Porsche Archives - TravelSkills

Delta’s final 747 flight to LAX from Honolulu SEE VIDEO AT BOTTOM OF PAGE (Image: Delta)

Remember Delta’s final domestic 747 flight from LAX to Detroit a few weeks back? You know, the same beautiful bird that was looking forward to retirement, but was put back into duty to help evacuate Florida as Hurricane Irma approached? Yes, that one.

Well before that plane arrived in Los Angeles, it received the royal treatment in Hawaii, and Delta made a fun video about the affair. What many of you may not know is that Delta has been running a 747 between Honolulu and Japan for many years. There’s a lot of love for the old bird in Hawaii as you’ll see in the video above where Delta employees made her a giant lei for big send off. There were gate and Sly Club lounge parties including food, drink and dancing. Also, a group of Delta Diamond Medallion flyers bought out the entire business class section (including the upper deck or “bubble”) for the trip.

A gate party including cake celebrating the final domestic 747 flight (Image: Delta)

Here’s what Delta’s News hub wrote about the flight:

Employees in Honolulu paid tribute to the aircraft, which regularly operated the Honolulu-Narita route, with traditional Hawaiian customs by fashioning a maile lei big enough to fit over the top of the aircraft as a sign of respect. The team also held a gate celebration, and several employees held back tears as the group sang Aloha Oe and watched the aircraft depart Honolulu for the last time.

The Los Angeles team also had a chance to say their goodbyes to the “Queen of the Skies.” Employees lined the ramp at LAX and waved orange wands as it made its late-night departure to Detroit. Employees in Detroit met the aircraft when it landed, though the 747 will continue flying through Detroit for a few more months.

First look deep inside a Delta 747- parked in Atlanta!

Final flight touching down in LA (Image: Delta)

A group of 50 Delta Diamond Medallion customers joined in on the festivities as well. When one member of a Diamond Medallion Facebook group saw that the 747 would be flying two domestic legs, he notified other members of the group, who jumped at the chance to take one last flight on the aircraft. The group booked nearly the entire Delta One cabin and some of the Main Cabin as well, and they flew in from all over the country to catch one last ride on the 747.

Additionally, employees in Los Angeles hosted a reception for the group in the Delta Sky Club, and each member of the group received model 747 aircraft as a parting gift. All customers on the flight received commemorative ear buds in celebration of the final scheduled domestic flight.

SEE THE VIDEO HERE

Delta 747 (and Porsche!) at LAX (Image: Delta)

Delta expects the remaining 747s in its fleet to be retired by the end of 2017. The retiring aircraft will be replaced by the Airbus A350, which will be Delta’s flagship international aircraft and the first to feature the airline’s all-new Delta One Suite, the world’s first business class cabin to feature a sliding door, as well as Delta Premium Select, a new premium economy experience. Delta will take delivery of five A350s in 2017 with more coming in 2018.

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ATL's train...or a four-door Porsche Panamera? (Photo: SocialisBetter)

Delta is being uncharacteristically coy about a flashy new program underway at ATL since early November. Several TICKET readers report being pleasantly surprised by new chauffeur service (via Porsche no less) from the jetway to their cars upon arrival at ATL.

Here’s what we are hearing:

From reader Eason Jordan:

As I disembarked from my LGA-ATL Delta flight last night, I was surprised to see in the jetway two young men holding up signs with the names of six passengers – my name included. When I asked the fellow holding the sign with my name on it what he wanted, he escorted me down the jetway stairs to the tarmac and ushered me into the front passenger seat of a new Porsche Cayenne SUV. He told me Delta recently embarked on a trial program in partnership with Porsche to show their love for top-tier Delta frequent fliers. Two fellow frequent fliers hopped in the back seat, after which we were whisked not to the main terminal but directly to our cars in separate parking lots at opposite sides of the airport. What a ride!
I quizzed the gregarious driver about the program. He said the unpublicized program was the brainchild of Delta’s CEO. Why Porsche’s involvement? Porsche is moving its North American headquarters to a new site adjacent to the airport, and Porsche wants to impress Delta’s most elite passengers – potential Porsche customers. The ATL Delta-Porsche program fields eight always-working passenger-shuttling Porsche vehicles – six SUVs and two sedans. Two vehicles work each select inbound flight. Sometimes the Porsche team shuttles late arriving connecting elites to a far-flung terminal connecting flight, while other times the Porsche team shuttles incoming elites directly from the arriving tarmac to their cars in airport parking lots. My driver said the program caters to medallion fliers – mostly Diamond, but others, too. I’m a three million miler with Delta, and at times I’m among Delta’s most vocal critics. I pleased to say this surprise reward program is a big-time winner, leaving me grateful and dreaming of owning a Porsche SUV.

Here’s another from Reader JK:

Have you heard about the DL/Porche customer appreciation program that started Nov. 1 (I’m sure you have…you know everything!). We landed this morning at ATL, B24. As the door opened, my name and another passengers were announced to proceed to the plane door where we were met by a member of DL’s Elite Service Representatives. He briefly explained that as Diamonds, we were to follow him down the jetway stairs where a Porsche Panamera was waiting. He told us that DL and Porsche were partnering to provide a special customer service for Delta’s best customers. We loaded into the car and he drove us from the tarmac to our cars in the Daily Parking lots! What a thrill!!!! Way to go Delta! Way to go Porsche!
**Porsche because, as you know, it will be building its NA HQ on the site of the old Ford plant adjacent to I-75 and end of runway.

Interestingly, Delta’s being very tight lipped about this. We asked for more details, but Delta would do nothing more than just confirm that the program is indeed in effect. Delta’s only made one public comment about the program over on the FlyerTalk boards:

I see that you’ve noticed a few of the spanking new vehicles trolling around ATL. It’s true that we have a team dedicated to transporting our highest value customers around the Atlanta hub and they’ve got a fleet of several vehicles with which to do so. As part of our partnership with Porsche (which includes shipping cars from Germany to Atlanta), they’ve provided us with a few fancy new rides to add to our VIP fleet. A couple of things to clarify:
1. Delta didn’t pay for these cars.
2. You won’t see any of our executives in these cars – they’re for HVCs [“High Value Customers”] only.
3. The Porsches are quite literally a new toy we get to play with so we’re testing out how to best use them. Right now, and for the foreseeable future, they’ll be used as a “surprise and delight” for some of our best customers.

Have you been picked up in a Porsche yet? Why do you think Delta’s being so coy about this? Perhaps they don’t want to be seen catering to the recently maligned 1%? Maybe they don’t want Medallions to start to expect the service, and complain if they don’t get a ride? Please leave your comments below! And if you get picked up in a Porsche, take a picture and send it to us… we’ll post it right here!

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