Delta Air Lines Issues Warning to Pilots in Leaked Memo

Over the years, Delta Air Lines has emerged as one of the best and most consistent airlines in terms of customer satisfaction, but it sounds like that customer satisfaction is at risk in one of the airline's most important routes.

This week, an internal memo warned pilots of plummeting customer satisfaction on one of its key routes and offered support and guidance to those pilots as the airline looks to boost customer satisfaction once again.

According to the memo, the warning comes after Delta's Net Promoter Score (NPS), which measures customer satisfaction, has fallen significantly on the route.

How Customer Satisfaction is Measured

For decades, airlines have used NPS to measure customer satisfaction internally. If you've ever been asked how likely you are to recommend an airline on a scale of 1 to 10, then you have probably taken part in an NPS survey.

Airlines do not typically publish this information publicly as it is sensitive commercial information, but it does allow the carriers to test the impact of changes and initiatives internally.

"NPS has become increasingly important for the aviation industry as it allows airlines to quietly test whether customer investments are worth the money, or, conversely, whether they can make cutbacks without customers noticing in terms of satisfaction levels," Mateusz Maszczynski wrote for PYOK.

Obviously, this metric can also inform an airline if there is a problem or if its performance is lagging behind other carriers, as seems to be the case with one of Delta's most important routes.

Delta Issues Warning

Last week, trusted aviation industry insider JonNYC shared a leaked memo on X in which Delta warned its pilots of falling customer satisfaction on its transcontinental service between New York JFK and Los Angeles.

As the memo explained, this route is important to Delta not just in terms of the revenue it represents to the company, but also in terms of the visibility and the "high-profile" customers.

"We'd like to take a moment to talk about JFK–LAX and LAX-JFK – two of the most important markets we serve and routes that consistently carry high expectations – from our customers, from Delta and from all of us who operate it. Together, JFK–LAX–JFK represents one of the top revenue markets in Delta's system and stands as the largest domestic market in the U.S. by seat capacity," the leaked memo reads.

"In addition, this route carries a high level of visibility, with a significant presence of high-profile customers, business travelers, and social media influencers. Customer experiences on these flights are often shared widely and in real time, further amplifying the impact of every interaction."

The memo acknowledged that the route is more prone to delays than other routes, which could impact customer satisfaction, adding that these delays are often "not driven by pilot performance or flight deck decision making." Still, the airline warned that "the impact is real," adding that "because these are premium, high revenue markets, those gaps matter."

"The best way our pilots can help is simple: Remain focused, as you always are, on Delta's Impactful Behaviors – Greet Me, Recognize Me, Be Kind to Me and Inform Me – to ensure every customer interaction is kind, attentive, appreciative, and informative. In particular, it's proven that our NPS scores improve significantly during a service disruption or delay when our pilots provide timely updates and engage positively with our customers," the memo said.

If this is a route you fly regularly, it's worth noting that Delta has identified it as an area in need of improvement.

This story was originally published by Men's Journal on Jun 1, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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This story was originally published June 1, 2026 at 9:40 AM.