Delta Air Lines has promoted Matt Long to lead its commercial and strategic agenda across Europe and Africa, signaling a renewed push to capture premium and corporate travel demand in two of its most competitive international regions.

The move, effective immediately, follows a broader reshaping of Delta’s international leadership structure after the retirement of long-time executive Matteo Curcio in late 2025, and comes as transatlantic and Africa-bound routes play an increasingly central role in the carrier’s global growth plans.

Delta Airlines executive overlooking a modern international airport.

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A Strategic Promotion at a Critical Time for Delta

The decision to appoint Matt Long as Managing Director for Europe and Africa reflects Delta’s intent to consolidate and accelerate its gains in international markets where competition, regulation and infrastructure are evolving rapidly. Announced in early February 2026, the promotion places Long at the center of Delta’s efforts to deepen its footprint in key European hubs and a diverse set of African gateways.

According to the airline’s positioning around the appointment, Long will be tasked with driving operational performance, enhancing customer experience and stewarding long-term infrastructure and product investments across the region. His role also includes close coordination with Delta’s joint venture and codeshare partners, ensuring that itineraries spanning multiple carriers feel seamless to both business and leisure travelers.

The appointment comes at a time when demand on transatlantic routes has rebounded strongly, while Africa’s aviation market is showing renewed momentum on the back of trade growth, diaspora travel and tourism recovery. For an airline that now sees international services as an essential pillar of its revenue mix, the leadership choice is intended to support both near-term profitability and longer-term expansion.

From Customer Experience Strategist to Regional Leader

Before being tapped to oversee Europe and Africa, Matt Long served as Delta’s director of international customer experience strategy and integration, a role that placed him at the intersection of product design, service delivery and customer analytics. He has been part of the Delta organization for more than a decade, with a career that spans revenue management, joint business development and premium-service initiatives.

Long’s track record includes a nearly two-year expatriate assignment with Aeromexico between 2018 and 2020, where he led customer experience design and VIP lounge operations within the context of the Delta–Aeromexico partnership. That experience gave him first-hand exposure to running cross-border joint businesses, aligning service standards and coordinating schedules and branding with alliance partners, all of which are core to Delta’s model in Europe and Africa.

Since late 2022, Long has been responsible for integrating customer-experience strategies across Delta’s international network, working to harmonize offerings with joint venture partners and ensure that passengers encounter consistent standards across carriers. That background is expected to inform his approach as he takes on broader commercial and strategic oversight of two regions where customers often move across multiple airlines, airports and jurisdictions in the same journey.

Transition After Curcio’s Tenure and Evolving Regional Structure

Long’s promotion follows the retirement of Matteo Curcio, who had served as senior vice president for Europe, the Middle East, Africa and India. Curcio, appointed to the EMEAI role in 2023, had overseen a period of rapid rebuilding and expansion in Delta’s international portfolio, including its largest-ever transatlantic schedule and deepened cooperation with partners such as Air France, KLM and Virgin Atlantic.

With Curcio’s departure in the fall of 2025, Delta has been recalibrating how it manages its international regions. Rather than replicating the exact structure of a single executive overseeing Europe, the Middle East, Africa and India, the airline has begun to delineate responsibilities more granularly. By naming Long specifically to Europe and Africa, Delta is signaling that it sees a distinct strategic logic in grouping those two geographies together while considering separate leadership solutions for the Middle East and India.

The company has not yet publicly detailed who will assume responsibility for the Middle East and India portfolio going forward, or whether those markets will be combined under a single executive. Industry observers note that these regions present different regulatory, competitive and geopolitical dynamics compared with Europe and Africa, and that Delta is likely assessing whether dedicated leadership can better support growth and risk management there.

Europe: Strengthening a Mature but Competitive Market

Europe remains Delta’s most mature international market outside of the Americas, anchored by major hubs and focus cities such as Amsterdam, Paris, London and multiple gateways in Germany and Italy. The airline has invested heavily in its transatlantic joint venture with Air France, KLM and Virgin Atlantic, which allows coordinated scheduling, pricing and revenue sharing on a wide range of routes between North America and Europe.

In this context, Long’s remit in Europe will revolve around sustaining and expanding Delta’s share in premium and corporate travel, where competition from European and Gulf carriers is intense. He will coordinate closely with airport authorities and alliance partners to secure slot access, optimize schedules and ensure that product upgrades such as cabin refurbishments, Wi-Fi enhancements and improved lounges translate into tangible revenue gains.

Europe is also central to Delta’s sustainability and innovation agenda. The region is often at the forefront of regulatory initiatives on emissions, passenger rights and airport capacity. Long will play a key role in aligning Delta’s operational strategy with European regulations and expectations, while leveraging regional innovation ecosystems and partnerships to pilot new products and processes.

Africa: Unlocking Growth in a Diverse and Fragmented Market

While Europe provides scale and stability, Africa represents a more fragmented yet promising horizon for expansion. Delta has long served several key African destinations, focusing on markets with strong business ties to the United States, large diaspora communities and growing tourism flows.

Long’s new position places him at the forefront of assessing how best to deepen that presence, whether through adding new routes, adjusting capacity, or leveraging partnerships with African and European carriers. The continent’s aviation landscape is characterized by varying levels of infrastructure, regulatory frameworks and economic development, which requires tailored strategies for each subregion and country.

For Delta, Africa is not only a point-to-point opportunity between individual cities and U.S. hubs, but also a connecting market linked via European gateways. One of Long’s priorities will be refining the way Delta and its joint venture partners coordinate schedules and connections so that African travelers can benefit from smoother transfers and more competitive itineraries via airports such as Amsterdam, Paris and London.

Customer Experience, Operational Reliability and Partner Integration

Delta has repeatedly stressed that its competitive edge internationally hinges on a blend of operational reliability and customer experience. Long’s background in customer experience strategy suggests that his leadership will emphasize service consistency and product differentiation as much as route economics and capacity planning.

Operational performance in Europe and Africa involves managing diverse weather patterns, congested airspace, varying airport capabilities and different regulatory regimes on crew duty times and maintenance standards. Long’s team will be responsible for ensuring that these constraints do not undermine Delta’s promise of dependable service, particularly for high-yield business travelers who value punctuality and service recovery when things go wrong.

Partner integration will be another point of focus. Passengers traveling between the United States, Europe and Africa often cross multiple carriers, each with its own systems, rules and branding. Long will work with joint venture and alliance partners to streamline check-in, baggage handling, disruption management and loyalty recognition, aiming to make multi-carrier journeys feel more like a single, coherent experience.

Commercial Priorities: Corporate Travel, Network Planning and Infrastructure

On the commercial front, Long will oversee engagement with corporate customers and travel management companies across Europe and Africa, markets that generate a disproportionate share of premium demand. Rebuilding and expanding corporate contracts, especially in sectors such as energy, finance, technology and professional services, is expected to be a central priority.

Network planning decisions, including where to deploy widebody aircraft, how to time departures for optimal connectivity and which seasonal routes to operate, will form a critical part of his mandate. As global economic conditions shift and exchange rates fluctuate, Long and his team will need to continually reassess which routes offer sustainable profitability, which require restructuring, and where strategic presence justifies a longer-term investment despite short-term volatility.

Infrastructure and product planning will also feature prominently. Delta is in the midst of a multi-year effort to upgrade cabins, expand premium seating, enhance inflight connectivity and modernize airport facilities in coordination with local partners. In Europe and Africa, that includes negotiating with airport operators on lounge access and improvements, as well as ensuring that ground operations support the carrier’s brand promises around comfort and convenience.

Implications for Travelers and the Wider Industry

For travelers, Long’s appointment is likely to translate into a continued focus on reliable schedules, enhanced onboard experiences and tighter coordination with partner airlines across Europe and Africa. While leadership changes can sometimes be invisible to customers, Delta’s emphasis on customer experience in announcing this move suggests that it wants to signal continuity in its service-driven strategy.

Within the broader aviation industry, the promotion underscores how major U.S. carriers are reorganizing their leadership structures as international traffic patterns evolve. Grouping Europe and Africa under a single executive highlights the importance of the Europe–Africa corridor, both as an origin-destination market in its own right and as a set of feeder flows into Delta’s transatlantic network.

The question of how Delta will structure leadership for the Middle East and India remains open, and industry analysts will be watching for signs of further appointments that clarify the airline’s long-term approach to those regions. For now, the clear message is that Europe and Africa are viewed as strategic priorities deserving of dedicated senior oversight backed by a strong track record in customer-focused growth.

FAQ

Q1. Who is Matt Long and what role has he been appointed to at Delta Air Lines?
Matt Long is a long-serving Delta Air Lines executive who has been promoted to Managing Director for Europe and Africa. In this role, he will oversee Delta’s commercial strategy, operations coordination and customer experience initiatives across both regions.

Q2. When did Matt Long’s appointment to oversee Europe and Africa take effect?
The appointment was confirmed in early February 2026 and is effective immediately, positioning Long to guide Delta’s ongoing expansion and consolidation efforts in Europe and Africa during the current planning cycle.

Q3. What responsibilities will Matt Long have in his new position?
Long will be responsible for strengthening Delta’s market presence, improving operational performance, elevating customer experience and coordinating with joint venture and codeshare partners. His remit also includes long-term network, product and infrastructure planning across Europe and Africa.

Q4. How does this appointment relate to the retirement of Matteo Curcio?
Matt Long’s promotion follows the retirement of Matteo Curcio, who previously served as senior vice president for Europe, the Middle East, Africa and India. Long’s new position fills the leadership gap for Europe and Africa specifically, while Delta evaluates how best to structure management for the Middle East and India.

Q5. What experience does Matt Long bring to his new role?
Long has held several leadership positions at Delta, most recently directing international customer experience strategy and integration. His background includes roles in revenue management, joint business development and a key expatriate assignment with Aeromexico, where he oversaw customer experience design and VIP lounges for the partner airline.

Q6. How will travelers in Europe and Africa be affected by this leadership change?
Travelers can expect a continued focus on reliable operations, improved onboard products and more seamless journeys across Delta and its partners. While leadership changes happen behind the scenes, the airline’s emphasis on customer experience suggests that route offerings, connectivity and service quality will remain central priorities.

Q7. What is the significance of Europe in Delta’s international strategy?
Europe is Delta’s largest and most established international region, supported by major hubs and a deep joint venture with Air France, KLM and Virgin Atlantic. The region delivers strong premium and corporate demand, making it a critical driver of revenue and a focal point for product and service investments.

Q8. Why is Africa considered a growth market for Delta Air Lines?
Africa offers expanding opportunities driven by trade links, diaspora travel and tourism growth. Although the market is fragmented and infrastructure varies widely, Delta sees potential in strengthening its network of African destinations, often connected via European hubs, to capture rising demand for transatlantic and intra-regional travel.

Q9. Will Matt Long also oversee Delta’s operations in the Middle East and India?
No, Matt Long’s appointment is specifically for Europe and Africa. Delta has not yet announced its final leadership configuration for the Middle East and India, indicating that separate or restructured oversight for those markets is under consideration.

Q10. How does this appointment fit into broader trends among global airlines?
The move reflects a wider trend of airlines refining their regional leadership structures to match shifting demand patterns and partnership networks. By giving Europe and Africa a dedicated senior leader with a strong customer experience background, Delta is aiming to sharpen its competitive edge in two regions that are central to its long-term international growth.