PRESS RELEASE Media Contact:
For Immediate Release: Kathryn Jones
Tuesday, April 25, 2023 770-813-3388
Ed Bastian Named 34th Recipient of Council for Quality Growth’s Annual Four Pillar Award
Delta Air Lines CEO Recognized for Impactful Leadership Among Atlanta’s Business Community
ATLANTA, GA – The Council for Quality Growth will honor Ed Bastian, Chief Executive Officer of Delta Air Lines, with its 34th annual Four Pillar Tribute and Award. Each year, the prestigious Four Pillar Award recognizes an outstanding individual who demonstrates the ‘Four Pillars’ of leadership – Quality, Responsibility, Vision, and Integrity – and exemplifies the Council’s mission of promoting balanced and responsible growth. The theme of this year’s Four Pillar Tribute, chosen by Bastian, is Leading with Purpose.
“Ed was an obvious choice for this year’s Four Pillar Award,” said Council for Quality Growth President & CEO, Michael Paris. “He’s been an integral part of Atlanta’s ongoing economic successes, and his strong dedication to our community will have a lasting impact on our region and state.”
The Council for Quality Growth will present Bastian with this award during the 2023 Four Pillar Tribute, presented by Chick-fil-A, Delta Air Lines, New York Stock Exchange, and UPS, on October 12th, 2023, at the Georgia World Congress Center.
“I’m both grateful and humbled to receive this extraordinary award,” said Bastian. “Taking care of the 90,000 people of Delta Air Lines is the greatest calling of my lifetime. It’s an honor to serve them.” Ed Bastian was named CEO of Delta in 2016 but has held various roles over a 25-year career at the airline. Under his leadership, Delta has become the world’s most awarded airline and has set the standard for reliability and excellence in customer service across the hospitality industry.
In addition to ensuring Delta’s successes, Bastian has displayed a career-long commitment to people and community. He’s been vocal about diversity, equity, and inclusion among Atlanta’s businesses. His leadership philosophy is that of the “virtuous circle,” or the idea if you take care of your people, they take care of your customers, whose business and loyalty allows you to reward your investors. He has guided Delta’s dedication to charitable work, leveraging its people and business model to give back to the communities it touches. Delta and its CEO have been recognized with countless awards for community mindfulness, including the Anti-Defamation League’s Torch of Liberty Award, UNCF’s Keeper of the Flame Award, and named to “The Civic 50” list by Points of Light for the fourth consecutive year. Bastian has championed corporate responsibility and servant leadership, not only in Atlanta’s communities, but across the world in each of the communities that Delta serves.
“Ed Bastian continually uses his position of leadership to the advantage of those around him, perfectly exemplifying the Council’s Four Pillars of Leadership,” said Rob Ross, 2023 Chairman of the Council and Vice President of Kimley-Horn, “and he’s done so all while making extensive contributions to the quality of life here in the Atlanta region and beyond.
Ed Bastian recognizes Delta’s critical role in driving economic value to the City of Atlanta, being the anchor of the world’s busiest airport. He sees the airport as the “front door” to the city and strives to create customer experiences that continue to elevate Atlanta as a global business leader and travel destination.
The Council for Quality Growth commends the work Ed Bastian and Delta are doing each day to making Atlanta a better place to live, to work, and to visit. The Council is incredibly proud to continue its annual tradition of recognizing extraordinary leaders in our region and state by adding Bastian to the prestigious list of Four Pillar Award honorees. Sponsorship information is now available at www.FourPillarTribute.com.
About the Four Pillar Tribute:
For 34 years the Council for Quality Growth has paid tribute to an outstanding individual in the metro Atlanta region who exemplifies the Council’s mission of promoting balanced and responsible growth through an annual leadership tribute gala that recognizes the ‘Four Pillars’ of leadership – Quality, Responsibility, Vision, and Integrity.
The Four Pillar Award and Tribute is an unparalleled honor that allows the opportunity for the metro Atlanta region and State of Georgia to celebrate the recipient’s significant contributions to quality of life, community leadership, and economic development. The gala and award have come to be known as the highest honor bestowed for the contributions. The event provides a platform to align the honorees’ impacts on the region and the state with the Council’s ambitions and serves as a beacon of inspiration to perpetuate our economic prosperity. More information about the annual Four Pillar Tribute can be found at www.fourpillartribute.com.
Past recipients of the Council’s Four Pillar Award can be viewed here: https://www.fourpillartribute.com/about-the-award/
About the Council for Quality Growth:
The Council for Quality Growth is a trade organization that works to ensure continued growth and economic success for generations to come by providing advocacy, information, and education to its members. For 37 years, the Council has been committed to the mission of promoting balanced and responsible growth and is proactively involved in the formulation of policy and legislation critical to the growth and development industry. The Council addresses, head-on, strategic economic planning, infrastructure needs, and tough quality-of-life issues throughout the metro Atlanta region and state. Visit www.councilforqualitygrowth.org for more.
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