Delta and American Express added one million new Delta SkyMiles Credit Card Members in 2017, breaking the co-brand partners' record for the number of new Delta SkyMiles Credit Card Members added in one year.

That's a new Card Member every 30 seconds – a first for the 20+ year partnership.

Each of the four credit cards in the portfolio were vital to reaching this impressive goal, including the most recent addition – the Blue Delta SkyMiles Credit Card from American Express – which launched just a few months ago in September.

"We've purposefully designed the Delta SkyMiles Credit Card portfolio to allow us to connect with customers and provide them with choices to match their lifestyle needs," said Sandeep Dube, Delta's vice president – customer engagement and loyalty. "Paired with the industry-leading SkyMiles program, the portfolio is an incredible differentiator and a valuable way we enable customer engagement and loyalty."

The Delta SkyMiles Credit Card portfolio fosters and rewards customer loyalty, and is expected to contribute $3 billion in value for Delta in 2017. Further illustrating the significance of this milestone and the teams' efforts, the number of new cards issued in 2017 was up nearly 60 percent from 2014 – just three years ago. Delta is the largest co-brand partner for American Express and its only U.S. airline consumer card partner.

"Alongside our long-standing partners at American Express, teams across Delta worked hard to reach this exciting milestone – we want to thank Delta employees for their commitment to this goal and our customers," Dube continued

In addition to reaching this new record, the airline has made significant, innovative investments in its customer engagement and loyalty programs, including SkyMiles, which was recently named a Best Travel Rewards program by U.S. News & World Report, to provide even greater value to customers. Industry-leading new partnerships with brands like Lyft and Airbnb also allow customers to easily earn miles with everyday purchases through the SkyMiles program.