Starting from a crop-dusting company to becoming one of the most reputable airlines in the world, Delta Airlines has been marching forward relentlessly. The challenges and competitiveness of the aviation industry could not affect its commitment to cling on to Delta Airline’s mission and vision statements.
- Company name: Delta airline
- Type: Public
- Founded on: March 2, 1925 as Huff Daland Dusters
- Commercial Passenger Transportation began on: June 17, 1929
- Headquarters: Atlanta, Georgia
- Total Assets: 64.532 Billion USD (2019)
Company Overview:
In the aviation industry, Delta airline is a global leader in customer service, reliability and safety; a respected legacy carrier. Under normal circumstances, Delta airline provides service to 200 million people per year on average and employs over 90,000 people globally. It operates in 325 destinations on 6 continents and handles 5400 flights a day. Among its many accomplishments, being one of the founding members of SkyTeam, one of the three major airline alliances, is a remarkable display of success.
Delta airline has two different types of operation: Airline and Refinery. The airline segment provides scheduled air transportation, cargo transportation and does maintenance and repairs for third parties. The airline operation generates 90% of its sales revenue. On the other hand, the refinery segment produces jet fuel from Delta-owned establishments and from agreements with outside organizations. Delta airline owns Trainer Refinery in Delaware, Pennsylvania which is focused on producing high-quality jet fuel.
The company’s ascent to success is followed by a chain of interesting events. Delta is the successor of the world’s first commercial crop-dusting company named Huff Daland Dusters. Huff Daland Dusters operated from 1925 to 1928. In 1928, C.E. Woolman, the founder of the company, renamed it after the Delta region of Mississippi. The passenger operations of Delta airlines officially commenced on June 17, 1929, from Dallas, Texas. Since then Delta has been present in the aviation industry.
In the last 90 years, Delta airline has maintained steady progress despite facing major issues in the saturated aviation industry. But Delta has always managed to make a comeback; declaring bankruptcy in 2005 and emerging from bankruptcy with a well-organized restructuring is a glowing example of its resilience.
Mission Statement:
The mission statement of delta airlines is “We—Delta’s employees, customers, and community partners together form a force for positive local and global change, dedicated to bettering standards of living and the environment where we and our customers live and work.”
Mission Statement Analysis:
The mission statement is very specific about the values Delta airline holds. We can divide the mission statement into the following three main segments:
- Creating A Sense of Community: Delta Airlines introduced who it counts as its own in the first part of the mission statement. Instead of expressing the core message immediately, Delta airline addressed its employees, customers, and community partners to show endearing sentiments and its caring nature. This effort automatically creates a sense of self and renders inclusivity. As airlines are prominent passenger services, Delta Airlines’ mission statement is successful in portraying itself as an inclusive and caring organization.
- Bringing A Wave of Positivity into the World: Delta airline intends to form a force for constructive local and global change, work for the betterment of people’s lives. As Delta airline operates on a global scale, its reach also extends to a global length. Working to benefit and positively impact people from all over the world delineates its goodwill for everyone. It reinforces that Delta airline is trustworthy and caring.
- Concern for the Environment: As the aviation industry leaves a high carbon footprint, it is imperative that airlines do their best to limit carbon emissions and take protective measures for the environment. Since there is hardly any feasible alternative to air traveling, an airline being as environment-friendly as possible boosts its credibility by a substantial margin. In the last part of the mission statement, Delta airline shares its enthusiasm for improving the standard of the environmental conditions and again aligns itself with the customers by referring to the environment by saying “where we and our customers live and work”. This bolsters its initial notion of the statement about inclusivity and concern for the environment.
All three segments work in perfect harmony. The beginning and the ending of the statement beautifully put the spotlight on Delta airline’s desire to bring positive change and to nurture its community.
Vision Statement:
The vision statement of delta airlines is “To be the World’s Most Trusted Airline.”
Vision Statement Analysis:
With only 7 words, Delta airline’s vision statement conveys two strong messages. They are:
- Being A Global Entity: Delta airline aspires to become renowned worldwide by spreading its services to every corner of the globe. The vision statement smartly hints at its goal to extend geographical reach. With its service extending to 52 nations in six continents, it seems to be moving in the right direction.
- Gaining Trust: The vision statement of Delta Airlines communicates its ambition of becoming the most trusted airline. And to do so, delta airline needs to create a strong bond with its existing customers and gain the trust of others in the process. The mission statement is very explicit in its attempt to portray Delta airline as caring and responsible. The vision statement strengthens its commitment to earn trust.
The mission and vision statements of Delta airline are very well thought and they orbit around the same core message. The vision statement is very concise whereas the mission statement is detailed in terms of Delta Airline’s specific goals and the issues it wants to solve. The mission statement complements the vision statement and together they paint a crystal clear picture of the future Delta airline wishes to work towards.
Delta airline is devoted to its goals and this devotion is apparent in its policies. Its 12-point customer commitment, setting the goal to reduce its carbon emission by 50% by 2050, promoting diversity and inclusion, engaging in altruistic events such as donating 1 percent of its net income for charitable causes reflect Delta airline’s adherence to the vision and mission statements.
References:
- https://www.vault.com/company-profiles/travel-leisure/delta-air-lines-inc
- https://news.delta.com/deltas-history-dusting-crops-connecting-world#:~:text=1928%3A%20C.E.%20Woolman%2C%20the%20principal,3%2C%201928.&text=Begins%20operating%20as%20Delta%20Air%20Lines.
- https://news.delta.com/corporate-stats-and-facts#:~:text=Delta%20Air%20Lines%20(NYSE%3A%20DAL,innovation%2C%20reliability%20and%20customer%20experience.&text=Headquartered%20in%20Atlanta%2C%20Delta%20has,destinations%20in%20over%2050%20countries.
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delta_Air_Lines
