Now that’s traveling in style.
Short layovers suck, and having to run through an airport full of people sucks even more. I think airlines should totally shuttle passengers from one plane to another in bright-red supercars. That would be way more efficient. Wait, Delta is doing what? Oh.
Passengers flying through LAX this week may get exactly that. The airline is employing a Porsche GT3 RS to shuttle passengers with tight connections from one plane to another, helping them avoid the chaos of crowded terminals and hopefully getting them to their destinations on time.
Imagine that: Your plane pulls up to the gate, you’re wondering if you’re going to make your next flight, when suddenly you hear, “Your GT3 RS awaits you, sir/madam.” Sweet!
This cool program is the result of Delta’s longtime partnership with Porsche, and it’s certainly not the first time the two have teamed up to put some cool sheet metal on the tarmac. Last summer a Porsche 918 was used to shuttle elite passengers through Atlanta’s Hartsfield Airport (HQ for both Delta and Porsche), and the airline regularly uses its fleet of Cayennes and Panameras for that same purpose. Perhaps this is Delta’s secret weapon to remain the most on-time airline in North America.
Of course, it’s safe to say that the Porsche of choice is mostly for, uh, marketing purposes. A GT3 RS transfer car isn’t shuttling anyone around an airport runway faster than a Cayenne—mostly due to safety but also because that kind of stuff is highly regulated—but it surely will capture more eyeballs. People are much more likely to snap and share a photo of a spicy red Porsche on a runway than just another blue SUV.
Stuttgart’s track star will be stationed at LAX until Feb. 26. And although the airline simply mentioned “select passengers,” it’s safe to say that only the crème de la crème of frequent flyers will be treated to something this unique—likely Delta 360 or extremely high ROI clients.
Either way, it’s pretty cool of both Delta and Porsche to do this. It’s always great to see unique vehicles on the runway, whether they’re tugs or street-legal race cars.
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