Last Thursday, June 12, Delta held inaugural festivities at New York-JFK to celebrate our new flights to the lovely island of Antigua. The celebration included a ribboncutting, special gifts, and remarks by Delta’s very own Brian Rutter, Director-Sales & Marketing, New York and the Honorable Baldwin Spencer, Prime Minister of Antigua & Barbuda.

This flight was full with a mixture of Antiguans returning home to visit family, vacationers, and others making a special trip for the Romantic Rhythms Music Festival. This year’s festival lineup included Lionel Richie, Kenny Rogers, Brian McKnight, Heather Headley, and many more.

Upon boarding, Antigua Tourism provided departing passengers with maracas, tambourines, and Romantic Rhythms flashing lapel pins, to continue the celebration.

We are very pleased that DL573 made a special moment in Delta’s history in the New York community, and thank all of our customers for choosing Delta to travel to the lovely island of Antigua. Book a flight now!

Jeanene Wilson

Sr. Marketing Specialist

Delta Air Lines

By now you’re probably already aware that Delta Air Lines has transformed itself pretty significantly over the past several years, and we continue to do so. While Delta has flown international routes for years, we’ve really worked hard over the past several years to make the world a little bit smaller, so to speak, by taking our customers to more of the exciting global destinations that are important to them.

If you’re a New Yorker who thinks of Delta as the airline to take you and your family on vacation to Orlando, or as the airline known for the Delta Shuttle to Boston or Washington, I’d ask you to please keep reading. Sure, we can help you enjoy the chance to see Mickey; and we’re very proud of our Shuttle product that makes quick business trips to Beantown or the nation’s capital a snap. However, today’s Delta Air Lines is so much more. Since 2005, Delta has implemented one of the world’s most extensive global route expansions. Over the past three years, Delta has added more than 90 new international routes. With 306 cities served (as of April 23, 2008) and counting, Delta and Delta Connection carriers serve more destinations worldwide than any other airline. Yes, you read correctly.

Now, our frequent customers might have picked up on the fact that springtime - say, March through June or so - is the period during which we typically launch many of our newest international routes for the calendar year. So, ’tis the season for new international flights from New York City. Whether you’re traveling for business or seeking to be the first among your friends to experience an exciting new vacation destination, here are some of Delta’s newest international flights, along with 2008 launch dates, from New York-JFK:

• Tel Aviv, Israel - New!
• London Heathrow - New!
• Edinburgh, Scotland - New!
• Dakar, Senegal - June 3
• Cape Town, South Africa - June 3
• Cairo, Egypt - June 4
• Malaga, Spain - June 4
• Amman, Jordan - June 5
• Antigua - June 12
• Lyon, France - July 17

You can always explore the many places that Delta can take you from New York by visiting our interactive route map on delta.com (it’s pretty cool; give it a try). Let us know how our newest international destinations are helping to make your world a little bit smaller.

As always, thank you for your support of Delta Air Lines. We appreciate your business.

Brian T. Rutter
Director - Sales & Marketing
New York

OK, I must be a geek, but I don’t care. What I love about my job in the Delta Cargo department is that I feel connected to commerce and what is happening. I see vegetables from Europe in the summer, Latin America in the winter. I get close to tigers for film shoots and move the camera equipment for the networks and the Olympics. We even move eyes for transplant and radioactive medicines for chemotherapy!

I have visited Delta destinations when we first start service and worked with our new friends/partners in business. I could see that they were eager to do business with Delta and with the United States. A new market is opening! Excitement in their eyes.

Cargo is not at all like working with passengers. Boxes/crates just sit there. They need us to get them moving. We need to communicate with each other to keep the process moving. We talk to each other and send e-mails all around the world: Bombay, Tel Aviv, Budapest, Brazil, Toronto, and Guatemala all before breakfast. (Okay, I eat late).

The other day I attended the funeral of a close friend. As I was sitting there thinking about our loss, I noticed the beautiful flower displays in his honor… I started to smile. Perhaps, I had a hand in getting those very flowers in those arrangements from far away places to those florists so the arrangements could brighten the occasion.

That’s why I love cargo!

John H.

Cargo - JFK