How Delta’s CEO Ed Bastian Built The Brand To Global #1
Ed Bastian was 25 years old before he ever set foot on an aeroplane, so the accountant was a real long shot to get a gig at Delta. Now as it prepares to celebrate its 100th year, under his stewardship, Delta is recognised as the world’s number one airline where 60% of its customers book direct. B&T’s editor-in-chief David Hovenden saw the veteran aviation executive speak At Adobe Summit in Las Vegas last month.
As CEO of Delta Air Lines, Ed Bastian confides that the “airline business is not an industry that’s for the faint of heart”. His droll understatement becomes starker when you consider Delta puts on 5000 flights a day and serves 500,000 people around the world. That’s a lot of touch points to get right or wrong, which could impact your brand profoundly every single day.
While business as usual in the airline industry is never anything like normal, the past few years have been extraordinarily challenging. Add into this mix that Bastian was 25 years old before he ever stepped foot on an aeroplane, and you have one highly unusual industry leader. Having worked for Delta now for 25 years, Delta is set to be named the 2024 Airline of the Year by aviation publication Air Transport World.
(Watch the whole fireside chat from five minutes in)
In the US, Delta generated 40% of the industry profits yet only has 20% of the market share: “So our seats are twice as valuable as any other seat in the industry. That’s what a brand stands for,” says Bastian.
While Covid was obviously a shared problem across the globe, Delta was unique in how it as an airline dealt with the problem. Among the carnage of lockdown, Delta was the only airline not to furlough a single employee. And from material examples of commitment to his employees like that, Bastian has been able to forge a culture of pride and achievement that’s really paying dividends.
“It’s a really import industry and I think if you know why you exist if you know what your purpose is, you know the importance that your customers and not just your customers, your community, your world places on what you do that gives you the confidence you’re going to get through those challenges and that’s what kept us going right through Covid,” he said.
“Travel is one of the things that unites and brings understanding and brings fellowship and brings joy. So, I knew we were going to get back and when you have that confidence that enables you to be bold and courageous in the steps you’re taking that allows you to be humble when you realize the depths of the challenges that you have to work through.
The transparency that’s required (and we knew we were on stage all through Covid) people were watching how Delta was one step at a time starting to bring the world back together especially in the United States. It was an incredible feat that our team displayed but it was one of the things that I’ll look back on and understand that the resilience that you build, that muscle that you create over time, how powerful that is and it’s really what our brand stands for. It’s a resilient brand.
On not laying off any of his 90,000 employees during the pandemic and subsequently growing that work force to 100,000 Bastian is emphatic on the point.
“It’s easy to say your people first. What company doesn’t say that? But it’s actions like that we were the only airline in the world that didn’t furlough a single person.”
Since being named Delta’s CEO in May 2016, Bastian has expanded Delta’s leading position as the world’s most reliable airline while growing its global footprint and enhancing the customer experience in the air and on the ground. During his tenure as CEO, Delta has become the world’s most awarded airline, having been named the Wall Street Journal’s top US airline; the top-ranking airline in Fortune’s World’s Most Admired Companies; the most on-time global airline by FlightGlobal; the Platinum Award recipient for operational excellence by Cirium; among TIME100’s Most Influential Companies; a Glassdoor Best Place to Work; and more.
In 2018, Fortune magazine named Bastian among “The World’s 50 Greatest Leaders,” and in 2019, he was elected to the membership of the Council on Foreign Relations. In 2021, amidst a global pandemic, Bastian was awarded for his Executive Leadership in FlightGlobal’s 2021 Airline Strategy Awards and named among the Top 10 CEOs of 2021 in Glassdoor’s Employees’ Choice Awards as a leader who excelled at supporting their people. Most recently, Ed was honored by his peer CEOs and named Chief Executive magazine’s 2023 Chief Executive of the Year.
Bastian’s values-based leadership propelled the airline to become the industry leader and a trusted global brand, guided by empathy, humanity and devotion to service, which has served Delta well in good times and bad. He has served as a Delta leader and steered the company through the most challenging periods of the company’s history, including 9/11, bankruptcy and COVID-19.
When asked to sum up his job in five words, Ed’s response is: “Taking care of our people.”
Business at 500 miles an hour
Last year Delta announced it would roll out free Wi-Fi on all planes. “We’re still continuing to roll out fast free Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi that works . . . a lot of people say they have Wi-Fi, not a lot of people have Wi-Fi that works and is free at the same time.
“We’ve got it through most of our [US] domestic system at this point we’re in the process of putting it on all of our international equipment as well by the end of the year. . .
“Wi-Fi sounds like a fairly simple thing . . . but when you consider the fact we’ve got 1,000 planes that are flying at 500 miles an hour around the world bouncing around trying to create that sterile high speed connection is really difficult.”
Delta has, however, been able to master that and what it’s enabled the airline to do is to bring people into its community at an even deeper level. The only thing it asks its customers to do is to be a member of its loyalty program (SkyMiles).
That’s really reaped the rewards for Delta because over the past year it’s had more than 2 million new members join its program.
“Customers we already had. We just didn’t know who they were come and sign on in order to get the free Wi-Fi . . . Think about what that 2 million customers that you have that you can’t even market to. You can’t personalise. You can’t serve well. That’s huge!
“Then on top of that we have brought a community of partners. We’ve got T-Mobile. We’ve got Paramount+. We’ve got Walmart+. We’ve got Amex. We’ve got the New York Times . . . We’re also in the midst of rolling out is all those seatback screens that we have on board because we have more three times as many seatback screens as any airline in the world has we’re turning them into smart screens.”
Digital investments
Digital technologies is providing Delta the opportunity to have what it likes to think of as a seamless experience for its customers and a unified experience.
Y”ou envision the technology infrastructure and it’s kind of is what you think it is. There’s like thousands of applications and programs that have been developed over time and the ability to knit them together and to be able to develop a modern experience from a technical standpoint is quite a challenge. So we’re working actively on that; we’ve moved most of our infrastructure to the cloud through AWS.
“We want customers as they travel through the Delta system whether you’re booking a trip online or needing to talk to one of our reservation agents or going through security or picking up your bag at the end of the journey or being on board with us and interacting through our Wi-Fi channels you can engage we want that relationship to be robust, to be connected, for the information to be consistent as people travel through the system and we know that our Delta app now is one of the leading apps. Period!”
Delta wants people to be able to have control of their experience. “One of the challenges of travel it can be stressful right? Our ideas is: it shouldn’t be as stressful as it is. It should be something you look forward to and that you’re looking forward to where you’re going and your journey is part of that and so we’ve made the Delta app an opportunity for people to control their experience. While they’re on board they want to make changes they want to find out information about where they’re going and by the way a lot of our customers connect onto another plane, where that is and how that’s all working. The more information and the easier it is to use, customers feel a sense of comfort and peace and control around the experience and that’s where the technology really makes a huge difference.”
Latest News
Kantar: AVOD Subscribers Double In 12 Months
Study finds Aussies happy to watch ads on their streaming services. Or, are they just putting the kettle on more often?
Val Morgan Digital Exceeds All Campaign Uplift Benchmarks Via A 12-Month Brand Metrics Study
Val Morgan announces it has exceeded all its campaign benchmarks. Still can't get under an hour for the City To Surf.
Australian Retirement Trust launches monster of a campaign, by M&C Saatchi and Bohemia
Get offered a seat on the bus today? Knees creak like an old pirate's galleon? This retirement ad may be of interest.
Print Audits To Discontinue As Audited Media Association Of Australia Pivots To Support Influencer Marketing
Is it just B&T or are audits in the media industry suddenly becoming murkier than Roxy's husband's tax returns?
News Corp Australia Launches 2024 National Education Advocacy Initiative With Expanded Program
News Corp set to shine a light on the nation's schools in new series, giving illegal bikie gangs a well-earned rest.
Decoding The Consumer Maze: Urban List Report Reveals How Modern Shoppers Spiral From Discovery To Purchase
Latest report unravels a shopper's journey from the joy of discovery through to a nasty letter from a debt collector.
Cosmo Returns To Australia!
Ever get the feeling we've weirdly warped back to 1988 at the moment? Confirm it with the relaunch of Cosmo in print.
People & Culture Consultancy Human Kind Collective Launches To Plug HR Gap For Media Agencies
Does the very mention of HR have you struggling to remember last year's Christmas party? Get the sweats with this news.
‘We Want To Be A Growth Partner, Not Just A Media Buyer Or Someone That Makes Ads’ – Bohemia Boss On Agency’s Ambition
B&T's chatting with Bohemia boss Paul ‘Hutch’ Hutchison. Although we do think 'the dagger' a far superior nickname.
Initiative’s Geoff Clarke: ‘Youth Hits Targets With Enthusiasm, Experience Hits The Targets You Can’t See’
Initiative’s CCO Geoff Clarke on the value of experience in agencies. Not to mention quoting lines from Pulp Fiction.
The Iconic Teams Up With 5 Aussie Athletes For Latest Campaign
Fashion label brings in the athletes for new campaign, many of whom appear to have prepped with re-runs of Zoolander.
Seven West Media Secures New Director Of News & Current Affairs
After a tumultuous few weeks, Seven unveils director of news & current affairs. And B&T never uses tumultuous lightly.
Seven Network Expands NSW Sales Team With Two New Group Business Directors
Seven ramps up its NSW sales team. Both of whom are well versed in pronouncing Manu Feildel's croque-monsieur.
New PR Subscription Changing The Game For Aussie Start Ups
Need better PR? You can now buy it via a monthly subscription. Price does not include a fascinator or Moet piccolos.
Paul Kent At Centre Of Fresh Scandal After Alleged Street Brawl
Do you long for the fights, gouges & testicle grabs of footy's glory years? So too, it appears, does Paul Kent.
DiDi Taps Disney’s Tim Farmer For Head Of Brand Marketing Role
Disney's Tim Farmer shifts over to rideshare company DiDi. Taking with him his Donald Duck coffee mug & mouse ears.
As Sure As Night Becomes Day, The End Of Third-Party Cookies Has Been Delayed
The question remains: what will we see first? The end of cookies, alien invasion or Jesus's second coming?
Fast 10: Scoundrel’s Tim Bullock Explains What Shane Warne & Salt-N-Pepa Have In Common
It's a Fast 10 with Scoundrel's Tim Bullock. Make it sound even faster by sucking on helium while reading it.
Outbrain Snatches Chris Oxley From Foxtel Media
Foxtel's Chris Oxley shifts over to Outbrain, but not before having his press photo taken in the wilds of the Daintree.
oOh!media & POLY Partner With Greening Australia For OOH Awareness Campaign
Like to quell the road rage with super cute pics of fluffy marsupials? This outdoor's just the ticket.
Are Media Cares For The Carers In Its Latest Social Change Campaign
Are Media calls on the government to add super payments to carers' payments. Remains silent on AUKUS, however.
In A Fragmented World, Engagement Is King
Today, B&T TV's talking fragmentation & engagement. But not in a down-on-one-knee sense of the word.
Kyle Sandilands On Advertising: “We Want Return Business. It’s No Good Just Taking Someone’s Money”
Kyle & Jackie O finally arrive on Melbourne radio. As yet, no sign of the monotonous and bitter AFL-NRL debate.
Sydney Comedy Festival: Taking The City & Social Media By Storm
Sydney Comedy Festival 2024 is live and ready to rumble, showing the best of international and homegrown talent at a host of venues around town. As usual, it’s hot on the heels of its big sister, the giant that is the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, picking up some acts as they continue on their own […]
Global Marketers Descend For AANA’s RESET For Growth
The Australian Association of National Advertisers (AANA) has announced the final epic lineup of local and global marketing powerhouses for RESET for Growth 2024. Lead image: Josh Faulks, chief executive officer, AANA Back in 2000, a woman with no business experience opened her first juice bar in Adelaide. The idea was brilliantly simple: make healthy […]
Is Meta’s New AI Chatbot Too Left-Wing?
Meta's chatbot accused of being left-wing after being caught wearing a Che Guevara T-shirt & listening to Billy Bragg.
TV Ratings (23/04/2024): Why Did No One Tell Angela That Farmer Wants A Wife Is Set On A Farm?
As wonderful as this headline is, let's face it, we all know an 'Angela', don't we?
PubMatic Unveils New AI Partnership To Turn Social Posts Into Ads For Any Digital Channel
Here's some nifty tech for turning social posts into ads. Assuming said posts aren't one-star character assassinations.
Intuit Mailchimp Makes A Splash With Its First Australian Brand Campaign
Ever laugh along at a gag you didn't get so as not to appear dumb? Get ready for more feigning with this new work.
GumGum’s Rob Hall: Advertisers Can No Longer “Rely On Binary Descriptions” Of Consumers
If anyone's got their finger on adtech's pulse, it's Rob Hall. He also avoids using the good paper in the office printer
Mastercard Nabs Florencia Aimo From Marriott International
Marriott International's Florencia Aimo jumps from the hotel business to the exploitative credit card one.
Bastion Agency Appoints Cheuk Chiang As New ANZ CEO
Cheuk Chiang takes the reins over at Bastion Agency. But not the rains down in Africa.
Spotlight On Sponsors: Major Sponsorship Wins After A Disappointing Week In Sport
B&T continuing our deep dive into local sport sponsorships & that's despite not a single offer of a free ticket as yet.
Macca’s Marketing Director, Samantha McLeod On Big Mac Chant: “What Was Once Old Is Now Cool Again”
Macca's using the power of nostalgia in latest Big Mac campaign. Well, only for those who've ever eaten one sober.
World Premiere Of Midnight Oil: The Hardest Line To Open Sydney Film Festival 2024
Oil's biopic to open Sydney Film Festival. Here's hoping Molly Meldrum will take his pants down at the premiere.
Entries Are Now Open For The 2024 Brandies, IntelligenceBank’s Annual Brand Marketing Awards
The Brandies are, of course, a prestigious marketing gong and not the mystery tipple favoured by nannas everywhere.