On January 31, Delta’s
employees smoothly executed the single largest schedule transformation in
aviation history, even with low visibility in Atlanta and residual effects
from recent ice storms. During the first 10 days of the change, on-time
performance improved, airport waits decreased and Delta customers noticed
a significantly improved travel experience. “Customers told us that they
were extremely pleased with the improvements—improvements made possible
through the dedicated efforts of our employees. They showed us that they
were ready to deliver for our customers in areas where it counts most to
them,” said Lee Macenczak, Delta’s chief customer service officer. Although results are preliminary, in its first 10 days the schedule
redesign made a significant difference for customers traveling on Delta:

  - Better on-time: On Saturday Feb. 5, under clear skies, Atlanta set a new record for on-time arrivals with 96.7% of all flights arriving within 15 minutes of their scheduled arrival time.
  - Improved weather recovery: The new schedule proved its value to customers when challenging weather conditions hit Atlanta.  On Wednesday, Feb. 2, a day with extremely low visibility, on-time performance was between six and 10 percentage points higher than the same days a year before, and as much as 22 percentage points higher than days with similar weather conditions.
  - Reduced airport security waits: By spreading flights more evenly, Delta’s new schedule reduced airport congestion.  On Monday mornings, the busiest time of the week at Atlanta’s security checkpoints, wait times on the past two Mondays were reduced by an average of 35 minutes.
  - More Flight choices: As a result of improved aircraft utilization, Delta successfully launched more than 80 additional flights from Atlanta.

As part of Delta’s overall transformation, customers can take advantage of
Delta’s increased service by using SimpliFares for travel within the 48
contiguous United States. SimpliFares remove Saturday stay requirements
and lower the cost of unrestricted fares on flights operated by Delta and
certain Delta Connection carriers.
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