Ever the entrepreneur, motivational speaker, busy traveler, and friend to Delta, we were thrilled when Magic agreed to take time out of his busy schedule to talk to us.

As the interview and photo shoot made its way from the Erwin Hotel to VeniceBeach, an enormous group of fans and onlookers gathered to snap photos and catch a glimpse of the legendary basketball icon. Fans assured us, “he’s still got it!” as they watched him sink shot after shot. Clad with custom-painted Nike sneaks designed exclusively for Sky by King of Sneakers, Magic very kindly took photos with adoring fans after the interview, and even shot some hoops with them.

As the day concluded, we had what we needed for a great feature and cover for our L.A. issue and Magic was exactly what we knew he would be: Magic. You can read the story and learn all things Los Angeles in Sky’s February issue in a seat pocket near you or online at deltaskymag.com/magicfeature.

Lindsay Bacon

Sky Magazine Product Manager

So how does it work?

During the allotted dates below, tweet a question to @Delta that you want one of our allotted athletes to answer. Put your thinking caps on and be creative with your questions, because the only the best tweets will get face time with the athletes and the competition will be tough!

As an added bonus, everyone who submits a question will be entered into a drawing and one lucky winner will be chosen at random to win two tickets to anywhere in the continental U.S. and Canada that Delta flies!

Here’s how to enter:

• Follow  @Delta on Twitter
• Tweet to  @Delta and include the Twitter handle for the athlete you want to answer your question (this weekend it’s @N8Holland, but we’ll share the other athlete Twitter handle 3^rd event get closer)
• Include #USSnowboarding in your tweet (that’s your form of entry)
• Stay tuned as we’ll announce the winner in April once all 3 events are complete

Event & Athlete Schedule:

• February 3-4:  Visa Freestyle International at Deer Valley Resort with athlete @EmilyCook
• February 10-12: Sprint US Grand Prix at Canyons with athlete @N8Holland
• March 28-April 1: Nature Valley U.S. Alpine Championships at Winter Park with athlete TBD

Here’s to lots of snow and air—good luck!

Laura McGill

Delta Social Media

And now for the official rules…

USSA & Delta Promotion Official Rules

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. A PURCHASE OR PAYMENT OF ANY KIND WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING.

Eligibility: Delta’s U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association Twitter promotion is open to all legal residents of theUnited States 18 years or older. Employees of Delta Air Lines, Inc, U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA), its agencies and their families are not eligible. All applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations apply. Void where prohibited by law. Entry in the Promotion constitutes your full and unconditional acceptance of these Official Promotion Rules (the “Official Rules”).

How To Enter: Participants must enter through Twitter located at Twitter.com/Delta between February 2, 2012 at 9a.m. Eastern Time (“ET”) and April 1, 2012 11:59 p.m. ET. There is one (1) way to enter during the Entry Period: The sole method of entry in the contest is through Online Entry via Twitter.com/Delta. Contest entrants are required to tweet to @Delta using #usskiteam or #ussnowboarding between February 2, 2012 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time (“ET”) and April 1, 2012 11:59 p.m. ET Entries submitted via any other method, including but not limited to U.S. Postal Service, facsimile or email will NOT be accepted.

To be eligible: Each entry must be received no later than 11:59 pm ET on April 1, 2012; All entries must be submitted in the name of an individual person and the prize can only be awarded to the person whose name is on the winning entry.  All entries must be in English. Limit one (1) online entry per person.

How Winner will be selected: Winners will be drawn at random after the Entry Period from entries received between February 2, 2012 and April 1, 2012.  Odds of winning depend on number of eligible entries recorded. Potential winners must sign and return an affidavit of eligibility/publicity release before award of prize.

What happens if I am selected as the winner: Potential winner will be required to sign an affidavit of eligibility, a confidentiality agreement, and a liability release/assignment of rights and return within 48 hours of receipt of notification.  If the potential winner is unable to complete the above requirements for any reason, Sponsor may select an alternate potential winner, provided that the alternate can comply with the conditions stated above.  Sponsor in its sole discretion may also choose not to replace any potential winner or finalist(s).

Grand Prize: 1 Grand Prize of Coach Class round-trip travel for two from the continental United States to anywhere Delta flies in the Continental United States or Canada (ARV: $320.00 each), will be awarded. Travel must be completed by April 1, 2013 or winner will forfeit the prize.  All travelers must travel on same itinerary.  Travel must be round trip.  Sponsor will determine flight itinerary in its sole discretion.  No refund or compensation will be made in the event of the cancellation or delay of any flight. Travel is subject to the terms and conditions set forth in these Official Rules, and those set forth by the Delta Air Lines as detailed in the passenger ticket contract.  If trip destination is less than 250 miles from the winner’s residence, winner will be provided $200 in spending money for driving expenses in lieu of air transportation.  The Sponsor is not responsible if any scheduled event is delayed, postponed or canceled for any reason and winner will not be reimbursed for tickets.  Tickets may be subject to issuer’s standard venue, rain−check policies and procedures.  All other expenses, travel, and costs not expressly stated in the package description above are the sole responsibility of winner.  If winner is a minor (as determined by his/her state of residence) at least one of winner’s guests must be winner’s parent/legal guardian.  If any of winner’s guests is a minor (as determined by his/her state of residence), winner or another guest must be minor’s parent/legal guardian and must complete required paperwork on behalf of minor as applicable. Travel companions must execute liability/publicity releases prior to issuance of prize documents. Restrictions, conditions and limitations may apply. Lost, mutilated, or stolen tickets, vouchers or certificates will not be replaced.  By accepting ticket prize, winner agrees to abide by any terms, conditions and restrictions provided by the ticket. Sponsor is not responsible if winner does not use ticket on day of event.  Approximate Retail Value (“ARV”): $640. The ARV of travel may vary based on airfare fluctuations and distance between departure and destination.  Winner will not receive difference between actual and ARV.

No substitution, exchange or transfer of prize by winner.  Sponsor reserves the right to substitute the prize for one of equal or greater value.  Winner is responsible for all taxes and fees associated with prize receipt and/or use.

General Rules and Regulations:  Where entry involves submission of a work of authorship (“Submission”), entrant warrants and represents: (a) he/she is the sole and exclusive author and owner of the Submission, including all rights therein, and that the Submission has not won any previous awards or competitions; (b) entrant has the full and exclusive right, power and authority to submit the Submission and to grant the Sponsor the rights to the Submission, including but not limited to the worldwide copyright; (c)no part of the Submission has been aired, distributed or published, and; (d) no rights in the Submission have been previously granted to any person, firm, corporation or other entity.  Sponsor reserves the right in their sole discretion to disqualify any Submission at any time in the event it is determined that the Submission is offensive, inappropriate, not in keeping with Sponsor’s images or if it is determined that the entrant has not otherwise complied with these Official Rules.  By entering this Promotion, entrant acknowledges and agrees that Sponsor may receive many Submissions under this Promotion and that such Submissions may be similar or identical in theme, idea, format or other respects to others submitted under the terms of this Contest and/or other contests staged and/or sponsored by Sponsor, and waive any and all claims entrant may have had, may have, and/or may have in the future, that any Submissions and/or other works accepted, reviewed and/or used by other entrants and/or Sponsor (or their designees) may be similar to entrant’s Submission.  Entrant acknowledges and agrees that Sponsor has not, nor shall have in the future, any duty or liability, direct or indirect, vicarious, contributory, or otherwise, with respect to the infringement or protection of any copyright in and to entrant’s Submission. All entries become the property of Sponsor and will not be returned.

The Sponsor is not responsible for misdirected, incomplete, lost, late, or inaccurate entries, nor for technical, hardware, or software failures of any kind, lost or unavailable network connections, or failed, incomplete, garbled or delayed computer transmissions or other errors or problems which may limit or affect a person’s ability to participate in the Promotion, whether human, mechanical, typographical, printing, electronic, network or otherwise, relating to or in connection with the Promotion, including, without limitation, errors which may occur in connection with the administration of the Promotion, the processing of entries, the announcement of the prizes or in any Promotion-related materials. Proof of online submission is not considered proof of delivery or receipt. In the event of sabotage, acts of God, terrorism or threats thereof, computer virus or other events or causes beyond the Sponsor’s control, which corrupt the integrity, administration, security or proper operation of the Promotion, Sponsor reserves the right, in their sole discretion, to modify, cancel or suspend the Promotion. False or deceptive entries or acts will render the entrant ineligible. Each entrant hereby acknowledges and agrees that the relationship between entrant and Sponsor is not a confidential, fiduciary, or other special relationship, and that entrant’s decision to submit his/her entry to Sponsor for purposes of the Promotion does not place Sponsor in a position that is any different from the position held by members of the general public with regard to elements of entrant’s entry.

Except where prohibited by law, each finalist will be required to sign a release giving Delta full rights to use the finalist’s name, likeness, image and voice for Contest related advertising and publicity, including such usage on the Internet.

As a condition of entry into the Promotion and by entering into such Promotion, entrant grants Sponsor and its parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, divisions, advertising and promotional agencies, and each of the foregoing entities’ employees, royalty-free license to publicize, broadcast, display and/or otherwise use the entrant’s name, city, state, Facebook name, Twitter handle and photos in any media now known or hereafter devised throughout the world in perpetuity for advertising and publicity purposes in connection with the Promotion. Promotion winner will be determined at the sole discretion of Delta Air Lines, Inc.

By entering or participating in the Promotion, entrants agree to be bound by these Official Rules and by the decisions of Sponsor, which are final and binding in all respects.

By participating in the Promotion, you agree to indemnify, defend, release and hold Delta Air Lines, Inc., its officers, directors, employees and agents (the “Sponsor Entities”) harmless from and against any and all losses, demands, damages, rights, claims, actions and liabilities of any kind (including reasonable attorneys’ fees and legal costs) arising out of or related to (a) entrant’s participation in the Promotion, (b) entrant’s participation in any Prize-related activities (including, without limitation, any property loss, damage, personal injury or death caused to any person(s)), and (c) any claims of infringement and rights of publicity/privacy related to the Sponsor Entities’ use of any photographs, drawings or any other materials submitted to Sponsor in connection with the Promotion. The Winner assumes all liability for any injury, death, or damage caused, or allegedly caused, by participating in the Promotion or use or redemption of the Prize.

By participating in the Promotion, you waive the right to claim any damages whatsoever, including, but not limited to, punitive, consequential, direct, or indirect damages. Entrants agree that in any cause of action, in no event shall the Sponsor Entities be liable for attorneys’ fees and/or experts’ fees and costs. WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, THE CONTEST, ALL PRIZES, AND ALL MATERIALS PROVIDED IN THE CONTEST ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Air travel will be awarded in the form of Certificates that may be redeemed for round-trip travel on Delta from the winner’s home gateway to anywhere Delta flies in the Continental United States orCanada. Certificate seats are limited and may not be available on all flights or in all markets. Certificates are non-transferable, are not redeemable for cash and are void if sold or bartered. The sale or barter of tickets obtained through redemption of Certificates is also prohibited. Any tickets obtained through such sale or barter are void and will not be honored for travel. After ticketing, date, time and routing changes are permitted (subject to the availability booking class) however a $150 fee applies.  Based on availability, passengers holding confirmed reservations and tickets may confirm earlier/later same day flight within 3 hours from scheduled departure time between same origin/destination for a non-refundable fee of $50USD/$61CAD.

Certificates do not include a $3.80 Federal Excise Tax and the September 11th Security Fee of up to $2.50 which will be imposed on each flight segment in the passenger’s ticketed itinerary.  A flight segment is defined as a takeoff and a landing.  For travel to/from Hawaii/Alaska, U.S. International Air Transportation Tax of up to $8.40 is not included.  Certificates used for international travel do not include U.S. International Air Transportation Tax of up to $16.70 andU.S.and foreign user, inspection, security or other similarly based charges, fees or taxes of up to $349 depending on itinerary.  Baggage fees of up to $25 USD/CAD* fee for first checked bag, $35 USD/CAD* fee for second checked, depending on itinerary.  Allowances subject to size/weight limits.  *Fees are CAD exitCanada.  These taxes and fees are subject to change, are the responsibility of the passenger and (except for bag fees) must be paid at the time the ticket is booked.  Any taxes, fees, or changes paid at the time of ticket issuance will be refunded if ticket is not used.  However, once redeemed, Certificates are void and will have no further value.  Certificate travel will not qualify for SkyMiles mileage.  Stopovers/Upgrades/Waitlisting/Open Returns are not permitted for tickets booked with Certificates.  Lost, stolen or otherwise destroyed Certificates will not be replaced.  Schedules are subject to change without notice.  Additional restrictions may apply. It is the responsibility of the passenger to be in possession of all necessary documentation (e.g., valid passport, visa where applicable) at the time and place of departure. Delta reserves the right to deny boarding to any passengers without proper documentation.

A winners list may be obtained by sending a self-addressed, stamped envelope to Twitter Winners, Dept.639,P.O. Box 20706,Atlanta,GA30320-6001

Sponsor: Delta Air Lines, Inc.,Atlanta,GA

© 2012 Delta Air Lines, Inc. All rights reserved.

Why the new design? It’s all for you! You’ll notice the design is more intuitive and easier to read, with your flight information more neatly organized. Now you can get all the boarding information you need by simply reading from left to right. Check it out:

We’d heard from many of you, as well as from our own airport employees, that finding the time you need to be at the gate was one of the most important features of the boarding pass. So, one of the major changes you’ll notice is the more prominently displayed and easier to findboarding times.

I’m sure you’ve noticed all the white space, too. We have plans for that in the months ahead! Soon be you’ll be able to use a single document for up to four flight segments – and that means no more looking for the right boarding pass on a multi-segment trip. Once those changes are made it will be easier for you to keep everything in one place, so stay tuned!

The redesigned boarding pass will be available at our ticket counters and airport gates soon. If you’re flying with us soon, please tell us what you think of the new boarding pass design. Even share a photo or comment with us on Twitter and Facebook – we’d like to hear your feedback!

Rick E.

Product Manager, delta.com and self-service

Thanks for your input! If you have any other suggestions, we’d love to hear them!

Be sure to start looking for new amenities changes in late 2012.

Melissa R.

Onboard Experience

Delta and Delta Connection by the numbers—some interesting factoids:

• A majority of Delta’s two-class regional jets are now Wi-Fi-equipped

• 100% of Delta’s domestic mainline fleet features Wi-Fi

• 95% of the Delta Connection E170 fleet features Wi-Fi

• 89% of the Delta Connection CRJ700 fleet features Wi-Fi

• 39% of the Delta Connection CRJ900 fleet features Wi-Fi

• 6% of the Delta Connection E175 fleet features Wi-Fi

• Delta currently operates 576 Wi-Fi-equipped mainline aircraft and 134 Wi-Fi-equipped regional jets

• The 710 Wi-Fi-equipped Delta & Delta Connection aircraft represent about 50% of the world’s entire Wi-Fi-enabled fleet

• Delta operates nearly 3,000 daily domestic flights with Wi-Fi; each day nearly 400,000 customers fly on Wi-Fi-equipped Delta planes

Wi-Fi on RJs also means yourDeltaTravelerPassis now a better value than ever, with unlimited access on all Delta & Delta Connection-equipped flights for just $34.95 a month.

As you can imagine, coordinating installations on multiple fleet types across seven different carriers, while maintaining a very busy flight schedule is quite challenging. That said, I want to thank our Engineering team, the Gogo technical teams responsible for the Wi-Fi installations, and our Delta Connection partners for all their work to get this great product onboard. We’re well on our way to completing the entire two-class RJ fleet of 255 aircraft by this spring.

We hope you like the product upgrades we’re rolling out and as always, your feedback is welcomed and encouraged. We’d love to hear from you!

Chris B.

Sr. Product Manager

Customer Experience

Click here to view the embedded video.

Interesting, right? And now you can track your own bag’s journey on the Fly Delta app, too. Just take a photo of the tag on your iPhone or enter the bag tag number, and you’re ready to go knowing your bag will get off the plane where you do.

P.S. Haven’t downloaded the Fly Delta app? You can do that here.

Jonathan Mayfield

Delta Mobile Team

Peter Ruskin and I were asked to be flight leaders of the Santa Express last June. We picked our crew, 8 other flight attendants from theSeattlearea, who all had a special love of helping children. To get ready. we purchased decorations and planned activities for the flight– some of our crew even enlisted their own children (reindeer antlers and blinking red noses) to help out!

We rewrote our safety demonstration to The Night Before Christmas to start out our flight in the Holiday spirit. For ‘take-off,’ our pilots and ground crew made use of a high speed tug that taxied us around the airport and then parked at a remote area where we had lunch and watched two volunteer entertainers sing and play guitar. Our local pilot group purchased copies of If I could Fly An Airplane for each child onboard—they loved it! The book is about a child’s first flight on Delta and was written by A flight attendant, Lauren Lemos who autographed each copy. We read it using the PA for all the kids onboard.

Before ‘landing’ at the snowy and cold North Pole we served hot chocolate and passed out baseball caps for the children to wear and keep their heads warm while visiting Santa.

This flight was all about hope and joy for the children onboard the flight and employees who volunteered their time. As flight attendants, many of us view an airplane as our home in the sky. We view ourselves as a family. To be able to open up our home, decorate it with Christmas cheer and fill it full of excited children was a wonderful dream realized.

We’re happy to share the spirit of the season with this special group of passengers. Have you ever done something to make the holiday season brighter for a group of children? We want to hear your stories.

Susan V.N.

Seattle-based flight attendant

And we’ve made a lot of progress in the past decade. We built an international hub at JFK that connects the city to points across the globe, including Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America. We broke ground last year on a $1.2 billion expansion and enhancement of Terminal 4 at JFK. And you’re seeing Delta’s name all over the city as the official airline of the Yankees and Mets, the Knicks, the Rangers and Madison Square Garden, just to name a few.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Today marks a new step in our New York expansion, and it’s Delta’s biggest move yet. We’ve unveiled our schedule for 2012 that creates a new domestic hub at LaGuardia Airport. We’ll be adding 100 new daily flights to nearly 30 new cities from LaGuardia. We’re adding new service to top business markets like Miami, Dallas/Fort Worth and Cleveland, and adding or expanding service to small- and mid-sized cities across the country, including Buffalo, Syracuse and Rochester, N.Y.; Richmond, Va.; Greensboro, N.C.; and Norfolk, Va.

Many smaller communities will be getting jet service on Delta to LaGuardia, a significant upgrade from smaller, turborprop aircraft that previously served those markets.

Overall, we’ll be adding 4 million new seats every year at LaGuardia.  And we can do that without increasing congestion simply by using larger aircraft than other airlines had previously.  In the end, our new LGA service will enhance customer choice and increase competition in the market. The U.S. Department of Transportation recently concluded that our New York expansion has significant benefits for consumers – and we strongly agree.

It’s the largest single-carrier expansion in New York in many years, which makes this an exciting and historic day for Delta and our New York customers.

To make sure we can handle all of these new flights smoothly, we’re taking over Terminal C at LaGuardia, and building a 600-foot bridge connecting it with Delta Terminal D. We’ll operate a total of 29 gates at both terminals, and we’re also going to add a new Delta Sky Club in Terminal C, in addition to the newly-renovated one in Terminal D.

Including our six gates at the Marine Air Terminal, we’ll have a total of 35 gates at LaGuardia by summer 2012 – more than double what we operate now.

I’m looking forward to seeing you in New York in 2012!

Gail Grimmett

Senior Vice President –New York

And just in case you didn’t get that perfect gift or manage to find enough time to check off every item on your shopping list, you can shop eBay during your entire flight at no charge for internet access – all from the comfort of your seat. And delta.com is always free so if you need to check your connecting flight or location of your luggage, you can do that too.

All you need to do is open a browser on your laptop, tablet or mobile device, enter your email address in the special eBay promotion on the home page and click the “Give Me Free Wi-Fi” button. That’s it – no catch, no ‘some assembly required’ – and it’s only available on Delta.

Have you tried in-flight Wi-Fi on Delta? Let us know how you like it!

Bob Kupbens

VP – eCommerce

• 5,000 miles, 6 bottles of wine ($6.99/bottle) and free shipping at Vinesse Wine

• 4,500 miles for shipping gifts via FedEx

• 2,500 miles when you join Netflix

• 1,200 miles when you purchase Bose^® QC^®15 headphones

• 30 miles per dollar spent at 1800Flowers.com

• 5 miles per dollar on gift certificates to over 7,000 spas with SpaFinder

• 3 miles per dollar (or more) with free shipping at Nordstrom.com

• 3 miles per dollar (or more) and save up to 80% at BarnesandNoble.com

Plus remember you can always earn up to quadruple miles with all of your favorite online brands with SkyMiles Shopping.

Enjoy the shopping and savings!

Brian Canning

SkyMiles Partnership Team