Delta Flight Products to Manufacture Personal Protective Equipment

Delta Flight Products, the airline’s wholly owned subsidiary, is collaborating with Global Center for Medical Innovation (GCMI), a non-profit affiliate of the Georgia Institute of Technology, to manufacture face shields to protect hospital workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Using materials and designs provided by GCMI, Delta FlightProducts is leveraging its best-in-class manufacturing facilities to quicklydeliver an initial order of 2,000 shields to aid workers in New York and anadditional 4,000 for Atlanta-area hospitals.

“Our entire team is rallying around this effort – it’s ameaningful way we can show our support for the health care workers workingaround the clock to protect us,” said Rick Salanitri, President of Delta FlightProducts. “Georgia Tech and GCMI have been an incredible partner and we areproud to help carry out the vision of so many leading medical innovators tosupply desperately needed personal protective equipment.”

Face shields are essential in extending the use life of thedwindling N95 mask inventory, while protecting healthcare professionals fromcontamination. Each consists of a clear barrier meant to cover the user’s face,reducing the potential for any virus contacting the user’s eyes and respiratorymask.

Delta Flight Products is serving as an initial manufacturingsite to test GCMI’s design and prescribed fabrication process and is exploringexpanding its face shield production beyond the initial order in the comingweeks.

The collaboration builds on the recently announcedinitiative between GCMI; Dr. Joanna Newton, Pediatric Hematologist/Oncologist,Aflac Center and Blood Disorders Center of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta,and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Emory University School of Medicine;Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Pediatric Technology Center; and a team ofscientists and researchers at Georgia Institute of Technology and its InventionStudio, aimed at addressing the severe shortage of personal protectiveequipment available to health workers during the pandemic.