Delta Air Lines said Thursday it is going "back to basics" with a new "employee driven" program to boost customer service and on-time performance.
"At Delta, it's no longer business as usual," said Marty Braham, senior vice president of airport customer service for Atlanta-based Delta."We're re-engineering the airport experience in a way that will break the mold of tradition and set a new standard for the airline industry."
Braham said Delta is asking its ground personnel to take a "mission oriented" approach to customer service and employee pride.
"Delta has always placed top priority on putting people first," he said, "but this goes further than that. This will get Delta people more involved than ever in the achievement of a common objective: the high-value, on-time movement of our customers to where they want to go."
He said the program has been tested at Delta hubs, such as the one it operates at Salt Lake International Airport, and has resulted in improved on-time performance. It is now scheduled for implementation throughout the airline's system.
Under the plan, Delta employees, including top executives, will be asked to become "troubleshooters and problem-solvers" on teams responsible for carrying out the tasks of getting an airliner fully loaded and in the sky on time.
"People are our competitive edge," he said. "To prosper in a highly competitive marketplace, we need their creativity and commitment."
"We want our people to have the freedom and the mandate to contribute to the overall performance - and ultimate success - of the airline. And that's been greeted with enthusiasm and a sense of pride."
"Back to basics" is part of the vision Delta Chairman Ronald W. Allen W. Allen has been sharing with employees for the past few weeks - including a non-publicized meeting with Salt Lake personnel at Delta's local maintenance and marketing facility.
Allen said those meetings have convinced him that Delta personnel not only have a shared vision, "but also the shared determination to see it reflected in the service we provide."
Braham said the new plan recognizes that the old, established ways of doing business that may have served Delta well in the past may no longer work in today's super-competitive air travel markets.
"To meet the competition, we have to change the way we think and some of the ways we do business," said Braham.