Post by Owen on Sept 23, 2020 1:57:43 GMT
1 ~~~ How Delta Set the Standard for the Airline Industry's COVID-19 Response ~ Conde Nast Traveler ~~~
www.cntraveler.com/story/how-delta-set-the-standard-for-the-airline-industrys-covid-19-response ~ 8 September 2020 ~
The airline has developed a strong strategy in fighting the coronavirus—but it has also led the way in showing how to communicate effectively with its customers.
This story is part of our New Standard series, examining where travel is headed. Read more about how we define the New Standard here.
This has been a year of firsts for everyone, including the airline industry. For the first time ever it held its middle seats open, required passengers to wear masks on board, and gave fliers two years to rebook canceled flights. And the first carrier to enact most of these measures was Delta—but maybe more importantly, it was also the first to tell customers what it was doing. The company's relative success during this time owes a lot to its open communication, right down to its sneak peeks of the new cleaning technology it was developing.
Rival carriers followed Delta's lead, but not all have been as transparent or consistent about implementing changes. Some implied that middle seats would be blocked, then filled planes to capacity anyway, to the alarm of nervous passengers. (Delta, for the record, has promised to continue blocking seats and limiting flier numbers at least into the fall.)
www.cntraveler.com/story/how-delta-set-the-standard-for-the-airline-industrys-covid-19-response ~ 8 September 2020 ~