ATLANTA,
Nov. 13, 2015
/PRNewswire/ -- Delta Air Lines
(NYSE: DAL) is creating
a collaborative research center at The Georgia
Institute of Technology where the airline, through a
$2 million grant, is funding projects
to enhance its operations and the customer experience.
Delta is seen as an innovator in the aviation industry. A
commitment to constant improvement has driven the company's
success, leading to accolades such as being named to Fortune
magazine's list of the 50 Most Admired Companies. This space
enhances Delta's 86-year commitment to industry-leading firsts,
like pioneering the use of a hub and spoke system in 1955, being
the first U.S. airline with motion graphic maps
in the cabin showing the aircraft's position and route in 1992 and
launching the first mobile baggage tracking app in
2011.
"At Delta we are continuously seeking to improve and
elevate our operations and the customer experience," said
Gil West, Executive Vice President
and Chief Operating Officer for Delta. "This facility is the first
of its kind for the domestic aviation industry. Tapping into the
bright minds at Georgia Tech is an
opportunity to gain new perspectives and approaches across Delta
for changes that will advance our business now and for years to
come."
The collaborative space is designed to promote business
enhancements and innovation through research that centers on the
way people and products interact. The facility provides:
- Co-development and collaboration with Delta business and
technology teams, Georgia Tech research
staff and students from various colleges within the
university.
- Delta-led project development with the ability to vet
concepts and ideas to understand business impact and value,
assessing feasibility in the work environment.
- Dedicated space for experimenting in a safe framework
away from the operation to facilitate evaluating, envisioning and
prototyping in a quick, iterative manner.
- Immersive opportunities to share a holistic view of
Delta's business operations with top-tier talent looking for
collaborative, challenging work environments.
Already in development, the research facility began taking
shape when Delta secured a five-year lease for the 6,500 square
foot space at 75 Fifth St. in Atlanta's Midtown district. The airline is
enhancing its ability to pioneer cutting-edge programs and
technological advancements, looking to improve areas like service
recovery, customer experience and customer satisfaction.
"Delta Air Lines and Georgia
Tech have a rich heritage of working together in everything
from research to hiring our co-ops and graduates. We are delighted
that Delta's collaborative research center will provide even
greater opportunities for Georgia Tech
students, faculty, and staff to work with this outstanding global
airline," said Georgia Tech President
G. P. "Bud" Peterson.
The venture is planned for early 2016, making Delta the
newest tenant of the Centergy building, a development housing
corporate innovation hubs and startups, among others, and part of
Georgia Tech's innovation neighborhood
at Technology Square.
As part of The Delta Air Lines Foundation's mission to
support education, the Foundation has committed a $3 million multi-year grant to the Georgia Tech
Foundation for the Georgia Tech Advanced Manufacturing Pilot
Facility (AMPF) located at 555 14th St. in Atlanta's Midtown district. The
AMPF establishes Georgia Tech as the
national leader in advanced manufacturing with a collaboration of
Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Industrial and
Systems Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering, and
Interactive Computing.
"We are grateful to The Delta
Air Lines Foundation for their generous commitment that will
facilitate breakthrough research in advanced manufacturing,"
Peterson said.
About Georgia Institute of
Technology
The Georgia Institute of Technology, also known as
Georgia Tech, is one of the nation's
leading research universities, providing a focused, technologically
based education to more than 25,000 undergraduate and graduate
students. Georgia Tech has many
nationally recognized programs, all top-ranked by peers and
publications alike, and is ranked in the nation's top 10 public
universities by U.S. News and World Report. It offers degrees
through the Colleges of Architecture, Computing, Engineering,
Sciences, the Scheller College of Business, and the Ivan
Allen College of Liberal Arts. As a
leading technological university, Georgia
Tech has more than 100 centers focused on interdisciplinary
research that consistently contribute vital research and innovation
to American government, industry, and business.
About Delta Air Lines
Delta Air
Lines serves more than 170 million customers each year. Delta was
named to FORTUNE magazine's top 50 World's Most Admired Companies
in addition to being named the most admired airline for the fourth
time in five years. Additionally, Delta has ranked No.1 in the
Business Travel News Annual Airline survey for four consecutive
years, a first for any airline. With an
industry-leading global
network, Delta and
the Delta
Connection carriers offer service to 318
destinations in 58 countries on six continents. Headquartered
in Atlanta, Delta employs nearly 80,000 employees worldwide
and operates a mainline fleet of more than 700 aircraft. The
airline is a founding member of
the SkyTeam global
alliance and participates in the industry's
leading trans-Atlantic joint
venture with Air
France-KLM and Alitalia as
well as a joint venture with Virgin
Atlantic. Including its worldwide alliance
partners, Delta offers customers more than 15,000 daily flights,
with key hubs and markets
including Amsterdam, Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, Los
Angeles, Minneapolis/St.
Paul, New
York-JFK, New
York-LaGuardia, Paris-Charles
de Gaulle, Salt Lake
City, Seattle and Tokyo-Narita.
Delta has invested billions of dollars in airport facilities,
global products and services, and technology to enhance the
customer experience in the air and on the ground. Additional
information is available on the Delta News
Hub, as well
as delta.com,
Twitter
@DeltaNewsHub, Google.com/+Delta, Facebook.com/delta and
Delta's
blog takingoff.delta.com.
About The Delta Air Lines Foundation
The Delta Air Lines Foundation is a nonprofit corporation
formed in 1968 to enhance Delta's charitable giving. The Foundation
is focused on the key areas of health and wellness, arts and
culture, education and diversity. Foundation contributions are
unrestricted, allowing recipients to use funds where they are
needed the most.
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SOURCE Delta Air Lines