More than 200 onlookers marveled up-close at planes on display – including the F-15 Eagle, F-16 Fighting Falcon, F-18 Hornet, A-10 Warthog, C-130 Hercules, C-17 Globemaster, V-22 Osprey, T-45 Goshawk, and T-38 Talon. Together, at a Veterans Celebration hosted by Delta's TechOps team and Veterans Resource Group, they celebrated Delta’s 11,000-plus veterans and other esteemed guests including seven World War II veterans (some now more than 100 years old).
The two-day celebration is a signature event for Delta’s Veterans BRG, but their work to recruit and support veterans happens year-round.
“Today, we have an amazing team to recruit veterans,” said Kurt Robinson, Veterans BRG president. “Our military recruitment team hits the bases and community hiring events, inviting veterans to come to Delta, and then once they are here, we help them and their families transition as they become part of the Delta family.”
Dozens of Delta people proudly contributed shadow boxes commemorating the service of a Delta veteran or a Delta employee’s veteran family member. Each box contained a curated collection of personal items – patches, medals, flags and mementos – proudly arranged to honor their service and to invite conversations with passers-by.
Offering his thoughts at the event, Delta CEO Ed Bastian mused: “It looks like a military museum in here!” He thanked all veterans present for their “sacrifice, service and selflessness, as our world continues to be a complicated place. Everything we at Delta can do to give honor and thanks, we’re all in.”
Bastian added: “We run the very best technical operations business in the world. The fact that this team takes time to make a difference like this, to pause and pay tribute, makes us even better, as we thank veterans for their great service to our company -- but more importantly, to our country.”
Robinson urged attendees to remember that “365 days a year, we can do good things for veterans. And sometimes, it’s the little things. To honor their service, yes, thank a veteran, but then stop and listen. It’s our responsibility.”
In 2023, Delta onboarded several new partners to help facilitate hiring veterans across the enterprise, including Military MOJO, Service Academy Career Conference, Value of a Veteran, and MBA Veterans Network. By the end of Q3, the company had hired 1,280 veterans.
