Traditional Thai Dancers

Sa was dee krub! ‘Hello’ in Thai. The 2009 international build in Chiang Mai, Thailand, is off to a great start. We have a very strong contingent for this year’s Habitat for Humanity project. Joining me this year are more than 65 employees from various functions, departments, cities and countries along with one very special customer and his guest.

Our first day in Chiang Mai was spent enjoying a true Thai experience at Maesa Elephant Camp about 30 minutes outside of the city. The elephants were amazing. They are highly trained and engaging to the audience. The elephants performed a detailed show for us—including painting portraits, throwing darts, playing socceer and more. The best part of the camp was a 30 minute elephant ride around the site, going up and down hills, crossing streams. My partner on the ride was flight attendant from TAM–Ann. Ann and I had a great time on our 22 year female elephant.

After the elephant camp, we had a police escort to the official Mekong Build Opening ceremony at Royal Flora palace. The Royal Flora palace is breath-taking and immaculate with a lot of flowers, plants, shrubs and art work. The opening ceremony was held for all of the 2,000 plus volunteers from around the world, with the largest representation from the United States.

Our wonderful host kicked off the ceremony with a taste of Thailand in an open area market featuring local appetizers, dessert, and drinks. The food was delicious. My personal favorites were rice fried dough nuts and grilled rice cakes.

Habitat for Humanity Jimmy Carter Build Opening Ceremony

The opening ceremony included an up close and personal fireworks show featuring 82 fireworks to honor the King’s 82nd birthday on December 5. The evening’s highlight was a welcome by President Jimmy Carter. President Carter gave a great speech on the importance of service and giving back to others. The President acknowledged Delta Air Lines’ generous support and the volunteers in the audience. Needless to say, we cheered the President for his personal “shout out”.

President Carter and Delta Employees

The evening ended with a wonderful show of local songs and dances. The week definitely started off with a bang. Now, its time for sleep and the great work ahead of us –building six homes in 5 days!

Shawn Cole
Director Finance DGS

Delta raised the bar this year with its breast cancer awareness and fundraising efforts. This year’s highlights include:

· Melissa Etheridge performing an in-flight concert for approximately 60 employee breast cancer survivors on Delta’s signature Pink Plane.

· Delta employees staffing 25 Pink Boutiques at airports and other Delta facilities across the system. The Boutiques featured a variety of clothing and other pink accessories with all proceeds benefiting BCRF.

· Onboard, flight attendants sold pink lemonade donated by The Coca-Cola Company as a fundraiser and accepted donations from customers.

· Employees used their attire to show support. Some flight attendants sported special pink versions of Delta’s signature dress while other customer-facing employees donned pink shirts, ties, pocket squares and other accessories.

· A variety of individual actions demonstrated employee support for the fundraising efforts, including MSP-based flight attendant Heinie Lund doing backflips in the galley to raise donations. He and fellow flight attendant Vicki McCutchan have raised more than $4,200 to date.

These are just a few of the ways Delta people took Flight for the Fight in October. To hear firsthand some of our employee survivor stories, check out the YouTube video above.

Ashley Black

Corporate Communications

After a few months “vacation” I hope you guys are excited for the start of the football season. It’s been a busy off-season for me, namely working hard to get healthy and preparing for what I hope to be a great 2009 season.

This past weekend we opened up the pre-season in New Orleans. My buddy, Corey Vavala, lives down there and he picked up my brother and I and gave us the insider’s tour of New Orleans. We drove down Bourbon Street and could see all the people getting cranked up for the first Saints home game (we also saw this lady who dresses her dog exactly like her… I gave her a high five because she was wearing Bengals colors). After Bourbon Street we drove through the French Quarter and you could just feel the history and tradition in the air. As we approached the bridge heading into the lower 9th Ward, Corey prepped us for the range of emotions we were expected to feel. The sadness was almost immediate as we saw about 15 standing houses in a place where there were previously thousands. Brad Pitt and Oprah are trying to do a lot to restore New Orleans but there is still so far to go. The mass amount of destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina definitely stung both Jordan and I with an array of emotions. Hearing it was one thing… but seeing it was something else.

After our tour we decided to get some good old Cajun cooking and headed to a place called Palace Cafe. The food was amazing. Everything from the fried alligator to the crab claws, the gumbo, the cheesecake… it was phenomenal. I’ve now crowned New Orleans as my favorite city to eat and want suggestions for my next time back there! Anyone?

I finally checked out of Georgetown College (where our training camp is and where they were filming Hard Knocks for HBO) and got to see my wife and kids for the first time in 2.5 weeks. In case you didn’t know, my wife and I had newborns earlier this year (a boy and a girl) and they’ve been quite a handful. As first time parents, we’ve definitely had our work cut out for us. I encourage any and all advice from those of you out there that have twins! Without question, they’re tougher than anything I’ve ever experienced in football (and a lot more rewarding)! I swear, in the two and a half weeks I was away, they grew and changed so much. They were a lot less excited to see me as I was to see them!

I’d also like to point out how wonderful Delta has been for us as new parents. My wife had to travel alone with both babies and Delta was unbelievably helpful not only letting parents with kids board early but also helping my wife get situated with the two kids. It’s something that I truly appreciated when I was in training camp and she called so impressed with the service. Then again, since they’ve been so wonderful in the past when we traveled with our Rottweiler, Homer, I wasn’t expecting anything less.

Keep on the lookout for more blogs from me throughout the year. I hope you are all well out there and make sure to send me questions!

Who Dey!

Carson Palmer
Quarterback
Cincinnati Bengals