Delta Airlines contract workers were flying high Thursday — a day before they were set to land fatter paychecks thanks to the Daily News.

The workers at Kennedy and LaGuardia Airports are expecting to see the proceeds of the $1-an-hour raises in their Friday checks.

RELATED: UNITED AIRLINES DROPS NEWARK AIRPORT JANITORIAL UNION FOR COMPANY THAT WILL PAY LOWER WAGES

“It’s a good first step,” said Prince Jackson, 56, a Kennedy Airport security guard who had been making $8 an hour. “I can get a MetroCard and maybe I can get cable television.”

Delta authorized the raises after the Port Authority sent a sternly worded letter to the area’s major airlines, imploring them to raise the pay of the 12,000 poorly paid contract workers at Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark airports. So far Delta is flying solo.

RELATED: MARK-VIVERITO URGES JETBLUE TO RAISE PAY

The Port Authority applied the pressure after the News launched its Fight for Fair Pay campaign to improve the wages of the underpaid workers.

Contract workers at Newark got a glimmer of hope this week when one of the New Jersey-appointed members of the Port Authority Board of Commissioners called for a “living wage.”

“All workers deserve a family-sustaining wage and benefits for their labor,” Raymond Pocino, vice president of the Laborers’ International Union of North America, wrote in an open letter.

ATLANTA –

After Atlanta’s second big snow event this year, Delta airlines took preventative measures and canceled flights early.

Well-known radio personality Tom Sullivan says he remembers what he was thinking when Delta texted him a message that his flight was canceled.

“I don’t want to get stuck in San Francisco, one of our most expensive cities.”

So, he tried like thousands of other customers to rebook his flight.

“I tried to reach Delta. The lines were jammed,” he said.

In the Fox 5 newsroom we were hearing about airline customers with four-and five -hour hold times. We talked with an aviation expert who says this isn’t so unusual.

“When you have 10 or 12,000 people all trying to contact the airline at the same time things do break down. And there’s almost no way to get around that,” said Mike Boyd of the Boyd Group International.

Tom plugged away.

He said, “I logged into my Skymiles account. Tried to use the link they gave me to book another flight, and the links weren’t working.”

What he did next nearly cost him more than $1,000. You see, he booked two new tickets for himself and his traveling companion, on his own, outside of that rebooking system.

The good news: He got on a flight the next day, one day before the big February storm white washed Atlanta. The bad news: When Tom Sullivan requested a “full refund” for the rebooked tickets Delta Airlines response was ‘no’.

“When weather shuts an airport like Atlanta down, trust me, 80 percent of the passengers think it’s the airline’s fault and the airline owes me, which is not fair or accurate, but it’s reality,” Mike Boyd added.

But, if you really think you’re right, this aviation consultant says you should fight.

Mike Boyd said, “Don’t let up, but make sure you’re right and not just angry.”

Tom Sullivan kept pushing. He wrote the CEO. And a week later, his money for the rebooked flight was finally refunded. All of it.

With a big grin Tom Sullivan said, “They turned lemons into lemonade and I learned a really good lesson. Don’t book your own ticket when your flight is canceled.

Sullivan said he asked an agent what he was supposed to do. He says he was told if the phones are jammed, if the Web site isn’t working, and if you want to be sure, 100 percent sure, you’ll get a free, rebooked flight, you have to go to the airport and have one of their agents book the travel for you.

Still, despite the wait times and the computer issues, Mr. Boyd gives the airline an “A” grade for how it handled the situation.

Delta’s spokesman wouldn’t say whether Tom Sullivan made a right or wrong choice, but he did throw into the mix two more options. Make you have the Delta app on your phone for updates and try contacting the airline through Twitter @DeltaAssist.

Traders are landing in the airlines, with bullish three-way combination plays in Delta Airlines and United Continental.

The first action came in DAL this morning as more than 36,000 options traded, more than twice its daily average in the last month. optionMONSTER systems show that a trader bought 10,000 September 36 calls for the ask price of $3.45 and sold 10,00 each of September 42 calls for the bid price of $1.21 and the September 30 puts for the bid price of $1.69. Previous open interest was below 600 contracts at all three strikes, so this is a new combination trade.

Traders turned to UAL about 10 minutes later, also in the September expiration. This time it was blocks of 8,000, with the 48 calls bought for the ask of $5.80 while the 55 calls sold for $3.15 and the 38 puts sold for the bid price of $2.10. These too exceeded previous open interest.

In both cases the trader spent $0.55, which is the risk between the short puts and the lower long-call strike . The maximum gains come with the stocks at or above the higher strike prices. The trader faces the obligation to buy shares if they are below the put strike . (See our Education section)

DAL is up 0.59 percent to $35.58 after hitting a new all-time intraday high of $35.85 this morning. UAL is down 0.9 percent to $47.55.

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• Investment Company Information
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• Delta Airlines

Despite the fact that US laws actively protect a mother’s right to nurse her baby in public, a spokesperson for Delta Airlines told Lindsay Jaynes that she would “not be able to breastfeed” without covering up first.

Ms Jaynes, from Newport Beach, California, had already made the airline aware of the difficulties she had trying to get her 10-week-old son to nurse with a cover or from a bottle – and what started out as an innocent inquiry for advice quickly spiralled into a full-blown online row.

On Friday, Ms Jaynes (@ClassicHippie) tweeted to the airline: “What’s your breast feeding policy? I’ll be flying with my 10wk old son and he won’t nurse with a cover or take a bottle. Thanks.”

She received a reply from Delta’s customer support team (@DeltaAssist) which said simply: “Lindsay unfortunately you are not able to breast feed if you don’t have a cover up. I’m sorry.”

Ms Jaynes asked what the airline proposed she do instead to feed her baby, at which point it suggested she bring bottled milk – despite her already telling them her son would not take a bottle.

Clearly frustrated with the response, she tweeted: “So even though I am legally allowed to breastfeed without a cover, you’re saying I can’t?” Delta did not initially respond.

Delta Airlines eventually apologised and said that it ‘welcomes breastfeeding mothers and babies on our flights’ (Getty Images)

The exchange prompted a torrent of replies and messages sent to the airline in support of Ms Jaynes, and of breastfeeding mothers in general.

A number of users also took to the Delta Facebook page where, with no post dedicated to the issue, they commented on other articles and left reviews like this one, from Kayll Bryant Welvaert, which said: “I think it is shameful to tell a mother she cannot breastfeed on a flight without a cover. Better training is needed!! I will never fly Delta again…. my boobs are for feeding my child, it’s really as simple as that.”

Delta eventually got back to Ms Jaynes and told her that it was a case of one employee who was not aware of the company’s policy on nursing.

“Delta welcomes breastfeeding mothers and babies on our flights. We sincerely apologize for the misinformation,” the airline tweeted.

Twin Falls, Idaho ( KMVT-TV / KSVT-TV ) Things are changing at Delta Airlines.

As of next year, the company will link miles earned to ticket prices instead of distance.

Spend more money on a ticket and earn more miles, regardless of how far you’re traveling.

“Now that will be based on the ticket prices. The more that you spend with the airlines, accordingly you’ll be rewarded with more points for your use,” explains airport manager Bill Carberry.

The program will reward elite travelers with added bonus miles depending on their status.

“They’ll be more seat availability, more options for folks with our SkyMiles program. Most of our flyers out here are SkyMiles members,” Carberry points out.

The program is an effort to woo business travelers, who spend significantly more per ticket than leisure travelers.

“As a business traveler, a lot of my travel is urgent, immediate, and me and my company have to pay a larger share, so I get the rewards for that. So from a selfish perspective, it makes sense,” says Jeff Wilson from Orange County, California.

While the program seems simple, read the fine print and it gets a little more complicated… as the entire ticket price will not count towards miles earned.

Delta does not take the added tax to the ticket into consideration.

This spring Joslin Field in Twin Falls will receive diverted air traffic from the Friedman Memorial Airport.

Friedman Memorial Airport will be closed for 25 days this spring for construction to meet federal safety standards.

Delta Airlines has announced a big change to its frequent flier program. The new SkyMiles program will reward those who spend the most money on tickets, rather than those who fly the most amount of miles.

According to The Associated Press, this new program is aimed towards business travelers who frequently make travel plans last minute and spend more money than leisure travelers who book trips in advance.

“Customers will be able to earn between five and 11 miles per dollar, based on their Skymiles status” a Delta statement said, reports CBS News.

The new program will take into effect on Jan. 1, 2015. Delta will be the first major airline to make a change like this, so it is probable that other airlines will wait to see the benefits before making any changes.

This may come as no surprise, as Delta previously announced in January 2013 that starting in 2014, passengers would have to spend at least $2,500 to meet the lowest level of frequent-flier status, instead of basing it off the amount of miles traveled.

“It appears that Delta is coming out and saying…the more money you spend, the more we are going to take care of you,” travel expert Tom Parsons said. “The airline is thinking, why not take care of the guys who give us $10,000 dollars a year and fly even less miles, than those who spend $5,000 dollars and fly more miles?”

The new mother planned to buy a ticket from John Wayne Airport to Florida with her now 6-week-old son in March, and wanted to be prepared for her baby’s first trip.

To Jaynes’ surprise, the response from a Delta representative transformed the Newport Beach resident into an advocate for breast-feeding mothers, her story reaching far beyond Orange County.

In a Twitter exchange – there for anyone to see — a Delta representative told Jaynes breast-feeding was not permitted unless she covered up.

Jaynes, using the Twitter handle @ClassicHippie, expressed indignation. The flight would be six hours long, and her son needed to eat every two hours.

She explained that her son refused to nurse from a bottle or if she covered up during breast-feeding, she explained to the representative tweeting from @DeltaAssist.

“What do you suggest?” she asked the airline.

Delta Airlines eventually apologized for the misinformation via Twitter and a personal phone call.

“In a situation like this, if there’s any sort of vagueness, we will make every effort to address it and make sure that it’s cleared up,” Delta spokesman Michael Thomas said later. “We were fairly quick to respond and say that it was an unfortunate bit of misinformation, and that’s exactly what it was.”

The company then posted a breast-feeding policy online, expressing full support of women’s right to breastfeed on Delta flights, but it made no specific mention of rules related to covering up.

But by then, Jaynes’ story had taken off.

Fox, the BBC, USA Today and others jumped on the Twitter exchange and Jaynes’ Twitter account exploded.

Some users expressed support, thanking her for contributing to the national conversation about breast-feeding. A vegan cookie company even offered to send her free lactation cookies.

Others, though, said Jaynes was simply being immature and immodest. They accused her of baiting the media and posted vulgar insults.

“I never wanted to be the spokesperson for breastfeeding in public, but from the outpouring of messages from other mothers, I now feel responsible to see this through and help normalize it,” she wrote.

She added, “I never imagined asking one simple question would turn into all of this.”

Jaynes said she has since turned down a $400 voucher offer from Delta and has yet to decide whether she’ll buy her ticket to Florida from Delta.

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Does lightning really strike twice? Is there such a think as Deja Vu? Can people and companies change? Can people and companies just have a bad day? Is one person’s view too limited to make judgement? Are we responsible for things we put in print for the world to see?

I have been asking myself these questions recently.

You see, I have been feeling guilty.

One year and two weeks ago I wrote an article called A Few Key Differences Between Southwest And Delta. In fact, I wrote it on Valentines Day 2013 after a flight on Delta to Las Vegas that I compared to a similar length flight to Los Angeles on Southwest within the same week.

I had a great experience on Southwest. A not-so-great experience on Delta. Now I don’t go about writing articles this poignant without more than a single event. I had several comparably different but similar experiences within just a few months on both airlines.

The article I wrote highlighted the differences between the two experiences quite bluntly.

Now every time recently when Delta has done something right I have felt guilty… really guilty.

It didn’t help with a comment from one of my readers named Steven Prusakowski 2 weeks ago

Wow! You can judge an entire airline and its 20,000 flight attendants based on one flight? You are incredible.

I have had wonderful experiences on Delta. I especially love that they can take me to so many other destinations 600+ (across the globe) compared to less than 100 SouthWest has. I prefer options to an extra bag of pretzels… but that’s just me.

He was right. Can you spell JERK any other way than with four letters? But in my defense, he didn’t mention the power of the Delta cookies.

The taste of Delta Cookies may have impacted the flight patterns and customer service scores of entire airlines 🙂

Nevertheless, I felt like a schmuck. The power of digital media requires responsibility and thought. More than I had given it.

So lately I had already been watching closely, looking for change, for improvement.

And one year later, almost exactly. I took a similar flight to Las Vegas on, you guessed it, Delta Airlines.

And you know what?

It was as good as my previous experience on Delta a year before was not.

And I thought back, several other flights on Delta had been just as good recently.

What happened?