Passengers at New York’s JFK airport recently participated in an accessibility-focused event at the Delta One Lounge, a 39,000-square-foot space designed to reflect New York’s architectural history. The gathering brought together Delta Air Lines leaders and members of Lighthouse Guild, a nonprofit organization serving people who are blind or visually impaired.
Thomas Panek, President and CEO of Lighthouse Guild and a member of Delta’s Advisory Board on Disability and Accessible Travel, attended the event to experience the lounge from the perspective of someone with vision loss. Panek described his impressions: “I’m feeling the comfort of the chair I’m sitting in, the smoothness of the floor, the texture of the tables, so everything architecturally related but in a different way. The texture of the fabric, the way the cushion is. So all of these things I pay a little bit more attention to because of course I can’t see the colors – they mean nothing to me – and I can’t see the design or the art of the walls.”
Panek has served on Delta’s advisory board for five years. The board itself has been active for 25 years, bringing together leaders from various disability communities to help shape accessible travel initiatives.
“I’m here to sort of celebrate the accessibility of the Delta Lounge having given me an opportunity to experience it at its best,” said Panek.
Delta employees from both its Clubs and Lounges team and Corporate Accessibility Programs joined Panek and his colleagues. Alison Lathrop leads Delta’s Accessibility team. She explained her approach: “Travel is for everybody, and really, at Delta, look at travel from all kinds of different perspectives. In my role, I work with Delta’s Advisory Board on Disability and Accessible Travel so we can really take the welcoming, elevated and caring perspective and think about that with all of our customers.”
Panek emphasized customer engagement as key: “I think first of all listening to all your customers is the most important thing, and every customer has different needs. I have difference needs as a person who’s not able to see that are quite unique. However, by listening to me, you might be able to learn about not only a person who’s visually impaired or blind but how to serve other customers differently.”
During their visit, participants noted differences between sound environments in terminal spaces versus inside lounges. Panek shared how he navigates using senses beyond sight: “I’m using all my other senses to experience the club. I’m listening to the music that’s playing in the background right now – really nice jazz. I feel the space. I know how big the location is. I can feel the high ceilings. I echolocate around to see how big the room is. So I’m experiencing the space in a very different way. My eyes aren’t limited by a wall, but I’m sort of feeling the space if that makes sense.”
The group also discussed menu offerings during lunch as part of ongoing efforts by Delta staff such as Duane Clark to understand guest preferences: “As you know, in this brand, Delta One, or even in the Sky Clubs, what’s most important is understanding what guests like and what are dislikes, so we work very hard and diligently to try to accommodate as many different groups of people as possible.”
Lathrop further commented on inclusivity: “Whether you are a customer who is blind or low vision, whether you’re a customer who’s deaf or hard of hearing, whether you have a mobility impairment or a cognitive disability, we just want to make sure that we’re meeting your needs, and the best way we can do that is to ask: How can we help you?”
As their visit ended among gold interiors at JFK’s lounge facility, Panek summarized his philosophy: “I think the way to think about that is: Close your eyes, it’s still a beautiful world.”
