Alex Michaels, President & CEO of Discover Lehigh Valley, and Tom Stoudt, Executive Director of the Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority (respectively) present the cover of Delta Sky’s newly-unveiled Lehigh Valley feature.

Lehigh Valley has been selected to be featured on a global scale in the in-flight magazine of Delta Air Lines this month, in a special feature provided to more than 6 million passengers during the busiest travel month of the year.

The cover of the Delta Air Lines feature on the Lehigh Valley. (courtesy image)

Lehigh Valley is the focus of a special 26-page section in the December 2019 issue of Delta Sky, which will be on board each of the airline’s 15,000 daily flights. Only a handful of regions or cities are selected for this honor each year, with Lehigh Valley joining the ranks of such areas as Atlanta, St. Louis, Columbus, and Salt Lake City.

“We’re thrilled to have Lehigh Valley on board Delta’s full fleet this month,” said Marsha Hedlund, Profile Publisher with Delta Sky. “Over 6 million readers worldwide will soon know what we already know: that Lehigh Valley is a great place to live, work, and visit.”

The magazine feature will be unveiled for the first time during a Dec. 3 launch party at Lehigh Valley International Airport (LVIA). The Lehigh Valley profile can be viewed or downloaded online here.

“It’s a major accomplishment for Lehigh Valley to be chosen for this feature in the most widely-read airline magazine in the country, an honor usually reserved for places that are household names,” said Don Cunningham, President & CEO of Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation (LVEDC). “This clearly shows the Lehigh Valley is being recognized as one of the leading metropolitan areas of the United States. For a long time, we haven’t received the recognition we’ve deserved, but that is changing.”

LVEDC and Discover Lehigh Valley worked with Delta to land the featured section, which will serve as a worldwide platform for the recently-launched Made Possible in Lehigh Valley marketing initiative. All editorial content was developed solely by Delta Sky editorial staff.

Delta Sky reaches 6.3 million readers per month, 2.9 million of which are business leaders in top management, more business leadership than Fortune, BusinessWeek, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and The Economist. Delta Sky reaches more than double the audience of the in-flight magazines of American Airlines (3 million) and United Airlines (2.6 million).

“We’re thrilled to be able to showcase Lehigh Valley to an international audience,” said Alex Michaels, President & CEO of Discover Lehigh Valley. “From award-winning festivals and events to the innovative businesses that call the region home, Discover Lehigh Valley is honored to help tell the stories of all that is made possible here.”

Headquartered in Atlanta, Delta Air Lines is one of the largest airlines in the United States, serving nearly 200 million people each year across an industry-leading global network of more than 300 destinations in more than 50 countries.

This Delta Sky feature marks another in a banner year of national and international recognitions for Lehigh Valley.

In 2019 alone, Lehigh Valley was ranked one of the Top 5 regions in the nation for economic development, LVEDC was named one of the country’s Top 20 economic development organizations, and Forbes magazine highlighted the region’s thriving manufacturing sector. Additionally, Musikfest was ranked the Best Festival in North America in USA Today.

The Delta Sky feature covers a diverse range of subject matter about Lehigh Valley, highlighting the region’s manufacturing sector, health care amenities, higher education institutions, historic districts, and family attractions, as well as the story of how the Lehigh Valley economy has evolved and diversified over the years.

Lehigh Valley was previously featured in a similar way by American Airlines. The region was the focus of a 24-page feature in American Way, the airline’s in-flight magazine. A PDF of that feature, called Spotlight Lehigh Valley, can be viewed here.

In addition, this month at LVIA, LVEDC has placed a “Home for the Holidays” campaign display, an interactive living room placed directly in the middle of the airport terminal. Outfitted with holiday decorations and information about Lehigh Valley, the display welcomes travelers to hear stories and testimonials for the region from the Made Possible in Lehigh Valley campaign.

The campaign seeks to increase national awareness of the Lehigh Valley, tell the story of the region’s economic and cultural renaissance, and market the Lehigh Valley as a desirable and attractive place to relocate, particularly for the 18-34-year-old demographic.

Since its launch in March, Made Possible in Lehigh Valley has been sharing the stories of individuals, companies, and organizations in the region through various mediums, including blog posts, high-quality photography, video, print and digital advertisements, billboards, and social media, including the @lvmadepossible Instagram account.