The company’s milestones:
1925: The Huff Daland Dusters crop-dusting operation, which formed the roots for Delta, begins in Macon, Ga. This was the first commercial aerial agricultural company in existence.
1928: C.E. Woolman leads movement to buy Huff Daland Dusters. Renamed “Delta Air Service” for the Mississippi River Delta region it served. D.Y. Smith, president.
June 17, 1929: Delta starts its first passenger flights over a route from Dallas to Jackson, Miss., via Shreveport and Monroe, La.
March 1, 1941: Delta moves headquarters from Monroe, La., to Atlanta.
Aug. 1, 1972: Northeast Airlines merges with Delta. Delta becomes a major carrier in New York and Boston, with direct routes from New York and New England to Florida.
1982: After Delta suffers financial losses, employees raise $30 million in payroll deductions to purchase the first Boeing 767, named “The Spirit of Delta.”
April 1, 1987: Delta merges with Western Airlines; becomes the fourth largest U.S. carrier and fifth largest in the world. First trans-Pacific service begins with flights to Tokyo. Ronald W. Allen becomes Chairman and CEO.
Nov. 1, 1991: Delta purchases all of Pan Am’s trans-Atlantic routes and the Pan Am Shuttle substantially.
1997 : First airline to board more than 100 million passengers in a year. Begin expansion of U.S.-Latin America routes. Introduces new aircraft livery—the first in almost 30 years. First airline to offer spa cuisine, partnering with chefs from health resorts in the U.S. and Europe.
1999 : Air Transport World magazine names Delta its global Airline of the Year for 1998.
2000: Launches delta.com Web site.
2006 : Service to more destinations than any global airline with 124 new nonstop routes and 41 destinations. Delta is National Safety Council’s 2006 Occupational Industry Leader—the first airline recognized.
2008: Northwest Airlines merges with Delta, creating global airline with major passenger and cargo operations in every region of the world.
2011 : Becomes first airline with mobile baggage tracking, via Fly Delta app.
2015 : Introduces five differentiated on-board products, enhancing customer options: Delta One, First Class, Delta Comfort+, Main Cabin and Basic Economy.
2017 : Delta ranks No. 63 and is the only airline on Fortune’s Best Companies To Work For list, based on employee ratings of workplace culture.
2018 : Launches daily nonstop service between Atlanta and Shanghai. Inducts into its fleet North America’s first Airbus A220.
As of December 2020: Delta operated a fleet of 750 aircraft manufactured by Airbus and Boeing. Delta operates the largest Boeing 717, Boeing 757, and Boeing 767 fleets in the world, and the largest Airbus A330 fleet of any US airline.
According to en.wikipedia.org; deseret.com; deltamuseum.org. Source of photos: internet
