From crop dusting to global megacarrier: Marking 100 years of Delta Air Lines

There are only a handful of airlines in existence that have celebrated 100 years of operations. After all, it has only been 121 years since the Wright Brothers first took to the air. Yet, March 2025 sees Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines, one of the world’s largest carriers, mark its centenary year.

With a fleet of around 1,000 aircraft operating over 5,000 flights daily and serving 290 cities across six countries, Delta was ranked as the world’s third-largest airline in 2024, carrying over 200 million passengers and operating 141,000 commercial flights. However, it was not always like this. From the humblest of beginnings, with just a handful of fairly rudimentary propeller planes, to becoming the leviathan it is today, the history of Delta has taken several twists and turns over the company’s first century of flying.  

AeroTime dives into the history of Delta, its background, its growth, and through a series of strategic mergers and acquisitions over the years, examines how the company has become the major global airline it is today.  

MKPhoto12 / ShutterstockThe founding years

Huff Daland Dusters, the predecessor of Delta, began operations in Macon, Georgia, in 1925. Becoming the world’s first aerial crop dusting company and using modified First World War aircraft to spread insecticide over cotton fields, Huff Daland would appoint Collett Everman Woolman, known as CE Woolman, as its Vice President and Field Manager.

A student at the University of Illinois, from which he graduated in 1912 with a degree in agricultural engineering, Woolman’s first paid job was to manage a 7,000-acre cotton farm in Mississippi that was locked in a battle with an infestation of the boll weevil insect, which was destroying its valuable cotton crops. The experience prompted Woolman to explore new ways to spread insecticides over fields, leading him to become a pioneer in aerial crop dusting and bringing him to the attention of the founders of Huff Daland Dusters.

Delta Flight MuseumWith its crop dusting business up and running as of March 2, 1925, the company moved to a new base in Monroe, Louisiana, a few months later. As the first commercial agricultural flying company,  Huff Daland’s fleet of 18 aircraft, known as the Huff Daland Duster Petrel 31, were quickly in hot demand as cotton farmers of the Deep South fought to protect their crops from destruction. Crop-dusting operations were offered from Florida to Arkansas and from California to Mexico.

Despite its early success, Huff Daland decided to sell its crop dusting division in 1928, upon which Woolman seized the opportunity. He, along with the financial support of several local businesses in Monroe, purchased the company from its owners. Reflecting its Southern roots, and in particular its home in the Mississippi Delta region of the US, the newly purchased company would be renamed as Delta Air Service.  

In 1928, spying an early commercial opportunity to diversify, Woolman began expanding the company’s operations beyond crop dusting to include passenger and mail transportation. Woolman extended Delta’s services to operating the first international air mail route on the west coast of South America (Lima to Talara) on behalf of Pan American’s South American subsidiary, Peruvian Airways, in 1928.

Delta Flight MuseumBy 1929, Delta began to offer commercial passenger flights, marking the beginning of the company’s transformation into a leading global airline. That year, Delta operated its first passenger flight from Dallas, Texas, to Jackson, Mississippi, with stops in Shreveport and Monroe, Louisiana. Service would later be expanded to Birmingham and Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and Meridian, Mississippi.

The airline would later introduce Travel Air S-600-Bs on its passenger services, becoming the airline’s first fully-dedicated passenger-carrying aircraft. Known as the “Limousine of the Air”, the Travel Airs could carry five passengers and a single pilot. Woolman himself described the aircraft as “accommodating five passengers and pilot, toilet facilities, and space for hand luggage. In cold weather, the cabins are warm and comfortable and with the interesting feature of scenic observation of the surrounding country, afford the ideal means of modern travel.”  

Delta Flight Museum1930 to 1939

With its reputation for transporting passengers reliably and safely established, Delta would later begin services to Atlanta, Georgia, on June 12, 1930 – a city in which the company would eventually establish its home.

However, with the Great Depression sweeping across the US throughout the early 1930s and the domestic economic recession biting hard, the company would stumble on hard times. A lack of government mail contracts due to falling demand led to Delta suspending all passenger services on October 1, 1930. As many passenger services had been subsidized by the carriage of mail on the same flight, without the mail, these flights became uneconomic to operate. The company reorganized and renamed itself as Delta Air Corporation.

Delta Flight MuseumWith the harder times behind it, in 1934, Delta received a contract to operate US Air Mail route 24 from Fort Worth in Texas to Charleston, South Carolina, and resumed operations with a Stinson Model T aircraft in September 1934. The resumption of passenger services would commence the following month, and the company assumed the name of Delta Air Lines.

The later years of the decade would see the airline go from strength to strength as demand for its services increased and larger, faster, and more comfortable aircraft became available. In 1936, the airline would introduce the 14-sear Lockheed 10 Electra to its fleet, onboard which passengers would be served with pre-prepared boxed lunches by the co-pilot. By 1938, the airline was earning more revenue from passenger flights than from its lucrative crop dusting business, which had continued to operate as a separate business throughout the 1930s.

Robert Yarnall Richie / Wikimedia CommonsInto the 1940s and WW2

With an ever-expanding route network and fleet, Delta introduced the trusted and reliable Douglas DC-2 and DC-3 aircraft into its fleet in 1940 and began the process of moving its headquarters to Atlanta. That same year, Delta introduced female flight attendants, branded ‘stewardesses’  by the airline for the first time. The cabin crew was even tasked with handing out bottles of a product made by another well-known Atlanta-based company – Coca-Cola.

ZLEA / Wikimedia CommonsWith the move to Atlanta from Monroe completed in 1941, the ‘Big Peach’ would become the new center point of the airline’s route network, serving 16 cities from the Georgia state capital. However, with the Second World War raging across various theaters worldwide by this point, Delta was called upon to contribute to the US war effort. In 1942, Delta assisted in modifying 916 aircraft, overhauling over 1,000 aero engines and cockpit instruments, as well as training US Army pilots and mechanics and operating cargo supply routes for the US military.

Post-war prosperity

With the war effort winding down by 1945, Delta celebrated its 20th anniversary that year and was honored by the US National Safety Council for operating more than 300 million passenger miles to date without a passenger or crew fatality. Also, at this time, Woolman, the visionary entrepreneur who started it all, was promoted to become the airline’s President and General Manager. In 1944, the airline carried its one millionth revenue passenger and began operating longer services, such as Chicago to Miami flights with newly delivered Douglas DC-4 aircraft.

By 1947, and once again spotting a gap in the market from which it could benefit, Delta opened a cargo-only subsidiary and began operating scheduled cargo flights between US airports, while the airline also opened its first division to sell vacation packages to Florida, originally known as Millionaire Dream Vacations, and later as Delta Dream Vacations.

Bill Proctor / Wikimedia CommonsIn 1948, one of the early airline alliances was created with St Louis-based Trans World Airlines (TWA). Under the agreement, TWA crews would fly Delta-owned aircraft from Cincinnati to Detroit, while Delta crews would fly TWA planes southwards from Cincinnati to Atlanta, Miami, and Dallas. By this point, Delta had also received its first transcontinental Douglas DC-6, which ushered in the era of pressurized passenger cabins, air conditioning, seat tray tables for inflight meals, and a six-seat ‘Sky Lounge’ for premium passengers.

Delta Flight MuseumThe 1950s – the dawn of the jet age  

With the arrival of a new decade, new aircraft continued to be delivered to Delta, broadening the airline’s capabilities even further. Corvair 340s arrived from the US manufacturer, capable of cruising at 240 mph (384 kph) and carrying 44 passengers in comfort.

In 1953, Delta began a process of acquiring smaller competitors to gain footholds in markets where it did not yet have a presence, a process that has continued throughout its history. The merger with Chicago and Southern Airlines in 1953 brought Delta its first international routes outside of the continental US, serving points in the Caribbean and to Caracas, the capital of Venezuela. Along with the newly acquired airline, Delta also took over that carrier’s frequent flyer scheme.

In 1954, and with its first truly long-haul aircraft arriving in the shape of the four-engine Lockheed Constellation, Delta took the opportunity to introduce a first class service for the first time. Known as ‘Golden Class’ service and initially introduced on the carrier’s Constellations and Douglas DC-7s, this introduced the concept of reserved seats, where Golden Crown customers could pre-select their chosen seat at check-in.

Delta Flight MuseumWith expansion continuing unabated, in 1955, Delta pioneered the hub-and-spoke network planning system, later adopted by all major US carriers at their respective hub airports. The structure saw Atlanta become a cross-connecting point, with passengers based in small and medium-sized southeastern communities to transfer seamlessly and effortlessly to more distant, larger cities, given that no point-to-point services existed. Under the hub-and-spoke system, arriving and departing flights were arranged in banks and were scheduled to achieve maximum operational efficiency in Atlanta by reducing connecting times to a minimum.   

As the 1950s continued, Delta would continue to score milestone industry ‘firsts. ’ The airline opened its first first-class lounge in 1957 (now known as Sky Clubs) in Atlanta, while in 1958, more luxurious Douglas DC-7s arrived in the company’s fleet.

Wikimedia Commons However, a seismic shift would occur in 1959, when Delta would receive its first Douglas DC-8 – the company’s first turbojet-powered airliner. Capable of a staggering 590mph and able to carry 119 passengers, the arrival of the DC-8 would turn the corner for the airline and begin its (and its passengers’)  journey into the smoother, more luxurious, and faster jet age.

As the decade closed out and with the arrival of the DC-8, the airline took the opportunity to refresh its corporate image. For the first time, the carrier would introduce its new logo, which still endures today. The iconic red, white, and blue triangle logo, known more commonly as the ‘Delta Widget’ was unveiled.  Resembling the swept-wing appearance of a jet aircraft, the logo would become synonymous with the airline for decades to come.

Jon Proctor / Shutterstock1960s – Delta and the computer age

Along with the introduction of the DC-8, Delta expedited its embracing of the jet age in 1960 with the first of its Convair 880 jet aircraft. In the same year, the airline opened its new Jet Base maintenance center at Atlanta Airport. Known as the Delta Technical Operations Center (TOC), the subsidiary would, over time, become one of the world’s largest maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) providers worldwide.

With its newly acquired jet fleet, Delta could fly its passengers further and faster. In 1961, nonstop transcontinental flights began from Atlanta to Los Angeles. Delta also began linking California and the Caribbean. In 1962, along with the introduction of first class and economy class travel on all of its four-engine jet aircraft, a Delta DC-8 became the first passenger plane to complete a Los Angeles to Atlanta flight in less than three hours (2h57m) – a new record.

RuthAS / Wikimedia CommonsIn 1964, Delta introduced another world first in the shape of its in-house SABRE computerized reservations system, which would go on to revolutionize the airline ticket reservations industry through the ability to book and confirm flights instantly. The system could handle bookings around five times faster than any other computerized reservations system in use at the time, and SABRE access would later be sold to countless airlines worldwide.

While 1965 would see Delta introduce the Douglas DC-9 as its newest domestic workhorse to take over flights previously operated by the now-aging turboprops, 1966 would sadly see the death of CE Woolman, the airline’s founding father. The airline would later present a reconditioned Huff Daland Duster to the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, DC, in his honor, and where it remains as an exhibit today.   

Alan Wilson / Wikimedia Commons1966 would also see Delta become the first US carrier to employ the country’s first African American flight attendant (Patricia Murphy), and while its crop dusting operation was finally closed down that year after 41 years of successful operations, its first all-cargo Lockheed L-100 Hercules freighter arrived to ramp up the carrier’s outsized cargo services.

RuthAS / Wikimedia Commons1970s – marking 50 years of flying

Another major four-engined milestone would be reached in 1970 when the airline’s first Boeing 747 arrived fresh from Boeing in Seattle. Offering far more range than any other aircraft in its fleet and greater capacity, the jumbos would introduce a new level of service on Delta’s transcontinental US services while introducing the carrier’s first audio inflight entertainment system for passengers. By 1970, Delta operated an all-jet passenger airplane fleet with all its piston-engined airplanes retired.   

Seeking a greater foothold in the lucrative northeast air corridor, in 1972, Delta merged with Northeastern Airlines, which operated routes from New York and Boston to Florida, Canada, the Bahamas, and Bermuda using Boeing 727s and Fairchild FH227 turboprops. In 1973, the first of Delta’s widebody Lockheed L1011 TriStars arrived, making Delta one of the only airlines to operate the Boeing 747, Douglas DC-10, and the Tristar simultaneously.

Steve Fitzgerald / ShutterstockWith the deregulation of the US air transportation system passed into law in 1978, Delta was keen to take advantage of the new opportunities that this development presented. Delta began its first transatlantic service, operating from Atlanta to London using the 747s on which it also introduced a business class offering for the first time.

As the airline marked 50 years of passenger service in 1979, it began transatlantic flights to Frankfurt and also became the first airline ever to board one million passengers in a single city in one month (Atlanta, August 1979).  

1980 to 1989

The 1980s were a period of both consolidation and expansion for Delta, with several other industry firsts cementing Delta’s place in the airline history books. In 1980, for example, it became the first airline to make a major move from film to video for in-flight entertainment, and it equipped its entire transatlantic Tristar fleet in the early 1980s with video entertainment screens in all classes. Meanwhile, in 1981, the airline opened its first dedicated frequent flyer scheme, SkyMiles, which still exists today.  

Pedro Aragão / Wikimedia CommonsWith oil prices and recession biting at the airline’s revenue figures but in desperate need of more efficient aircraft, in 1982. Delta employees raised over $30 million through payroll deductions to purchase the company’s first Boeing 767 widebodied jet – a type that was set to transform the airline’s entire operation. To become known as ’The Spirit of Delta‘, the aircraft would eventually be retired and preserved in Atlanta at the Delta Flight Museum, where it can still be visited today.

In 1983, Delta introduced computer-generated boarding passes and automated advance seat selection, greatly improving the boarding process in gate areas, while the narrowbody Boeing 737 family would be introduced to passengers for the first time – another type that still remains in the fleet today. The following year, the first Boeing 757 would arrive, while Delta also began the process of affiliation with smaller regional carriers through a franchise/codeshare model to launch its ‘Delta Connection’ network of feeder services.

Wikimedia CommonsIn 1987, Western Airlines was merged into Delta, making the carrier the fourth-largest US carrier and fifth-largest in the world. The merger also provided Delta with new hubs in Los Angeles and Salt Lake City and routes serving Mexico and Alaska. Its new presence on the West Coast also allowed Delta to begin transpacific flights for the first time, with flights from Portland in Oregon to Tokyo, Japan. 

Bring on the 1990s

If the 1980s had been a period of steady growth, the 1990s would start at a much faster pace. In 1990, and with conflict in the Middle East raging in the Gulf War, the airline contributed to the US Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF) during Desert Storm and Desert Shield operations during 1990 and 1991, flying military charters on behalf of the US Government.

With the Gulf War came a large number of airline failures due to the huge rise in oil prices, the largest of which was historic US legacy carrier Pan Am. In 1991, and able to finance another timely opportunity, Delta purchased Pan Am’s transatlantic route system and the Pan Am Shuttle (which operated high-frequency services between New York, Boston, and Washington DC). Along with the airline’s routes, Delta inherited Pan Am’s entire fleet of Airbus A310s while also becoming the first US carrier to introduce the McDonnell-Douglas MD-11 trijet widebody.

Aero Icarus / Wikimedia Commons1992, the airline became the first global carrier to introduce a moving map display in passenger cabins, along with seat-back telephones and live radio news broadcasts. In 1995, Delta was named as the official airline of the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games to be held in its hometown of Atlanta, Georgia. The airline repainted 767 ‘The Spirit of Delta’ into a special commemorative color scheme to make the occasion. Also, in 1995, Delta became the first US carrier to ban smoking on all flights worldwide.

In 1996, Delta launched the first of two attempts to break Southwest Airlines’ stranglehold on the US low-cost market with the launch of Delta Express. Launched to offer flights from Florida to the Northeastern US cities, the airline existed until 2003 before being merged back into the airline’s mainline operation. The following year, Delta became the airline to board more than 100 million passengers in a single year, began the expansion of its US to Latin America routes, and introduced a new aircraft livery – the airline’s first in almost 30 years.

Aeroprints.com /Wikimedia CommonsIn 1999, as the century drew to a close, the airline’s newly delivered Boeing 777 widebody fleet introduced personal video screens at each seat in economy class for the first time in the airline’s history.

Delta enters the 21st century

If the 1990s had been a progressive decade for Delta, there was to be no let-up in the pace during the first part of the new century. In 2000, the airline was a founding partner in SkyTeam, a global alliance that partnered Delta with Aeroméxico, Air France, and Korean Air. Additionally, after just four years and following public disapproval of the airline’s 1996 livery, the color scheme changed again, incorporating an updated and reworked Widget logo.

Oleg V. Belyakov / Wikimedia Commons In 2001, following the collapse in air travel due to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York, Delta posted its first financial loss in six years.

In 2003, Delta implemented the largest US domestic codeshare alliance with Continental and Northwest Airlines while also launching Song, a reworking of the Delta Express low-cost model using Boeing 757s on leisure routes. Both Continental and Northwest Airlines would later join SkyTeam as full members in 2004.

Robin Guess / ShutterstockOn September 14, 2005, Delta filed for reorganization protection under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code while in late 2005, Delta began one of the largest one-month expansions in its history with services commencing on seven new Latin American and Caribbean routes. By 2006, the carrier offered flights to more destinations than any global airline, with 124 new nonstop routes. That same year, the company began services to southern Africa with flights to Johannesburg via Dakar, Senegal. At the end of the year, ‘The Spirit of Delta‘ was finally retired to the Delta Flight Museum after spending 70,697 hours in the air.

Blurred Ren / Wikimedia CommonsIn 2007, Delta emerged from Chapter 11 protection while also fending off a hostile takeover bid from US Airways. Another new aircraft livery was introduced to represent the rebirth of the airline (its third in a decade). That same year, the airline announced a transatlantic joint venture with Air France. Additionally, the completion of the Open Skies agreement between the US and the European Union allowed Delta to fly to London-Heathrow Airport (LHR) for the first time.

A significant merger between Delta and Northwest was announced in 2008, which transformed Delta into an even more significant global airline with major passenger and cargo operations in every region of the world. The merger also saw the incorporation of the Northwest fleet into that of Delta’s, with several types seeing Delta service once again including DC-9s and the Boeing 747 as a result.

EQRoy / ShutterstockIn 2009, Delta expanded its transatlantic joint venture with the Air France-KLM Group and became the only US airline since Pan Am to serve six continents with the introduction of nonstop flights between Los Angeles and Sydney, Australia, while SkyMiles became the world’s largest loyalty program with more than 74 million members.

2010 – 2025

Expanding its global reach even further, in 2013, Delta purchased Singapore Airlines’  49% share in UK carrier Virgin Atlantic, an airline with which it had a codeshare deal in the late 1990s. Then, in 2015, the airline introduced five differentiated on-board products: First Class, Delta One (business class), Delta Comfort+, Main Cabin, and Basic Economy. The carrier also continued on its journey of acquisition with the purchase of a 3.5% minority stake in China Eastern, expanding the airline’s presence and customer choice in Asia’s largest market.

Delta Air LinesThe airline ended the following year (2016) with a record 241 total days without a mainline flight cancellation, while appointing Ed Bastian as its CEO, who continues in the role today. In 2017, Delta reported a company record adjusted pre-tax income of $6.1 billion and acquired 49% of Aeromexico. Lastly, in 2017, the airline received the first of its new Airbus A350-900 widebodies – the carrier’s new international flagship aircraft. 

In 2018, another Airbus first was announced with the introduction of the first Airbus A220 into the carrier’s mainline fleet. Delta also launched a joint venture partnership with Korean Air with a jointly-operated hub in Seoul in 2018.

Markus Mainka / ShutterstockDelta Air Lines today

Over the past few years, and despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Delta has continued to grow, with new aircraft, new partnerships, and an increasing number of passengers each year. 2024 was the airline’s biggest yet, with full-year revenues reaching $5 billion and passengers topping 200 million.

Speaking in January 2025, Ed Bastian stated, “2024 was a great year for Delta, with our results reflecting differentiation from the industry and increased durability.  Our people finished the year strong, delivering industry-leading operational and financial performance.  Sharing Delta’s success is core to our culture, and I’m excited to recognize our people’s outstanding efforts with $1.4 billion in profit-sharing payments“.

viper-zero / Shutterstock“Into 2025, we expect strong demand for travel to continue, with consumers increasingly seeking the premium products and experiences that Delta provides. Our differentiated strategy and best-in-class operations, combined with demand strength and an increasingly constructive industry backdrop, position us to deliver the best financial year in Delta’s 100-year history, with pre-tax income greater than $6 billion and free cash flow of more than $4 billion.”

According to ch-aviation, Delta’s original fleet of 18 Huff Daland Dusters has grown to 990 mainline jet aircraft with an average age of 15.2 years. The current fleet includes –

75 Airbus A220s (three on order)

57 Airbus A319-100

55 Airbus A320-200

198 Airbus A321-200 / A321neo (12 on order)

75 Airbus A330-200/300s/ 900neo (six on order)

35 Airbus A350-900 (three on order)

80 Boeing 717-200

240 Boeing 737-800/900ER

114 Boeing 757-200/300

61 Boeing 767-300ER
To mark the airline’s centenary in 2025, the airline will be introducing a pair of specially painted new Airbus airplanes into its fleet wearing commemorative liveries. An Airbus A321neo (registered as N589DT) and Airbus A350-900 (registered N527DN) will appear across the airline’s network in 2025, acting as flying billboards to tell the world where the airline has come from since 1925 and the direction in which the carrier is traveling.

Dirk GrotheIt would have taken a major leap of faith by Collett Everman Woolman in 1925 to see where his vision may have ended up a century later. Yet, from the airline’s humble beginnings, preventing weevils from eating crops to flying a brand new Airbus A350 carrying hundreds of passengers thousands of miles across the world would take anyone with a pioneering spirit some time to contemplate, whether that be in 1925 or 2025.

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