As many of you know, Delta offers you the opportunity to offset the carbon emissions of your travel through our partnership with The Nature Conservancy (TNC). Many of you have participated in this program so we want to take this opportunity to share an update! This year those of you booking tickets on delta.com during April contributed a record $14,244 towards TNC’s carbon offset efforts in the Lower Mississippi River Valley, plus an additional $3,935 in direct donations. And once again, we were excited to match your contributions in celebration of Earth Day. In total, this is the equivalent of offsetting the carbon emissions on all of Delta’s flights from Boston to Orlando during that month.

Plus, offsets are not only available around Earth Day, but all year long! After purchasing a ticket, you can select “Learn More” under “A Greener Way to Fly” at the bottom of the ticket confirmation page to donate offsets for your trip. Thanks to the generosity of our customers and your concern for the environment, more than $60,000 has been raised so far this year to fund TNC’s carbon offset program. With your help, we’re well on our way to beating last year’s record of $79,000.

Here’s a breakdown of the 2011 TNC donations in honor of Earth Day:
Customer CO2 Offsets – $14,244
Customer Donations to TNC – $3,935
Delta’s Matching Donation – $18,179
Grand Total – $36,358

Also, take a look at our recently released 2010 Corporate Responsibility Report at delta.com/responsibility, where you can learn more about how offsets fit into Delta’s larger environmental commitment.

Thank you once again to all customers who have contributed to the offset program. We are looking for ways to make offsetting easier to fund and more diverse. What ideas do you have to improve the program further?

Aaron Robinson
Emissions and Sustainability

Earth Day provides a great opportunity for us as an airline to reflect on the importance of sustainability efforts in our industry. We’re proud to say we’ve made a lot of progress in recent years, yet remain aware of the work still ahead of us.

What do our current efforts look like? We have a broad array of sustainability efforts helping us toward our goal of operating an environmentally responsible airline. One of the most visible, because it happens right before your eyes, is our in-flight recycling effort.

Our program, launched in 2007, diverts aluminum cans, plastic cups, plastic bottles, newspapers and magazines collected on board our aircraft from landfills in 26 U.S. cities. And we’re happy to report our dedicated flight attendants, catering staff and cabin service employees successfully recycled 554 tons of material last year!

We also have a lot of programs that you don’t see, like a waste minimization program on the ground. And the numbers add up! Last year, for example, our employees recycled nearly 600 tons of waste at our headquarters here in Atlanta.

We know we have a long way to go before we achieve our goal of operating an environmentally-responsible airline, but with our dedicated employees and customers leading the way, we’re seeing significant improvements every year in our fuel efficiency, reductions in carbon emissions and recycling efforts.

So let’s take a moment today to acknowledge the progress we’ve made, while always mindful of the work ahead of us.

Helen Howes

Managing Director, Safety, Health and Environment

I’m still a newcomer to Delta, having joined the airline in April as managing director – Safety, Health and Environment. During that time I’ve witnessed firsthand the efforts here to build a better, more sustainable airline for our customers, our employees and the communities we serve. I wanted to take a moment to share with you some of what we’ve achieved as well as some of our challenges ahead.

It’s all outlined in a new report that we’re featuring on delta.com – our 2009 Corporate Responsibility Report. It’s not the first time Delta has produced a report on its efforts to be a good corporate citizen, but it is the first such report for the new Delta, following our successful merger with Northwest Airlines.

In 2009, Delta’s In-Flight Recycling program diverted over 2 million pounds (1,000 tons) of aluminum, mixed paper and plastic from domestic flights serving 29 cities.

The report contains information on our environmental, safety, community and financial initiatives from 2007 through 2009. But it’s important to remember that there are thousands of people behind those hard numbers – Delta people who have risen to the challenge of making our airline a positive force in the communities we serve!

Here are some of results stemming from all the hard work of my 75,000 Delta colleagues:

• Reduction in greenhouse gas emissions
• Expansion in our recycling programs and our commitment to exploring options for alternative fuels in our industry
• New community affairs programs and stewardship efforts
• Wellness plans and our commitment to diversity

It’s all detailed in the report, which gives us a lot to be proud of! At the same time, it’s also a reminder of the work that lies ahead as we continue to strive to be the best possible airline for our customers, employees and communities.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts as we continue our efforts.

Helen Howes

Managing Director – Safety, Health and Environment