For a sixth year running, Travel Weekly readers voted Delta Air Lines Best Domestic Airline, with the award for Top Airline Overall being awarded for the third year in a row and Best Sales and Service for the second year. The awards recognize Delta’s investment in product, technology and world-class corporate sales initiatives. Delta Vacations received awards for Best Tour Operator, Domestic as well as Overall. Joint Venture partner Virgin Atlantic Airways won Best International Airline.

The announcements came during the publication’s14th annual Readers Choice Awards gala Thursday, December 15 at the Conrad New York. The awards represent the best of the best of the travel industry, and nominees and award recipients were chosen in two rounds of voting by Travel Weekly’s audience of travel professionals.

“We are honored to win these awards, and it’s a great credit to the efforts made by the whole team whose hard work, as well as the strong relationships with our travel partners, has earned this recognition,” said Bob Somers (left in picture), Senior Vice President – Global Sales, who accepted awards for Sales during the gala with Kristen Shovlin (right in picture), Vice President – Sales Operations and Development. “The tailored initiatives we have launched this year for our travel partners are clearly working, and we need to keep this momentum for 2017. Congratulations, and thank you for everything you do for Delta.”

These widely recognized and coveted awards are presented annually to the industry suppliers who led the way in product and service during the past year. An open ballot phase of voting was conducted over the summer. Travel Weekly readers were invited to write in names of any company they believed best exemplified that particular category. The leading vote recipients were identified as finalists, and voting on finalists took place September through November 2016.  

“The travel industry is on track to becoming the largest industry in the world, consistently growing faster than global GDP,” said Arnie Weissmann, Travel Weekly’s editor in chief. “Every day, those who vote in our Readers Choice Awards must evaluate an ever-increasing number of transportation, hospitality and activity options on behalf of their clients. The companies they select as winners are the ones they know bring consumers the highest levels of satisfaction.”