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Today, March 2nd, is Delta Air Lines’ 100th anniversary. The Atlanta-based carrier started as Huff Daland Dusters (an aerial crop-dusting company) in Macon, GA before growing to be a leader in global aviation. Back in 2023, I wrote about how Delta got its name. While it’s the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet, it’s not part of the carrier’s origin story.
The company’s first headquarters was in downtown Macon, GA. Its operations were originally at Camp Wheeler, which was an old WWII field. The field has since become the Macon Downtown Airport (MAC). There were around 18 aircraft (for crop dusting) and 30 employees at the time. Operations moved to Monroe, LA before shifting to Atlanta, GA. The airline began passenger flights to four cities in 1929.
The name came from one of Delta’s early female employees, Catherine Fitzgerald. Her recommendation for the name paid homage to the Mississippi Delta region where the airline’s predecessor, Huff Daland Dusters, began its operations. She was one of the first female airline directors from 1930-1934 and served as executive secretary to Delta’s principal founder C.E. Woolman from 1926-1966.
The Delta Widget that would later become the company’s logo was inspired by a military jet. Richard Maurer was Delta’s senior vice president, general counsel, and secretary. He noticed the similarity between the Greek letter Delta and the shape of Delta’s jets. He shared his thoughts with Delta’s advertising agency, Burke Dowling Adams (BDA) in 1955, and this led to the design of the first Delta Widget.
The logo changed and evolved through the years with the modern three-dimensional red Delta Widget introduced in April 2007, after the company exited from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Today, it operates more than 5,400 flights daily and serves 325 destinations in 52 countries on six continents. Delta ranks first in revenue and brand value of any airline globally. It’s a founding member of the SkyTeam alliance. Through the years, Delta acquired Chicago and Southern Air Lines, Northeast Airlines, Western Airlines, Pan Am’s transatlantic routes and the Pan Am Shuttle, and Northwest Airlines. It operates nine hubs at:
- Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL)
- Boston Logan International Airport (BOS)
- Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW)
- Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
- Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP)
- New York John F Kennedy International Airport (JFK)
- New York LaGuardia Airport (LGA)
- Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC)
- Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA)
I visited them all in one day a few years ago (more here). It’s amazing that the airline is now celebrating 100 years.
Congratulations, @Delta, on your 100th anniversary! We’re proud to celebrate you as @skyteam partners. With SAS flying to Atlanta – and soon to Seattle too – our connection keeps growing, offering even more seamless travel opportunities. Happy 100th from all of us at SAS! pic.twitter.com/6p9maOKisB
— SAS – Scandinavian Airlines (@SAS) March 2, 2025
Happy birthday and congratulations to our American cousin, @Delta, celebrating 100 years today!
A founding member alongside us of the SkyTeam alliance in 2000, and a partner in our joint venture with KLM since 2009, Delta is a strategic partner!
From all of us at Air France to… pic.twitter.com/aVss1XhH9u— Air France Newsroom (@AFnewsroom) March 2, 2025
Some of Delta’s partners sent their well wishes on social media today.
Anthony’s Take: Happy 100th Anniversary! I have many fond memories of Delta flights and while I shifted a lot of my flying to United, I still am flying Delta a good amount and will continue to do so.
(Image Credits: Delta Air Lines.)
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Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links above This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
