many more who are retired from military service. I myself am the proud wife of an Army reservist here in Georgia. We at Delta understand what it takes to travel as an active duty member of the military, which is why we worked hard to ensure our policies allow active duty U.S. Military Personnel traveling with us additional flexibility.

Currently, Active Duty U.S. Military Personnel traveling on orders may check up to 4 bags in First/Business class and 3 bags in Coach for free both domestically and internationally. Additionally, to help with the travel process, we allow each bag to weight an extra 20 pounds over the standard allowance. You can read more on this policy on delta.com.

In the case of today’s situation, we would like to publicly apologize to those service men and women for any miscommunication regarding our current policies as well as any inconvenience we may have caused. We are currently looking further into the situation, and will be reaching out to each of them personally to address their concerns and work to correct any issues they have faced.

We thank you for your questions and remain happy to answer any additional questions you may have. We’ll also be sharing updates along the way to keep you informed.

Rachael R.

Manager, Delta Social Media

I applied as soon as I heard Delta was starting flying into Shannon Ireland from Atlanta in 1986 – I was 19 years old. I remember at the end of my interview I leaned forward in my chair put my hands up in front of me and said “look I REALLY REALLY REALLY want this job” The interviewer leaned back in his chair, laughed and said “that’s the first time I’ve finished an interview like that!”

Audrey (right) at the Shannon Ribbon Cutting, May 9 1986

I got the job and spent three weeks at Gatwick training. I had such great fun and learned all about the position, including how to print a boarding pass which was a recent invention around that time. Before that all the boarding passes were handwritten.

So many things have changed in the world and in our industry since then…

I have worn a number of uniforms through the years. My favorite is still my first one; navy, white blouse and a navy, red and striped tie that clipped onto the blouse. My least favorite was the grey uniform. I was lucky as I had three navy maternity uniforms during my time, but I can’t lie, the grey maternity uniform was not flattering!

When I started there were only two ways of communicating with other stations, the telephone and the ultra-modern (at the time) TTY (telex’s) .The ideas of mobile phones and email were still way off with the idea of someone instantly communicating (like something from Star Trek!). As for blackberries….you ate those. Most things were done manually, even bag tags at check in…and there were even smoking zones on the aircraft.

What hasn’t changed is that our business is all about the passenger. It was back then and is today. The passenger may now be able to book online and check-in on their phones, but the customer service element remains the same.

What I love about working for Delta is the friendships I have formed, working with some of the same wonderful girls for the last twenty five years. I love the fact that when you enter the “office” each day you never know what is ahead of you. To know that customers I have assisted have been happy with the service they have received is what I call job satisfaction. And I hope to continue doing that for many years to come.

Here’s to Shannon!

Audrey Murray

Senior Airport Services Agent – SNN

As the individuals responsible for the safety and security of their flight and everyone on board, pilots industry-wide do have authority over their aircraft within the parameters set by their individual carrier. Although, following a situation like this it is standard to review the matter with the pilots and talk with them about their decision so we can have our own understanding.

On Friday, once all the follow-up screenings had been completed, Delta ground crew immediately offered our apologies and worked to get these passengers booked on our next available flight and did everything possible to help make the passengers comfortable while they waited.

We want you to know that as a global carrier we transport people from every country of the world, every religion, every ethnicity and every race, and we take very seriously the trust our customers place in us. Our employees represent countries all over the world, and wouldn’t have it any other way.

But most importantly, although we were not the operators of the flight, these passengers are our customers and we would like to join Atlantic Southeast once again in offering an apology for any impact the situation had on both them and their travel.

Toby Broberg

Director, Customer Care

So, in a continual effort to improve this system and make traveling better for you, we’ve been working hard behind the scenes on five new projects that will improve your experience, should you find yourself with a delayed bag. Here are the new changes you can expect to see:

1. Proactive notifications if your bag doesn’t travel with you. All you have to do is sign up for Last Minute Updates on delta.com or subscribe to have your contact info included in your reservation. We will call or email you if your bags don’t travel with you.
2. Checked baggage tracking on delta.com. Now every checked bag has visibility if you wish to track its journey. For example, you’ll be able to see that your bags have been loaded on an aircraft.
3. Self-service baggage kiosks in 18 of our busiest airports by year’s end. These look just like our check-in kiosks but they are near our airport baggage service offices and bag carrousels. You can use the kiosk to view a bag’s status, check which carousel bags will arrive on and file a delayed bag claim if necessary.
4. All-online delayed bag claim process. Goodbye paper-based manual process. Hello easier, faster online process directly at delta.com!
5. Rebates for bags lost beyond 12 hours. For the rare occurrence when a bag is delayed more than 12 hours, you can apply on delta.com for a transportation credit voucher rebate for $25 for one bag or $50 for two bags.

All of these improvements are up and running today, and we hope that should you have a delayed bag, we can make the experience smoother and easier for you.

Stephanie L.

Program Manager – Baggage Service Recovery

Thanks to your efforts more than 40 million SkyMiles have been donated to help relief efforts in Japan. Now, we’re working with Gogo Inflight Internet to provide complimentary access to the Red Cross Website so you can help donate money and miles next time you’re flying with us. Plus GoGo is matching your contributions up to $15,000 so this is a great time to give back.

We appreciate your continued support for Japan and those affected.

 ———–

First and foremost we want to share our deepest thoughts and prayers with everyone whose lives have been impacted as a result of today’s earthquake and tsunami in Japan. As you can imagine, this has been a major event for us given our 1,200 employees in Japan and the thousands of customers who count on us to travel to, from and through Tokyo every day. We know there are a lot of questions and concerns about how this event may affect you and your loved ones, and we’ll work to address some of your concerns here.

Our first priority is ensuring our customers and employees in Japan are safe.  As soon as the earthquake hit, our operations team immediately went to work ensuring that all our aircraft were safe.  While in many cases this meant diverting, delaying or cancelling from our original schedule, we are fortunate that no employees or customers were injured at any of our facilities or on any of our flights in Japan.

Our reservations experts are also reaching out to customers to notify them of the impact this has on their travel plans. If you are in need of immediate reservations assistance you can call make changes to your travel without fees at delta.com, call us at 1-800-221-1212 or reach out to our agents in Twitter at @DeltaAssist. You will continue to find the latest updates from us about the status of flights at delta.com at http://bit.ly/DL_updates.

Many of you have also asked how you can help, and we’re proud to say The Red Cross has long been a valued partner of Delta. If you want to help by donating to the relief efforts of the Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami, go to the Redcross Website. You can also text REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation to help those affected by the earthquake in Japan and tsunami throughout the Pacific.

Christina R.

Duty Manager – Customer Focus

Delta Operations Control Center

We want to take this opportunity to tip our hats to the Delta people who are the faces, voices and backbone of our airline. They are the ones who you interact with everyday and make sure you safely get where you’re going. This recognition couldn’t have happened without their hard work.

While we’re proud to have led the pack and our efforts are being recognized, we’re not done yet. We’re continuing to improve our airline for you, and we promise to Keep Climbing!

After all, at the end of the day, this recognition really wouldn’t have been possible without you, our loyal customers.

You can read more about the annual FORTUNE World’s Most Admired Companies airlines list on their website.