Delta Air Lines Names Don Bornhorst Senior Vice President of Delta Connection

Oct 9, 2007

ATLANTA, Oct. 9, 2007 – Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) today announced that Don Bornhorst has been named Senior Vice President – Delta Connection, effective Oct. 15. Bornhorst, a 16-year industry veteran, most recently served as Comair’s president.

“One of Delta’s top priorities is improving the Delta Connection experience for our customers from onboard products and services to operational performance. Don is a proven leader with the background, focus and determination needed to unify the Delta Connection brand and improve service to a level that meets or exceeds our customers’ expectations,” said Joe Kolshak, Delta’s executive vice president of operations.

Bornhorst, 42, was named Comair’s president in May 2006, after working in every major operating group at Comair. Before becoming president, he served as Comair’s chief financial officer, vice president of Information Systems and senior vice president of Customers with oversight of Customer Services and In-flight.

As senior vice president of Delta Connection, Bornhorst will oversee the day-to-day operations of nine partner airlines and lead efforts to ensure Delta Connection service is seamless with mainline operations. Bornhorst replaces Wayne Aaron, who returns to his role as vice president – Strategic Planning and Business Development.

With Bornhorst’s transition to Delta, Comair has tapped industry veteran and former Delta executive John Selvaggio to lead Comair. Selvaggio most recently served as the head of Delta’s former low-cost unit, Song, and prior to that he served as senior vice president for Delta’s Airport Customer Service division.

“John has a wealth of experience in airline operations and his proven leadership will ensure that Comair stays focused on its primary mission of delivering excellence to Delta customers,” said Kolshak.

Selvaggio, 60, brings a unique depth of regional airline expertise to Comair, including previous service as the head of U.S. Airways’ Express Division and president of Wings West Airlines, a predecessor to American Eagle. In 1998, Selvaggio joined Delta and coordinated the company’s efforts in the acquisition of Atlantic Southeast Airlines in 1999, followed by Comair a year later.

Delta Air Lines operates service to more worldwide destinations than any airline with Delta and Delta Connection flights to 310 destinations in 54 countries. Since 2005, Delta has added more international capacity than all other major U.S. airlines combined and is the leader across the Atlantic with flights to 36 trans-Atlantic markets. To Latin America and the Caribbean, Delta offers more than 400 weekly flights to 53 destinations. Delta's marketing alliances also allow customers to earn and redeem SkyMiles on nearly 15,000 flights offered by SkyTeam and other partners. Delta is a founding member of SkyTeam, a global airline alliance that provides customers with extensive worldwide destinations, flights and services. Including its SkyTeam and worldwide codeshare partners, Delta offers flights to 475 worldwide destinations in 104 countries. Customers can check in for flights, print boarding passes and check flight status at delta.com.

Photos available at http://news.delta.com > Photos

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Delta Air Lines Names Don Bornhorst Senior Vice President of Delta Connection

Oct 9, 2007

ATLANTA, Oct. 9, 2007 – Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) today announced that Don Bornhorst has been named Senior Vice President – Delta Connection, effective Oct. 15. Bornhorst, a 16-year industry veteran, most recently served as Comair’s president.

“One of Delta’s top priorities is improving the Delta Connection experience for our customers from onboard products and services to operational performance. Don is a proven leader with the background, focus and determination needed to unify the Delta Connection brand and improve service to a level that meets or exceeds our customers’ expectations,” said Joe Kolshak, Delta’s executive vice president of operations.

Bornhorst, 42, was named Comair’s president in May 2006, after working in every major operating group at Comair. Before becoming president, he served as Comair’s chief financial officer, vice president of Information Systems and senior vice president of Customers with oversight of Customer Services and In-flight.

As senior vice president of Delta Connection, Bornhorst will oversee the day-to-day operations of nine partner airlines and lead efforts to ensure Delta Connection service is seamless with mainline operations. Bornhorst replaces Wayne Aaron, who returns to his role as vice president – Strategic Planning and Business Development.

With Bornhorst’s transition to Delta, Comair has tapped industry veteran and former Delta executive John Selvaggio to lead Comair. Selvaggio most recently served as the head of Delta’s former low-cost unit, Song, and prior to that he served as senior vice president for Delta’s Airport Customer Service division.

“John has a wealth of experience in airline operations and his proven leadership will ensure that Comair stays focused on its primary mission of delivering excellence to Delta customers,” said Kolshak.

Selvaggio, 60, brings a unique depth of regional airline expertise to Comair, including previous service as the head of U.S. Airways’ Express Division and president of Wings West Airlines, a predecessor to American Eagle. In 1998, Selvaggio joined Delta and coordinated the company’s efforts in the acquisition of Atlantic Southeast Airlines in 1999, followed by Comair a year later.

Delta Air Lines operates service to more worldwide destinations than any airline with Delta and Delta Connection flights to 310 destinations in 54 countries. Since 2005, Delta has added more international capacity than all other major U.S. airlines combined and is the leader across the Atlantic with flights to 36 trans-Atlantic markets. To Latin America and the Caribbean, Delta offers more than 400 weekly flights to 53 destinations. Delta's marketing alliances also allow customers to earn and redeem SkyMiles on nearly 15,000 flights offered by SkyTeam and other partners. Delta is a founding member of SkyTeam, a global airline alliance that provides customers with extensive worldwide destinations, flights and services. Including its SkyTeam and worldwide codeshare partners, Delta offers flights to 475 worldwide destinations in 104 countries. Customers can check in for flights, print boarding passes and check flight status at delta.com.

Photos available at http://news.delta.com > Photos

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Choice Hotels International announces new vice president of brand strategy

Choice Hotels International, Inc, one of the world’s largest hotel companies, today announced that Anne Engelking Smith has joined the company as Vice President of Brand Strategy. Smith joins the company from AARP where she was responsible for overseeing the AARP brand in commercial marketing and driving membership growth including the organization’s multicultural membership base.

At Choice Hotels, Smith will oversee the brand strategies for nine of the company’s midscale, economy and extended stay brands: Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Sleep Inn, Quality Inn, Clarion, Econo Lodge, Rodeway Inn, Suburban and MainStay Suites. Smith will lead the overall strategy for this portfolio of brands to promote a compelling value proposition to both franchisees and consumers, with goals of optimizing unit growth, and driving central reservations. She will report to Alexandra Jaritz, Senior Vice President, Brand Strategy and Marketing.

“Choice Hotels enjoys some of the strongest brands in the industry from our iconic Comfort Inn to our storied Quality Inn which was the first of our brands. Under Anne’s leadership our portfolio of brands will become even stronger,” said Alexandra Jaritz, Senior Vice President Brand Strategy and Marketing.

Smith’s extensive brand management experience includes leadership roles at Frito-Lay, Inc., a division of Pepsico, where she was responsible for overseeing multiple award-winning campaigns and product launches including the relaunch of SunChips. She also led innovation for a $5 billion portfolio that included the Lay’s, Tostitos and Rold Gold brands. Smith also led an effort that highlighted the company’s environmental sustainability practices to evolve the company’s corporate identity.

Anne received her MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and undergraduate degree from the University of Texas at Austin. Earlier in her career, Anne worked in the publishing field, where she produced compelling content for science and technology textbooks to engage children in learning and demystifying these subjects. The creative skills she honed developing scholastic content combined with her educational background and consumer packaged goods experience, have sharpened her ability to create a compelling brand strategy and tell the “story” of a brand.

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