If you remember leaning back in more spacious airplane seats, dining on a frenched chicken breast during a flight and watching a movie on a tiny screen six rows in front of you, Amtrak’s new catchphrase might sound familiar.
The nation’s passenger railroad service is now declaring in its ads: “We’re ready when you are.” That might make longtime Delta Air Lines flyers feel a bit nostalgic.
Delta has used the slogan multiple times over the decades — first launching “Delta Is Ready When You Are” in 1968 for a 16-year run, then drawing on its success again in 1992 as “Ready When You Are.”
CEO Ed Bastian turned to the old chestnut in March 2020, saying in a coronavirus update memo, “Now, and always, we’re ready when you are.”
Credit: Source: Delta Flight Museum
Credit: Source: Delta Flight Museum
Amtrak says “We’re Ready When You Are” is not its official slogan or tagline; it’s “a messaging point in advertising,” used by it and many other brands.
In a video posted on Facebook last month, Amtrak told a country still reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic that “when you’re ready to travel again, we’ll be there.”
Delta didn’t have any immediate comment.
There is a connection between Delta and Amtrak: Former Delta CEO Richard Anderson led Amtrak from 2017 until April 2020.
Amtrak said its official tagline is actually “Just an Amtrak Away.” In the past, it has used “Enjoy the Journey,” “500 Destinations, Infinite Smiles,” and “Amtrak. Get Carried Away.”
Delta’s use of the old “Ready When You Are” slogan dates back to an era when airlines crammed fewer passengers into cabins, allowed them to check plenty of bags without the extra fees of today and served hot meals regularly in coach class.
Some of the airline’s other catchphrases were: “We Love to Fly and It Shows,” debuting in 1987; the rather unimaginative “The Airline with the Big Jets,” introduced in 1959; and the equally staid “The Airline Run by Professionals,” launched in 1970.
Delta’s slogan since 2010 has been “Keep Climbing,” emphasized in TV commercials with weighty celebrity voice-overs by Donald Sutherland and Viola Davis.
As Amtrak celebrates its 50th anniversary as “America’s Railroad,” some may scoff at the notion of the trains being ready when passengers are. The rail service has, for years, struggled with on-time performance, with delays often due to freight trains receiving priority from freight railroads that own the railroad tracks.
In 2019, for example, only 50.2% of long-distance Amtrak trains arrived on time. Total Amtrak on-time performance was at 75.1%, when better-performing trains in the Northeast corridor and on state supported rail service were included.
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