Earlier this month Delta employees operated the Santa Express, whisking children away on a fantasy flight to the North Pole to see Santa Claus! The lucky children who got to experience this fun-filled evening were from the El Centro de la Raza and Big Brothers/Big Sisters Program of Puget Sound.

Peter Ruskin and I were asked to be flight leaders of the Santa Express last June. We picked our crew, 8 other flight attendants from theSeattlearea, who all had a special love of helping children. To get ready. we purchased decorations and planned activities for the flight– some of our crew even enlisted their own children (reindeer antlers and blinking red noses) to help out!

We rewrote our safety demonstration to The Night Before Christmas to start out our flight in the Holiday spirit. For ‘take-off,’ our pilots and ground crew made use of a high speed tug that taxied us around the airport and then parked at a remote area where we had lunch and watched two volunteer entertainers sing and play guitar. Our local pilot group purchased copies of If I could Fly An Airplane for each child onboard—they loved it! The book is about a child’s first flight on Delta and was written by A flight attendant, Lauren Lemos who autographed each copy. We read it using the PA for all the kids onboard.

Before ‘landing’ at the snowy and cold North Pole we served hot chocolate and passed out baseball caps for the children to wear and keep their heads warm while visiting Santa.

This flight was all about hope and joy for the children onboard the flight and employees who volunteered their time. As flight attendants, many of us view an airplane as our home in the sky. We view ourselves as a family. To be able to open up our home, decorate it with Christmas cheer and fill it full of excited children was a wonderful dream realized.

We’re happy to share the spirit of the season with this special group of passengers. Have you ever done something to make the holiday season brighter for a group of children? We want to hear your stories.

Susan V.N.

Seattle-based flight attendant

Delta offers service to more than 350 destinations in nearly 70 countries (on six continents!). However, there is one more destination to which more than 125 frequent fliers eagerly descended upon for four full days to realize lifelong dreams and lasting memories.

That final destination was none other than the world headquarters of Delta Air Lines – a destination more sought after than lazily sipping a Pina Colada under a swaying palm tree by calm waters on the shores of a white Caribbean beach or skiing down the challenging snow-covered slopes of the wintry Alps.

I’m serious.

From October 21 through October 24, 2010, attendees of The 2010 Second Annual Delta Air Lines FlyerTalk Event were treated to an intimate inside look at the heart and soul of Delta Air Lines, including tours of the Delta Heritage Museum, the Technical Operations Center, the Operations Control Center, and the towers above Concourses A and E at the airport in Atlanta.

We also met senior executives during a five-hour question-and-answer session, worked as gate agents for the morning, piloted flight simulators, sampled Delta’s on-board food options near the Spirit of Delta Boeing 767 aircraft and attended an intensive day of Road Warrior Training – a program designed as a way to sample the training flight attendants must complete. We even got to go down the evacuation slide!

This event was designed to allow frequent fliers and Delta Air Lines employees to personally interact with each other to gain a better first-hand understanding of how the airline operates and what customers really want in an ideal flight experience. This event overwhelmingly exceeded those expectations. One thing’s for sure—we’ll never look at air travel quite the same way again.

And FlyerTalk members are already talking about next year’s visit!

Brian C.

FlyerTalk Event Participant

January 30^th marked another significant milestone in our merger and to mark the occasion we gathered at LAX with the crew and some very special customers for the last “official” NW departure.

Employees & their families fly on NW #2470

NW 2470 departed for LAS (on time I might add) with a crew of five and about 20 reservations and technology department employees (some accompanied by family members) who purchased tickets well in advance and traveled from around the system to be there. It was pretty impressive that this group of dedicated employees didn’t even stay to enjoy LAS — most boarded red-eyes to get back home! A certificate to commemorate flight 2470, designed by one of our flight attendants, was handed out to the employees and crew and many passed theirs along for autographs. Cameras were flashing, folks were cheering and two cakes were consumed as we boarded. I was so happy to be part of the celebration.

The crew of flight 2470

Joanne Smith, Senior Vice President

In-Flight Service