The quilts, made by flight attendants and other Delta workers, will be given to children whose illnesses or injuries require lengthy stays. Those who become attached to the quilts can take them home when they are discharged.

"To be looking out for the needs of others without being asked, isn't that like our friends at Delta?" Sharon Goodrich, the hospital's director of annual and corporate giving, said during a ceremony at the center.

Delta employees have been giving quilts to Primary for six years. The project started when workers converted the flight attendant lounge at Salt Lake City International Airport into a "quilt factory" so they could make quilts between flights.

The idea caught on, and today Delta employees and other volunteers throughout the country provide quilts for the hospital. This year, one flight attendant made 216 quilts. Another attendant and her mother stitched 248 quilts.

"I am proud that despite all the challenges we have faced as an airline, our people continue to support events that help others," said Paulette Corbin, Delta's senior vice president of in-flight service. "Their continued spirit and support shows that our commitment to Salt Lake City reaches well beyond the airport," she said.

Delta filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September, hurt by record jet-fuel prices and competition from low-cost carriers.

On Friday, the company reached a tentative agreement with its 6,000 pilots over wage and benefits cuts. The agreement averted a strike that Delta said would have destroyed the 77-year-old airline. Union leaders are meeting today to hear details of the agreement and decide whether to recommend it to rank-and-file members, who would then vote whether to ratify it.

Cindy Atkinson, a retired attendant, has supervised the project since it began. Employees donated 335 quilts in the first year.

"I've been so encouraged with a project they started locally but has grown to include employees across the country, as well as quilt groups, nursing homes and Girl and Boy Scout groups," Atkinson said.

pbeebe@sltrib.com