Over at Anderson Cooper’s AC360 Blog CNN Senior Executive Producer Michael Schulder recently argued that Delta may posses a powerful weapon to prevent the spread of H1N1 flu… the in-flight safety video starring Deltalina! Check out excerpts from his post below:

If you’ve ever flown Delta chances are you’ll remember her videotaped safety briefing, including the now famous finger wag admonishing passengers not to smoke on any Delta flight. I’d like to suggest an important addition to her script and the script of every flight attendant who gives a safety briefing on any airline.

“…. Please take a moment to find the exits closest to you. And remember they may be behind you.”  And please, also, take a moment to look carefully at the passengers closest to you. If they have signs of the flu, such as a persistent cough, please alert a flight attendant. Remember, the most contagious passenger could be right in back of you. So look all around. Please do not use a thermometer on fellow passengers without their permission, even underarm thermometers. “Please remain seated with your seat belt securely fastened any time the seat belt sign is on. And even if the sign is off, you should keep your seatbelt fastened in case we experience unexpected rough air. … (finger wag) Smoking is not allowed on any Delta flight.”  Neither is any passenger who has flu symptoms, including body aches, fever, and a cough. If any of you have those symptoms, and you’ve been able to hide them from your fellow passengers, please come to the front of the plane right now (director’s note – use forefinger for come hither gesture) where you will receive a full refund and an escort to retrieve your checked bags. I SAID NOW!

Post your own edits in the comments. What do you think?

Chris B.
Sr. Product Manager, IFE

This Monday, NBC’s “Today” show ran a short piece detailing the intense five-and-a-half week training flight attendants receive to prepare them to handle virtually any crisis during a flight.

Many people don’t realize the intensive training our flight attendants receive. As Sandy Gordon, our v.p.-In-Flight Service Operations and Training mentioned, they are trained to be, “everything from fire fighters to police officers to nurses and doctors.” And because we do all of our own training here at Delta’s World Headquarters, every Delta flight attendant is trained by veteran flight attendants (like Katherine Lee) to be prepared for anything, including training in CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) and AED (automatic external defibrillator) in case they need to assist passengers who may stop breathing or have a heart attack during flight.

There’s more to this job than meets the eye. Check it out and let us know what you think! You can learn more about our flight attendant training here.

Katie
Delta Blog

Hi everyone!

Wow. What a week. A huge thanks to you for your support and encouragement in response to our new safety video. It’s hard to believe we’ve already had nearly half a million hits on YouTube in such a short period of time. And, being compared to the beautiful, Angelina Jolie? Well, let’s just say you made this Deltalina’s year.

Here at Delta, there is nothing we take more seriously than your safety. We know that safety videos are traditionally quite boring but the safety instructions we provide onboard are so important that we wanted to make our latest video more interesting and engaging (and yes, we do see you when you’re snoozing, reading a book or talking on your phone instead of listening).

Personally, I’ve wanted to be part of a Delta safety video since I first joined the company more than 10 years ago and finally, I got my big break. We had an amazing group of employees participate in the making of the safety video which actually made those 16-hour days fly right by.

Coming soon, Chris Babb, our internal producer, will share more behind-the-scenes photos and stories about the video with you. In the meantime, on behalf of all of the fabulous Delta employees featured in our new video, thanks for paying attention… And remember, smoking is not allowed on any Delta flight.

Do you have any questions about the shoot? We’ll try to address as many as we can.

Hugs,

Katherine

Flight Attendant - ATL based