Delta Air Lines is a major American airline and one of the world’s largest airlines. Delta flies to hundreds of destinations throughout North America, Latin America, Europe, Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and India. The airline’s major hubs (operation centers) are located in the continental United States, France, Japan, and the Netherlands. Delta has headquarters in Atlanta .
Delta Air Lines traces its origin to an aerial crop-dusting operation, Huff Daland Dusters, that was established in Macon, Georgia, in 1924. The next year, Huff Daland moved its agricultural flying business headquarters to Monroe, Louisiana. In 1928, Collett Everman “C. E.” Woolman, Huff Daland’s vice president and general manager, and a group of investors purchased Huff Daland and renamed it Delta Air Service. The name “Delta” was chosen for the Mississippi River Delta region the company served. A year later, Delta operated its first passenger flight, on a route from Dallas to Jackson, Mississippi.
In 1930, the company was renamed Delta Air Corporation. Delta suspended its passenger service that year because of the lack of a mail contract. In 1934, Delta resumed passenger service and began operating as Delta Air Lines. The company moved its headquarters to Atlanta in 1941. In 1945, it became Delta Air Lines, Inc.
Following a series of mergers from the early 1950’s through the early 1990’s, Delta became one of the largest U.S. carriers and also one of the largest carriers in the world. Delta operated the low-fare airline Delta Express from 1996 to 2003 and the low-cost subsidiary airline Song from 2003 to 2005.
In the 1960’s and 1970’s, Delta was an early adopter of the hub-and-spoke route system. In this system, a carrier flies all of its aircraft from many locations to one central airport , the hub. The passengers and freight then change planes to connect to their final destination. This system proved to be profitable for Delta. It was copied by many airlines as the industry deregulated beginning in 1978. Deregulation is the process of removing government restrictions. Delta merged with Northwest Airlines in 2008. In 2013, Delta acquired a stake in Virgin Atlantic Airways Limited. In 2018, Delta, Air France-KLM, and Virgin Atlantic signed a joint venture to coordinate and expand their trans-Atlantic services between the United States and Europe.
