NEW YORK - Delta was honored for the role it plays fostering global diversity and its commitment to the communities it serves worldwide Thursday, when CEO Ed Bastian accepted the Corporate Responsibility Award from the Foreign Policy Association.
“Delta has proven that to be successful, a global airline today must look beyond the aircraft and the airports and commit themselves to being a force for global good for their communities, their customers and their people,” said Noel Lateef, the association’s President and CEO.
In honoring Delta, the group cited the airline’s policy of dedicating 1 percent of Delta’s profits to the communities it serves worldwide, as well as its mission, as a global airline, to foster understanding between diverse people and cultures.
“Our core mission, as a company, is to make the world a smaller place,” Bastian said at the ceremony in New York to nearly 300 attendees. “So as a global airline, I take great pride in knowing that every day, we help open up people to different ways of thinking by bringing them together, face to face, across different parts of our globe.”
Bastian also thanked leaders from the community organizations Covenant House, Habitat for Humanity and Junior Achievement who attended the ceremony, thanking them for their partnership and noting that Delta people consistently volunteer their time to make these partnerships successful.
“As part of the Delta family, we feel like we are part of something that’s bigger than ourselves,” he said. “And it’s really truly the way we feel.”
The Corporate Responsibility Award comes days after Delta’s law department was recognized for its pro-bono work supporting the airline’s effort to end human trafficking. The Burton Awards, which recognize major achievements in the field of law, gave Delta its Public Interest Award at a ceremony Monday at the Library of Congress. Peter Carter, Chief Legal Officer, accepted that award.
The Foreign Policy Association, founded in 1918, is dedicated to spreading global awareness of foreign policy issues, and regularly hosts speakers including former cabinet member Madeleine Albright, Nobel economists Paul Krugman and Joseph Stiglitz, and journalists Thomas Friedman, Christiane Amanpour, and Fareed Zakaria.
Previous winners of the Corporate Responsibility Award include Indra Nooyi, President & CEO, PepsiCo; David Rubenstein, Founding Partner and Managing Director, The Carlyle Group; Anders Dahlvig, President & CEO, IKEA; William McDonough, Chairman & CEO, Public Company Accounting Oversight; Peter Brabeck, CEO, Nestle, and Sir John Bond, Group Chairman, HSBC Holdings.
