Delta x Virgin Atlantic - Great Minds Fly Alike

Delta x Virgin Atlantic - Great Minds Fly Alike

In early 2013, Delta acquired a 49 percent in Virgin Atlantic (purchasing it from Singapore Airlines) as part of an effort to increase its presence at slot-constrained Heathrow. In the past year, both airlines have applied for – and been granted – permission to set up a trans-Atlantic joint venture, billing the partnership as ‘Great Minds Fly Alike’ in for example print ads.

To celebrate the launch of the new coordination schedule on March 29 – which allows Delta and Virgin to compete more effectively for high-yielding business traffic between New York and London, the most important business route in the world – both airlines took over the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street on March 25th.

The ‘Great Minds Fly Alike’ event featured mock lounges, Business seats to try out, a free beauty make over or a shoe shine, and an ‘innovation arena’ where Virgin Atlantic showcased its recent trial using Google Glass devices. For the ocassion, the NYSE building also featured a huge ‘Great Minds Fly Alike’ banner.

At the end of the trading day representatives from Delta and Virgin Atlantic rang the well-known ‘Closing Bell’ at Wall Street to highlight their new transatlantic partnership.

The event was accompanied by a 1-day social media contest which invited visitors of the Wall Street event to tweet or post their photos taken at the event that day and with the hashtag #FutureOfFlying for a chance to win two return tickets from New York to London in Economy.