Delta keeping you safe with blocked middle seats, hospital-grade air filters and more

29th October 2020

From providing more space to extensive cleaning, Delta has put in place more than 100 measures to ensure a safe experience for our customers and employees, known collectively as the Delta CareStandard. Your safety is our highest priority from the moment you check in for your flight until you collect your bag at your destination, so we are providing layers of protection throughout your journey.

Keeping surfaces clean, giving you more space and offering safer service are core to the Delta CareStandard – our ongoing, organization-wide commitment to cleanliness and safety.

In the airport

From the first steps into the airport, many layers of protection are in place to give you peace of mind, keep you safe and encourage extra space:

  • Delta electrostatic spraying

    For a touchless check-in experience, download the Fly Delta app to access a digital boarding pass.

  • Our check-in lobbies, self-service kiosks, gate counters and baggage claim are thoroughly wiped down throughout the day.
  • Given the success of electrostatic spraying on our flights, the process is occurring in other key locations such as our airport lobbies, jet bridges, gatehouses and clubs.
  • Plexiglass shields have been installed at all Delta check-in counters, in Delta Sky Clubs and at gate counters across the globe.
  • We have added social distancing markers in the check-in lobby, Delta Sky Club check in, at the gate, on seats at the gate, and on jet bridges to encourage customers to stand apart. Our employees and messaging throughout the airport consistently remind customers give each other extra space, too.
  • You’re never more than a few feet away from a hand sanitizer station. They are available for use in check-in lobbies, at the gate, in Delta Sky Clubs and on all Delta-owned jet bridges.
  • In partnership with the Transportation Security Administration, we are rolling out antimicrobial bins that prevent the growth of a broad spectrum of bacteria to automated screening lanes in Atlanta, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Los Angeles, New York-LaGuardia and New York-JFK. We’ll evaluate opportunities for expansion to other markets following the launch in these cities.
  • Delta Sky Clubs are offering pre-packaged food, similar to onboard snacks and other pre-packaged options like yogurt, breakfast energy bars, salads, hummus and pita chips, and sandwiches. Our Clubs continue to offer coffee, tea, soft drinks, as well as select wine, beer and liquor. Shower service is temporarily suspended. Sky Clubs are gradually and safely reintroducing fresh and healthy, warm broth bowls to Clubs this winter as an additional option for guests.
  • Delta customers and our customer-facing employees are required to wear masks to ensure an extra layer of protection.
  • Delta is distributing customer care kits, available at all Delta ticket counters and gates, that offer a hand sanitizer wipe, a mask and an informational card that details how we are transforming the industry standard of clean.
  • This month, we are replacing the current air filtering systems that pump outside air into our jetbridges and parked aircraft with LEED Platinum MERV14 filters that will result in a more than 40% reduction in air particles** and cleaner air in those spaces during boarding and deplaning.

Onboard experience

As you board your flight, you’ll notice several layers of protection:

  • Hand sanitizer on Delta aircraft

    Delta will become the first U.S. airline* where customers can find hand sanitizer stations near the boarding door and bathrooms on every aircraft.

  • We’ve adjusted our boarding process to encourage more space for safer travel by boarding all flights from back to front—reducing instances of customers needing to pass one another to reach their seats. This process limits boarding groups to 10 customers at a time to minimize your contact with others.
  • Through at least Jan. 6, 2021, we will ensure more space for customers on all aircraft by blocking the selection of middle seats and limiting the number of customers per flight to reduce the total number of customers on board.
  • On routes where increased demand is putting customer counts close to our limit, we will look for opportunities to upgrade to a larger aircraft or add more flights to the schedule.
  • Every Delta flight is thoroughly sanitized prior to boarding using electrostatic sprayers. Following this process, cleaning crews complete an extensive checklist of cleaning procedures using this same high-grade disinfectant to wipe down personal and common areas of the cabin. If an aircraft doesn’t pass our spot check before you board, our teams are encouraged to hold the flight and call back the cleaning crew.
  • The air on all aircraft is completely recirculated 10 to 30 times per hour with fresh, outside air through industrial-grade HEPA filters, which extract more than 99.99% of particles, including viruses.
  • We are installing Vyv antimicrobial LED lighting above high-touch sinks and countertops in lavatories on select aircraft to continually reduce the growth of bacteria – one of many clean innovations we are bringing onboard.

Temporarily, we have streamlined our food and beverage offerings to reduce touchpoints.  Snack bags are given out during flight attendants’ first pass through the cabin, a move inspired by flight attendants’ desire to deliver the best in-flight service while keeping customers safe and at ease. As of July 2, Delta began reintroducing adult beverages to select customers on all flights greater than 500 miles.

Our commitment remains

“The (travel) experience is a very comfortable, a very safe experience, we have taken actions, even above and beyond what the CDC has recommended to ensure safety,” Delta’s Chief Customer Experience Officer Bill Lentsch told ABC News.

Flight attendant cleaning

Delta’s new Global Cleanliness Division is working with teams across the airline and with partners to advance safety and cleanliness throughout travel. For example, Delta is partnering with trusted organizations like Mayo Clinic and RB (makers of Lysol) and exploring how ATP testing devices – which are regularly used to swab surfaces in hospitals and restaurants – could be added to our rigorous cleaning program to bring a more calculated approach to cleanliness. These are just a few examples of how Delta thinks big, starts small and scales fast with innovations that protect both customers and employees.

Building on Delta’s already robust onboard cleanliness efforts as part of the Delta CareStandard, these new, industry-leading cleanliness features create a safer, more comfortable onboard experience for customers and employees. From blocking middle seats into January 2021 to changing high-grade HEPA air filters twice as often as recommended, we are constantly updating best practices and improving the new standard of care based on expert medical advice and customer feedback. Using the same innovative spirit we’re known for, we continue to evolve, always with cleanliness and safety top of mind.

 

*Based on a review of U.S. carriers’ websites and press rooms as of Aug. 24, 2020. 

**Source: internal Delta testing