Delta Returns as Official Airline of Food Network New York Wine and Food Festival

NEW YORK, Oct. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- In its third year as the official airline of the Food Network New York Wine and Food Festival, Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) brings tastes from its roster of six consulting chefs to venues throughout the event, including a return of the well-known Delta Sky 360 Lounge.  The sponsorship is part of Delta's continued investment in New York where it has grown to be one of the city's largest airlines.

Visitors to Delta's Sky 360 Lounge at The Grand Tasting will experience Delta's global food and wine offerings including:

• BusinessElite menu items created by celebrity chef and James Beard Award Winner Michelle Bernstein. Attendees also can create recipe booklets from Bernstein's menu items;
• Lobster Sliders created by Chef Michael Lomonaco for LaGuardia's new restaurant Prime Tavern;
• Roasted Beet Salad created by Chefs Riad Nasr and Lee Hanson for Bisoux, also at LaGuardia;
• Mozzarella Panini, a new made-to-order meal for purchase at the Delta Sky Clubs at JFK; and
• Wine and champagne selections from Delta's Master Sommelier, Andrea Robinson, representing wine regions Delta serves including: Italy, Argentina, France, Chile Spain and the U.S.

"The Festival is a perfect opportunity to showcase Delta's award-winning culinary team and our premiere in-flight and airport offerings to an audience of true tastemakers," said Gail Grimmett, senior vice president – New York.  "Delta's continued investments in creating premium food and beverage options are right at home in New York's vibrant culinary scene brought together at this annual event."

Delta will sponsor the "Burger Bus", which provides complimentary transportation between Manhattan and Brooklyn for this year's Burger Bash.  The airline also will sponsor the Disco Dim Sum Brunch Oct. 10 at Jeffrey Chodorow's China Grill and participate in "Carts in the Parc".

Robinson will host wine seminars including one with Lou DiPalo of DiPalo's Fine Foods, highlighting Italy's historic regional cheese and wine pairings Oct. 9 at the Astor Center and a discussion about pairing wine with wild game with Ariane Daguin of D'Artagnan Meat Purveyors.

In addition to adding nearly 60 flights to 35 new destinations over the past five years, Delta in New York has expanded BusinessElite service to transcontinental flights from JFK to Los Angeles and San Francisco, reintroduced "Red Coat" customer service ambassadors at LaGuardia and JFK and added 2,000 jobs across the state.  Delta recently announced plans, along with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and JFK International Air Terminal LLC, to enhance and expand Terminal 4 at JFK and introduced a new dining experience at its four JFK Sky Clubs offering a full-service cafe and bar with made-to-order meals for purchase and expanded beverage options.  Delta also is reinventing the customer dining experience at New York's LaGuardia Airport, in partnership with OTG Management, with the introduction of 13 new food and beverage concepts from some of New York City's top chefs.

Delta Air Lines serves more than 160 million customers each year. With an industry-leading global network, Delta and the Delta Connection carriers offer service to 351 destinations in 64 countries on six continents. Headquartered in Atlanta, Delta employs more than 75,000 employees worldwide and operates a mainline fleet of more than 700 aircraft. A founding member of the SkyTeam global alliance, Delta participates in the industry's leading trans-Atlantic joint venture with Air France-KLM and Alitalia. Including its worldwide alliance partners, Delta offers customers more than 13,000 daily flights, with hubs in Amsterdam, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Detroit, Memphis, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York-JFK, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Salt Lake City and Tokyo-Narita. The airline's service includes the SkyMiles frequent flier program, the world's largest airline loyalty program; the award-winning BusinessElite service; and 50 Delta Sky Clubs in airports worldwide. Customers can check in for flights, print boarding passes, check bags and review flight status at delta.com.

SOURCE Delta