Company Background
Delta Airlines History
Delta Airlines is the passenger and cargo transportation company, which provides services throughout the United States and around the world with strong presence in every major domestic and international market. The airline’s history dates back to 1924 when the Huff Daland Duster Corporation was founded by B.R. Coad and Collett E. Woolman. At that point, the company became the first in the country aerial crop dusting company. In 1925, Huff Daland possessed the biggest privately owned airplane fleet in the world. In 1928, the company was renamed to Delta Airlines, after the Mississippi Delta region, under the leadership of D.Y. Smith as the President of the company and C.E. Woolman as his Vice President. Already in 1929 Delta Airlines start actively developing passenger services and manages to tap into the Royal Mail service on route 24with Latin America. The second critical period in the history of the company in 1940-1949, when the company participates in military efforts and enhances its operational knowledge and market proposition by entering the low-cost market through offering an overnight flight from Chicago and Miami. The 1950s are characterized as the period of international expansion, when Delta takes aggressive growth strategy through merger and acquisition (M&A), such as Chicago and Southern Airlines merger. In the 1960s brought significant changes in the industry driven by technological advancements and consequent partnership with IBM. This partnership and investment in Research and Development (R&D) allowed installation of radars, implementation of the hub and spoke system, the launch of the first instant reservation system SABRE and the introduction of the Conair 880 jet service, in all which Delta was the pioneer. The company continued to grow as one of the most innovative and technologically-driven brand in the sector for the following decades. By 2000, the company launches the first airline alliance Sky Team and just three years later Delta enters the market with Song@, the first low-cost airline. All this makes Delta a truly global carrier, driven by radical innovation. By 2006, Delta has service to more destinations than any other carrier with 124 non-stop flights. The past five years are underpinned by a series of investments in customer service quality and innovation management.
Today, the company employs over 84,000 individuals worldwide and operates a fleet of 800 aircraft in partnership with Air France-KLM, Aero Mexico, GOL and China Eastern as well as has partnerships with several regional carriers under the umbrella of Delta Connection (Delta, 2015). This strategic partnership program is essential for the organizational growth and sustainability strategy. Total revenue of Delta Airlines in 2015 is USD$ 40,7 billion, which represents 0.5% increase relative to the same period 2014. Operating income for the same periods is USD$ 7.8 billion and USD$ 2.2 billion respectively outlining the improvement in non-recurring expense management (USSEC, 2015).
Delta Airlines Mission and Vision
The analysis of the company´s marketing ad generic strategy outlines that the company does not have formulated vision statement. The mission statement of the company, on the other hand, demonstrates the future focus and ambition of Delta Airlines. The company´s mission statement 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." The mission statement outlines organizational focus on community and sustainable business model. This commitment to social contribution and employee ambassadors comes along with the slogan of the company "Delta Air Lines. We love to fly. And it shows." It is evident that company aims at building on its historical heritage, based on its contribution to the history of commercial aviation in the US. Some of the central values, which can be identified through the Sustainability Report of Delta Airlines include (1) people, (2) ethical governance, (3) taking care of customers in terms of safety and security, (4) serving community. The company built a CSR KPIs, including environmental, social and governance indicators, including, among others, community development and education, waste management and social justice. The below statistics support the organizational mission (Delta, 2015):
Delta reached 88% of employee satisfaction;
The company attracted over 13,000 employee volunteers;
Local communities received USD$ 5 million donations by employees;
Delta increased the percentage of minority and women-owned as partners by 5%, 15% and 16% accordingly over the period 2013-2015.
The above observations along with the analysis of the major CSR projects of the company over the past two years demonstrates strong alignment of organizational mission and values with the actual strategy and CSR policies in the company. This critical gap elimination between the actual and desired Brand equity is one of the critical elements of Delta Airlines´ formula of success.
References
Davies A. (2016). Best Practice in Corporate Governance: Building Reputation and Sustainable Success. 2nd Edition. London: Gower Publishing.
Keller, M. & Horn P., (2003). Strategic Management. 2nd Edition. Journal of Literature, 12(5), pp.66-89.
USSEC (2015). Annual Report 2015. Delta Airlines. Form 10-K. Delta Airlines Corporate Website. Retrieved 27 January 2017, from http://www.annualreports.com/Company/delta-air-lines-inc
Delta (2015). Corporate Responsibility 2015. Delta Airlines Corporate Website. Retrieved 27 January 2017, from https://www.delta.com/content/dam/delta-www/about-delta/corporate-responsibility/2015DeltaAirLines_CorporateResponsibilityReport.pdf
