Delta Shuttle Boeing 727
What would become the largest airline in the world owes its existence to an insect: the boll weevil. In response to weevil infestations of Southern cotton fields, Collett Woolman proposed using aerial cropdusting. No one had ever tried aerial spraying before, and Woolman’s Huff Daland Dusters became the world’s first cropdusting company. Huff Daland began spraying from Macon, Georgia in May 1924; a year later, it moved to Louisiana.
Eventually, Woolman raised enough money to buy Huff Daland outright, and in anticipation of expanding into airmail and passenger operations, renamed it Delta Air Service in reference to the Mississippi Delta region it would be operating from. Delta rapidly expanded its routes throughout the South, but nearly went out of business when the US government awarded airmail routes through the South to American Airlines; when it was learned that American was involved in a bribery scandal, Delta was able to get the route instead, ensuring its survival. In 1941, Delta moved its headquarters to Atlanta, which had become the central hub of its operations.
Postwar, Delta began to expand once more. It acquired Chicago and Southern Airlines in 1953, which gave Delta its first boost: before 1953, its routes were limited to the US South and its primary aircraft were war-surplus Douglas DC-3s and DC-4s. Using Chicago and Southern’s Lockheed L-049 Constellations, Delta could now fly routes through the Caribbean and into Canada.
In 1959, Delta entered the jet age by purchasing Douglas DC-8s; to represent their new aircraft, Delta changed its livery to introduce the “widget”—a stylized Greek-alphabet delta, referencing the airline name and its new swept-wing jets. The widget remains Delta’s logo to the present day. The airline went transcontinental soon thereafter, and to boost traffic on this route, became one of the launch customers of the Convair 880. Though the airline could boast a flight time between Atlanta and Los Angeles of less than three hours in the sleek 880, the airliner’s reputation as a gas hog would not keep it in Delta’s fleet for long. The last of its DC-7s were sold in 1970, making the airline all-jet.
Delta had a near stranglehold on the Southern market and extensive contacts in the Midwest, but lacked any sort of presence in the West or Northeast, and, aside from its Caribbean connections, none overseas. The airline took steps to rectify that situation: in 1972, it bought out Northeast Airlines, giving it significant routes in the Boston-New York area. To boost its transcontinental routes, Delta bought its first wide-body aircraft, Boeing 747s, in 1970, but these proved to be unprofitable and were sold; instead, Delta took on Lockheed L-1011 Tristars, and would go on to become the world’s largest operator of the L-1011 and one of the longest. Finally, in 1978, Delta was able to acquire a European route from Atlanta to London using Tristars.
Delta weathered the deregulation period of the early 1980s carefully, concentrating on its domestic routes and continuing its expansion slowly, rather than overreaching—a trend that was to lead to the demise of many of its competitors. In 1987, Western, facing bankruptcy and unable to conclude a deal with Continental, was taken over by Delta, giving the latter its long-awaited network in the American West and Pacific Northwest. It also left Delta as the largest airline in the US and allowed Delta to expand into Latin America.
Delta also began its Delta Connection service in 1987, partnering with Comair, Skywest, and Atlantic Southeast, which remained independent companies but repainted its aircraft in Delta liveries. In 1991, Delta bought a controlling interest in Pan American, with the promises to keep the latter in business. However, it was more profitable for Delta to let the legendary airline die off and take over its transatlantic routes, and by 1992, Delta was now the largest American transatlantic carrier. With the acquisition of Pan Am’s fleet, it also allowed Delta to make inroads into the Asian market.
The post-9/11 recession and the week-long grounding of US airlines hit Delta particularly hard, losing so much money that not even a government bailout could do more than delay further losses. The airline dropped most of its Asian routes, consolidated its fleet by retiring the aging L-1011 fleet and selling MD-11s inherited from Western, moved some business from its regional hubs to Atlanta, and cut salaries. Delta still ended up filing bankruptcy in 2005. Nonetheless, the austerity measures worked. Delta was also able to save money by refurbishing its MD-80 fleet rather than replacing them—the MD-80s were cheaper to operate than many newer airliners—and sold off some of its Delta Connection airlines or absorbed them entirely. After fending off an attempt at a buyout by US Airways, Delta emerged from bankruptcy in 2007; in celebration, the airline introduced another livery (its third in seven years) that reintroduced the widget.
It would expand still further. In 2008, it was announced that Delta and Northwest Airlines would merge, with the latter being absorbed by Delta. With a combined fleet of nearly 800 aircraft, this made Delta the largest airline in the world by fleet size, and in the top five by passengers flown annually. Today, Delta retains this title, with a worldwide network to every continent, with 300 destinations.
N480DA is shown in Delta Shuttle markings, reflecting the airline's livery from 2001-2007. This was not a popular scheme, as it deleted the widget from the tail for a more plain blue and red scheme. Delta Shuttle used to be a solely New York-Boston four-times daily service, but it more recently has been expanded to Chicago, along with a San Francisco-Los Angeles flight. N480DA spent its entire service life with Delta, bought new in 1974 and retired in 1999 to be scrapped.
Delta Shuttle Boeing 727
What would become the largest airline in the world owes its existence to an insect: the boll weevil. In response to weevil infestations of Southern cotton fields, Collett Woolman proposed using aerial cropdusting. No one had ever tried aerial spraying before, and Woolman’s Huff Daland Dusters became the world’s first cropdusting company. Huff Daland began spraying from Macon, Georgia in May 1924; a year later, it moved to Louisiana.
Eventually, Woolman raised enough money to buy Huff Daland outright, and in anticipation of expanding into airmail and passenger operations, renamed it Delta Air Service in reference to the Mississippi Delta region it would be operating from. Delta rapidly expanded its routes throughout the South, but nearly went out of business when the US government awarded airmail routes through the South to American Airlines; when it was learned that American was involved in a bribery scandal, Delta was able to get the route instead, ensuring its survival. In 1941, Delta moved its headquarters to Atlanta, which had become the central hub of its operations.
Postwar, Delta began to expand once more. It acquired Chicago and Southern Airlines in 1953, which gave Delta its first boost: before 1953, its routes were limited to the US South and its primary aircraft were war-surplus Douglas DC-3s and DC-4s. Using Chicago and Southern’s Lockheed L-049 Constellations, Delta could now fly routes through the Caribbean and into Canada.
In 1959, Delta entered the jet age by purchasing Douglas DC-8s; to represent their new aircraft, Delta changed its livery to introduce the “widget”—a stylized Greek-alphabet delta, referencing the airline name and its new swept-wing jets. The widget remains Delta’s logo to the present day. The airline went transcontinental soon thereafter, and to boost traffic on this route, became one of the launch customers of the Convair 880. Though the airline could boast a flight time between Atlanta and Los Angeles of less than three hours in the sleek 880, the airliner’s reputation as a gas hog would not keep it in Delta’s fleet for long. The last of its DC-7s were sold in 1970, making the airline all-jet.
Delta had a near stranglehold on the Southern market and extensive contacts in the Midwest, but lacked any sort of presence in the West or Northeast, and, aside from its Caribbean connections, none overseas. The airline took steps to rectify that situation: in 1972, it bought out Northeast Airlines, giving it significant routes in the Boston-New York area. To boost its transcontinental routes, Delta bought its first wide-body aircraft, Boeing 747s, in 1970, but these proved to be unprofitable and were sold; instead, Delta took on Lockheed L-1011 Tristars, and would go on to become the world’s largest operator of the L-1011 and one of the longest. Finally, in 1978, Delta was able to acquire a European route from Atlanta to London using Tristars.
Delta weathered the deregulation period of the early 1980s carefully, concentrating on its domestic routes and continuing its expansion slowly, rather than overreaching—a trend that was to lead to the demise of many of its competitors. In 1987, Western, facing bankruptcy and unable to conclude a deal with Continental, was taken over by Delta, giving the latter its long-awaited network in the American West and Pacific Northwest. It also left Delta as the largest airline in the US and allowed Delta to expand into Latin America.
Delta also began its Delta Connection service in 1987, partnering with Comair, Skywest, and Atlantic Southeast, which remained independent companies but repainted its aircraft in Delta liveries. In 1991, Delta bought a controlling interest in Pan American, with the promises to keep the latter in business. However, it was more profitable for Delta to let the legendary airline die off and take over its transatlantic routes, and by 1992, Delta was now the largest American transatlantic carrier. With the acquisition of Pan Am’s fleet, it also allowed Delta to make inroads into the Asian market.
The post-9/11 recession and the week-long grounding of US airlines hit Delta particularly hard, losing so much money that not even a government bailout could do more than delay further losses. The airline dropped most of its Asian routes, consolidated its fleet by retiring the aging L-1011 fleet and selling MD-11s inherited from Western, moved some business from its regional hubs to Atlanta, and cut salaries. Delta still ended up filing bankruptcy in 2005. Nonetheless, the austerity measures worked. Delta was also able to save money by refurbishing its MD-80 fleet rather than replacing them—the MD-80s were cheaper to operate than many newer airliners—and sold off some of its Delta Connection airlines or absorbed them entirely. After fending off an attempt at a buyout by US Airways, Delta emerged from bankruptcy in 2007; in celebration, the airline introduced another livery (its third in seven years) that reintroduced the widget.
It would expand still further. In 2008, it was announced that Delta and Northwest Airlines would merge, with the latter being absorbed by Delta. With a combined fleet of nearly 800 aircraft, this made Delta the largest airline in the world by fleet size, and in the top five by passengers flown annually. Today, Delta retains this title, with a worldwide network to every continent, with 300 destinations.
N480DA is shown in Delta Shuttle markings, reflecting the airline's livery from 2001-2007. This was not a popular scheme, as it deleted the widget from the tail for a more plain blue and red scheme. Delta Shuttle used to be a solely New York-Boston four-times daily service, but it more recently has been expanded to Chicago, along with a San Francisco-Los Angeles flight. N480DA spent its entire service life with Delta, bought new in 1974 and retired in 1999 to be scrapped.