Delta’s new CEO hopes fliers will prize service and reliability over price

Delta Air Lines is posting record profits and is generally envied by the rest of the industry, due largely to its success in catering to high-paying business passengers. While other carriers try to copy that model, Delta’s new CEO, Ed Bastian, has turned his attention to the rest of the plane. Bastian wants to convince leisure travelers to choose Delta not based on price, but on the experience. That could be a hard sell in a culture where most fliers look for the cheapest flight that fits their schedule. “The company has invested over the last five years heavily in the business cabin and business customer,” Bastian says. “We’ve got to make certain that we turn a higher focus than we’ve had on the main cabin.” Bastian proudly notes that a decade ago, Delta was getting 90 cents for every dollar charged by its competitors. Today, it gets 110 cents. Some passengers still book based on price and that’s why Delta is offering a “Basic Economy” fare that doesn’t come with an advance seat assignment. “But that isn’t the bulk of who we are,” Bastian says. Bastian is also turning his attention to millennials, those born from the early 1980s to the late 1990s. “That’s our next generation of customers and by 2020 that will be half of our employees,” he said. Millennials want easy access to technology and a personalized experience. And, he says, they’ll initially have less money than preceding generations. But, as the father of three millennials – and a fourth, younger child – Bastian acknowledges that he isn’t yet sure how the airline will best cater to the group.<br/>