Delta and Korean Air employees ditched their business suits for a day as they embarked on a meaningful project to celebrate the fifth year of their joint venture partnership.
Clad in green tees, jeans and hard hats, a total of 17 employees trooped to a resettlement site in Calauan, Laguna, to do some minor home repair.
Calauan is the resettlement site for low-income families affected by Typhoon Ondoy in 2019. Out of the 650 houses built by Habitat for Humanity, the non-profit international home-building organization, approximately 110 units are already dilapidated and require some TLC.
“The Delta-Korean Air joint venture partnership is not just about business, it’s about giving back to the communities where we live, work, and serve,” said Akinori Yokosawa, Delta Air Lines global sales manager for Southeast Asia. “We are pleased to work together and contribute to the community in the Philippines for the first time.”
Delta Air Lines APAC corporate communications manager Soomee Moon, who joined me during the Delta-Korean Air familiarization trip to Seattle last year, flew all the way from Seoul to join her colleagues in doing minor carpentry work, repairing windows and doors, and in repainting some of the units.
“It was such a humbling experience to contribute to such a meaningful cause,” Moon shared. “It’s also a great team-building opportunity for employees of both Delta Air Lines and Korean Air.”
For Delta Air Lines GSA general manager Gina Campos, the Habitat for Humanity project is an opportunity to be “selfless, with a channel to bring smiles and joy to others.”
“The experience helped us be one with the locals in the community we served and to have greater awareness of their condition and needs,” Campos shared. “It was also a wonderful way to spend time with colleagues outside of the office environment. This strengthened our camaraderie, which is important in reinforcing the partnership we (Delta and Korea Air) have.”
Working as one
Since their partnership in 2018, the two airlines have jointly participated in several community service projects like building homes with Habitat for Humanity in Los Angeles and planting trees in Baganuur, Mongolia.
“We are pleased to work jointly to contribute to the community in the Philippines for the first time together,” noted Yokosawa. “The Philippines is one of the most important markets in Southeast Asia for our joint venture.”
Delta has helped build or rehabilitate over 270 homes through its partnership with Habitat for Humanity International since 1995. Delta employees have a tradition of working with partner airlines to build homes with Habitat for Global Builds.
Korean Air, on the other hand, has been carrying out home-building projects as part of the company’s social responsibility efforts since 2013 in Quezon City, Cebu province, and in Silay, Negros Occidental.
“Koran Air has been partnering with Habitat Philippines since 2013, and we are delighted to be working side by side with our Delta colleagues for the first time to mark the joint venture’s fifth anniversary,” enthused Korean Air regional manager Lee Cheol, highlighting the strategic importance of the Philippine market.