Delta has named Scott Santoro to the role of Vice President – Los Angeles and Sales-West effective Jan. 1, 2019. Santoro takes over for Ranjan Goswami, who has been named Vice President – In-Flight Service after leading Delta’s commercial and sales efforts in LA and throughout the West for the last six years.

Based in L.A., Santoro will be responsible for continuing the strong momentum Delta has generated on the West Coast and especially in L.A., where the airline is building the nearly $2 billion Delta Sky Way at LAX, has grown to more than 170 daily flights to 70 destinations, and has become an engrained community member through its support of L.A.’s key industries, charitable organizations, and sports and entertainment partners. He will lead overall commercial strategy for the L.A. hub as well as Delta’s community, civic, and public engagement in the region. He will also work closely with the team responsible for the Delta Sky Way at LAX project, which is led by Mary Loeffelholz, Delta’s Vice President – LAX Corporate Real Estate.

In addition to Delta’s overall L.A. strategy, he will also lead Delta’s Sales organization in the Midwest and West regions of the U.S., including the key markets of Austin, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Phoenix, Portland, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Francisco/San Jose, and Seattle. Santoro will also oversee Delta’s joint venture partnership with Virgin Australia, including the airlines’ joint loyalty, marketing, network, revenue management and sales activities for the JV’s 25 weekly flights between North America and Australia.

Santoro has 18 years of experience in airport operations, marketing, sales, finance and loyalty. In his previous role as Managing Director – Global Agency Sales, Scott led a team focused on managing partnerships with Delta’s largest travel management companies and managed them on a global scale through collaboration with Delta Sales teams and joint venture partners in regions around the world. In his role as Managing Director – Global Sales Support, he successfully expanded 24/7/365 sales support worldwide, aligning Delta’s call centers in the Asia-Pacific region and introducing sales support services in the U.K. He also established a process to eliminate seams across joint venture partners to better serve Delta’s travel agency partners.

“Our team in L.A. has built incredible commercial momentum and established Delta as a prominent community partner in one of the most competitive airline markets in the world,” said Santoro. “As an 18-year veteran of the airline industry who is deeply passionate about serving our customers, I look forward to leading this team and supporting our customers as we enter a new Delta era in L.A. with the construction of the Delta Sky Way at LAX and the continued growth of our network.”

He joins Delta’s L.A. team at a critical time with construction underway on the Delta Sky Way at LAX project, which will modernize and upgrade Terminals 2 and 3 at LAX and connect them to the Tom Bradley International Terminal over the next five years. Delta launched direct service from LAX to Amsterdam and Paris in June in partnership with Air France-KLM and also deployed its new Airbus A350 aircraft featuring the Delta One Suite and Delta Premium Select on the L.A.-Shanghai route in July. In 2019, Delta will launch direct service from Hollywood Burbank Airport and Ontario International Airport to Atlanta.

Santoro fills the position that has been held for the last six years by Goswami before he was tapped for the In-Flight Service job. Under Goswami’s leadership, Delta executed the unprecedented relocation of 21 airlines at Los Angeles International Airport and kicked off the Delta Sky Way at LAX project; consistently grew Delta and its joint venture partners’ corporate share through the airlines’ significant network growth on the West Coast; established programs like the Delta Festival Shuttle and Delta Ones to Watch to support L.A.’s key industries; and was recognized with a resolution signed by all 15 members of the L.A. City Council and Mayor Eric Garcetti for its commitment to L.A. and culture of caring for its employees, customers and communities. Goswami’s broad commercial experience and passion for taking care of customers will serve Delta well as the In-Flight Service team continues to elevate the customer experience.

Delta in L.A.

Since 2009, Delta has been the fastest-growing carrier at LAX and has invested billions of dollars in products, services and technology to enhance the customer experience in Los Angeles and across its network. These investments include adding free Main Cabin meals on select coast-to-coast routes, free mobile messaging, free in-flight entertainment, upgraded Main Cabin snacks, the addition of sparkling wine, access to Wi-Fi on nearly all flights, enhanced blankets and refreshed Flight Fuel food-for-purchase options. Recent upgrades to the Delta One in-flight experience include new chef-designed Delta One menus curated by Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo for flights from LAX, refreshed TUMI amenity kits with Kiehl's products, and an Alessi-designed collection of serviceware.