Delta Air Lines spends billions a year on everything from aircraft parts and catering to IT staffing, facilities, marketing, and professional services. A meaningful slice of that goes to small and diverse-owned firms, and Delta runs a supplier diversity program built specifically to find them.
Here's the honest version of how it works. Registering on Delta's supplier portal is quick and free. Getting an actual purchase order is not quick. Delta isn't browsing its registration database looking for someone to hand work to. The registration puts you in the system so buyers can find you when a need comes up, and so the supplier diversity team can route you toward sourcing events you'd otherwise never see. The contract comes later, after you've proven you can deliver something Delta actually buys.
This guide covers both: how to register, and how to give yourself a real shot once you're in.
What Delta's supplier diversity program actually isDelta's supplier diversity program exists to grow the company's base of small and diverse-owned suppliers and to bring them into competitive sourcing. The premise is straightforward. If a certified diverse firm can deliver the same quality at a competitive cost, Delta wants it in the running.
To qualify as diverse in Delta's eyes, your business has to be at least 51% owned, operated, and controlled by people in a qualifying group, and that ownership has to be verified by a third-party certification. Delta lists the qualifying groups as women, African American, Asian American, Hispanic American, Native American, disabled veterans, and LGBT business owners.
Two points worth being clear on. First, ownership alone isn't enough; you need the certification to prove it. Second, the program is a way in, not a guarantee. Plenty of certified firms register and never hear back, usually because they registered and stopped there. The firms that win treat registration as step one of a longer effort.
Which certifications Delta acceptsDelta requires certification from a recognized certifying body or government agency. Based on Delta's published program materials, it recognizes certifications including:
- NMSDC (National Minority Supplier Development Council) for minority business enterprises (MBE)
- WBENC (Women's Business Enterprise National Council) for women-owned businesses (WBE)
- NGLCC (National LGBT Chamber of Commerce) for LGBT-owned businesses (LGBTBE)
- NVBDC (National Veteran Business Development Council) for veteran and service-disabled veteran businesses
- Disability:IN for disability-owned businesses (DOBE)
- SBA (Small Business Administration) certifications, including 8(a), WOSB, and SDVOSB
If you're not certified yet, that's the first thing to fix. A national third-party certification like NMSDC or WBENC is the credential most large corporate programs, Delta included, expect to see. It usually takes 60 to 120 days and runs a few hundred dollars in fees, depending on the body. You can compare what each certification opens up across corporate buyers in our corporate programs directory, and if you want help filing across multiple agencies at once, CertifyAll handles the paperwork so you're not navigating each portal separately.
How to register as a Delta supplierDelta routes suppliers through different front doors depending on what you sell. Start at Delta's supplier diversity page on delta.com, which links out to the current portals.
If you're an IT staffing or solutions firm, or a non-IT staffing firm, Delta directs you to register through its partner AgileOne, which manages staffing supplier intake.
If you're any other kind of supplier, Delta points you to its general supplier registration portal, currently the SupplierOne platform (delta.supplierone.co). You create a profile, describe your capabilities, and attach your diversity certification.
A note on portals: Delta has changed registration systems over the years, and you may still find references to an older ConnXus portal (delta.myconnxion.com) in some Delta documents. Before you spend time filling anything out, click through from the official delta.com supplier diversity page to make sure you're on the live system.
Whichever portal you land in, the data you enter matters more than most people treat it. Buyers and the supplier diversity team search these profiles by commodity, capability, and certification. Vague profiles don't surface. Be specific about what you provide, the NAICS or commodity codes that fit, your capacity, and the certifications you hold.
What Delta evaluates when it's decidingRegistration gets you visible. Winning work means clearing Delta's bar. Its published selection criteria weigh several things:
- Understanding of Delta's business and how your offering fits it
- Total cost, not just price
- Capability and capacity to deliver at the scale Delta needs
- Financial standing and stability
- References and past performance
- Growth potential and core competency
Read that list as a checklist for your capability statement. A diverse certification gets you considered. Demonstrating that you understand aviation, hospitality, or whatever category you sell into, and that you can deliver reliably at volume, is what moves you from "registered" to "shortlisted."
The Tier 2 path most suppliers overlookIf you can't land a direct contract with Delta yet, there's a side door worth knowing about. Delta runs a second-tier (Tier 2) initiative that requires its prime contractors to use and report their spend with diverse suppliers.
In practice, that means a large firm already supplying Delta, an IT services company, a construction or facilities prime, a marketing agency, is under pressure from Delta to bring diverse subcontractors into its own supply chain. Selling to that prime can be faster than selling to Delta directly, and it builds the past performance that makes a direct relationship credible later. When you research who already holds Delta contracts in your category, you're also building a target list of Tier 2 buyers.
Realistic expectationsMost suppliers do not get a Delta contract quickly, and some never do. That's not a knock on the program; it's the reality of selling to any Fortune 500 buyer with established suppliers and rigorous sourcing. Treat it as a campaign, not a transaction.
Here's where to put your energy:
- Get certified first. Without NMSDC, WBENC, NGLCC, NVBDC, Disability:IN, or an SBA certification, you don't meet the program's threshold. Certify before you register.
- Register completely and specifically. A thin profile is invisible. Fill in every capability and code field.
- Build a sharp capability statement aimed at Delta's selection criteria, especially the "understanding of Delta's business" line.
- Pursue Tier 2 in parallel. Sell to Delta's existing primes while you wait on a direct opening.
- Show up where Delta's team shows up. Delta participates in NMSDC and WBENC events and matchmaking sessions; that's where buyers meet new suppliers face to face.
- Be patient and stay in touch. Update your profile, respond fast to any RFP, and keep your certification current.
One more thing on timing. Delta publicly reaffirmed its supplier diversity commitment in early 2025, with CEO Ed Bastian framing the company's inclusion work as merit-based and core to the business, even as other large corporations pulled back. Corporate DEI policy is shifting across the board in 2025 and 2026, so confirm the program's current scope on delta.com before you build a plan around it.
Where to go nextA Delta certification-and-registration play rarely stands alone. The same NMSDC or WBENC certification that gets you into Delta's portal gets you into dozens of other corporate programs, and the smart move is to register everywhere your certification qualifies you, not just one airline.
Start by mapping the corporate programs your certification opens up in our corporate programs directory. Build your profile so buyers can find you in our supplier directory. And if you want the broader playbook for getting picked, not just listed, read how to get into corporate supplier diversity programs.
Delta's portal is the on-ramp. What you do after you register is where contracts actually come from.
