History of Delta Air Lines

rdf:langString History of Delta Air Lines

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rdf:langString Douglas DC-8 aircraft in flight against a blue sky

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rdf:langString Douglas DC-8-51 flown by Delta Air Lines, landing at Miami International Airport in 1971

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rdf:langString Douglas DC-8-51 N821E DL MIA 07.02.71 edited-5.jpg

rdf:langString Delta Air Lines is a major American airline. The company's history began with the world's first aerial crop dusting operation called Huff Daland Dusters Inc., founded in 1925 in Macon, Georgia to combat the boll weevil infestation of cotton crops. C.E. Woolman, general manager and later Delta's first CEO, led a group of investors to acquire the company's assets. Delta Air Service was incorporated on December 3, 1928, and named after the Mississippi Delta region. Passenger operations began in 1929, from Dallas, Texas, to Jackson, Mississippi, soon extending east to Atlanta and west to Fort Worth, Texas. Passenger service ceased in October 1930 when the air mail contract for the route Delta had pioneered was awarded to another airline. Woolman and other investors incorporated the former crop-dusting assets of Delta Air Service as Delta Air Corporation in 1930. The company began doing business as Delta Air Lines, carrying mail from Fort Worth to Charleston, South Carolina. The company's name was officially changed in 1945. Through the 1950s and 1960s, Delta was the first airline to fly the Douglas DC-8, Convair 880, and McDonnell Douglas DC-9 aircraft. By 1970, it had an all-jet fleet. Trans-Atlantic service began in 1978 with the first nonstop flights from Atlanta to London. In 1990, Delta was the first airline in the United States to fly McDonnell Douglas MD-11 jets. It became the leading trans-Atlantic airline after acquiring the majority of Pan American World Airways' trans-Atlantic routes. The company filed for bankruptcy in 2005, citing rising fuel costs. It emerged from bankruptcy in 2007 after fending off a hostile takeover from US Airways. In 2008, Delta acquired Northwest Airlines, which continued to operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Delta until December 31, 2009. The two companies' computer reservations systems and websites were combined in 2010, and the Northwest Airlines brand was officially retired.