Anybody spotted this?
Delta announces pass travel program updates for employees and their pass riders
Published Date 5/19/2017 1:30 PM
Delta today announced a series of updates to its pass travel program that will benefit employees and their pass riders and provide increased protection for the business, beginning with the elimination of three current pass travel fees on May 25.
"Nonrevenue pass travel is a great privilege, and perhaps one of the top reasons many of us first came to and then built our careers at Delta," said Rob Kight, S.V.P. – Human Resources, in his
memo announcing the updates. "As with all our other employee programs, we want to ensure that our pass travel program remains highly competitive across the industry and provides great convenience and flexibility for you." He added that the updates will also bring safeguards to help lower the program's susceptibility to risks.
The three pass travel fees to be eliminated on May 25 include:
- The $50 annual activation fee
- The $75 per flight day parent fee for transoceanic travel
- Yield fares for travel companions (to be replaced with imputed income for the employee, as required by the IRS).
As an additional benefit, employees who paid their $50 annual pass activation fee between January 1 and May 24 of this year will receive a refund of their payment by the end of October, meaning that no employee will end up being charged this fee in 2017.
Additional program updates will be implemented beginning in 2018, as the technology changes that will enable them must be prioritized alongside other customer-focused IT investments. They include:
- A new mobile TravelNet app, which will offer a much-improved user experience closer to that found ondelta.com.
- A requirement for employees to pre-register Buddy Pass riders and pass-eligible dependents with some form of personally identifiable information.
- A requirement for payroll deduction (rather than a credit card payment) to be used for the purchase of both Buddy Pass and non-dependent travel.
- A requirement for Buddy Pass riders to be accompanied by the employee or a member of his/her pass rider list in order to be seated in a Delta One cabin.
Additional detail about each of these updates, including answers to top questions, can be found on the
Employee Fact Sheet, and more information will be available prior to the launch of each change.
"The changes address some of the most consistent feedback you've shared with us through many channels. Going forward, we'll continue to review the program and listen to your feedback on opportunities to improve it," Kight concluded.
With summer now here, employees and their pass riders are reminded to take a moment to refresh themselves on Delta's relaxed – but well groomed, clean and neat – nonrevenue dress code, which can be found on the
Travel page. Added Kight: "Thanks for always practicing good "jetiquette" when using your pass travel privileges and enjoy your travels."
Employees with questions about the pass travel program can find a variety of options to contact the pass travel team on the
Contact Pass Travel page.
Not that I have seen that first hand.
