Delta Air Lines’ Airport Customer Service team coordinated the arrival of a widebody Boeing 767-300 at Deauville-Normandie Airport in northwest France on June 3, ensuring the fifth annual Normandy Legacy Flight operated smoothly despite the airport’s small size and limited infrastructure.
The effort involved weeks of planning by Delta employees from European Airport Customer Service and TechOps groups. Christine Marchand-Pardo, Delta’s Managing Director of Operations for Europe, Middle East, Africa and India, said, “Our team is used to handling charter operations across Europe, but we knew flying into Deauville would be a completely different kind of setup.” Once Delta’s Charters, Flight Operations and Performance Engineering teams confirmed that the aircraft could safely land and depart from the airport’s only runway, preparations focused on parking, deplaning, boarding, and dispatching a large jet at an airfield designed for smaller planes.
Marchand-Pardo assembled a core team from EMEA ACS and TechOps organizations with support from Paris-Charles de Gaulle (CDG) and Madrid. IT staff created portable systems for check-in and boarding. Below-Wing experts worked with local airport teams to manage baggage handling while collaborating closely with French Civil Aviation authorities to meet regulatory requirements. The operation included transforming a hotel lobby into a temporary check-in center to accommodate nearly 30 World War II veterans traveling on the flight.
A custom-built ramp donated in 2025 by Aviramp CEO Graham Corfield was used to improve accessibility for elderly passengers. Marchand-Pardo said, “There was never a question of whether we could make this work. From day one, this has been an incredible human adventure… Our shared respect and admiration for these U.S. veterans creates an extraordinary spirit of teamwork.”
Marchand-Pardo also shared her personal connection: “She told me many stories and one in particular where the American soldiers liberated the city where she was living,” referring to her mother’s experience as part of the French Resistance during World War II. She added that seeing U.S. veterans arrive brings intense emotions each year: “For all of us, the magic happens the moment that door opens… Even at 100 years old, they’re like young people experiencing the trip of a lifetime.”
Delta Air Lines utilizes various aircraft models from Airbus and Boeing across its global network connecting more than 350 destinations worldwide; it operates scheduled passenger and cargo services as a publicly traded company incorporated in Delaware under U.S. law, according to the official website.
