Delta Air Lines today announced it will implement a new boarding procedure, effective immediately, for its international flights as part of the carrier’s
commitment to making travel faster and easier for its customers around the
world. The new international procedure, which minimizes aisle congestion, follows
Delta’s move earlier this year to replace customer boarding by rows on
United States flights with a new staggered zone boarding procedure. Delta
customers boarding at international destinations served by the airline in
Asia, Europe (except Paris and Nice, France, and Zurich, Switzerland) and
Latin America and the Caribbean now will be given a zone number during the
check-in process that corresponds to their assigned seat. This zone number
will be printed on the customer’s boarding card which is presented upon
check-in at the airport. Boarding announcements will be made in the gate
areas advising customers when their zone is ready to board. BusinessElite
customers and Medallion members of Delta’s frequent flyer program,
SkyMiles, and Elite Plus members of SkyTeam, will continue to receive
priority boarding.

“Introducing the zone boarding procedure to most Delta-operated
international originating flights, further demonstrates our commitment to
providing our customers with speed and convenience whenever and from
wherever they travel,” said Rich Cordell, Delta’s senior vice president -
Airport Customer Service. “Zone boarding is designed to simplify the
customer boarding process in airport jetways and onboard our aircraft and
we are excited about initiating this procedure on our international
services.”

Delta’s zone boarding process has successfully been implemented on Delta’s
U.S. flights since January 21, 2004. Song, Delta’s low-fare air service,
introduced zone boarding during its launch in April 2003.

Delta operates services to the U.S. from 21 destinations in Europe, 24 in
Latin America and the Caribbean and one in Asia including Brussels,
Belgium; Lima, Peru; and Tokyo.
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