Delta Airlines

Delta Airlines is a U.S. based airline, with its headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. It operates a large domestic and international network that covers a number of destinations in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and the Caribbean. The largest hub of the carrier is located at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Another major hub of the airline is located at Detroit, while its international hubs are at Narita International Airport near Tokyo and Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. By beginning its service to Sydney, Australia, Delta Airlines became the only current carrier in the world, to serve every continent except Antarctica. Learn about the history and profile of Delta Airlines, in the article.

History
The history and origin of Delta Airlines can be traced to the foundation of Huff Daland Dusters on May 30, 1924 in Macon, Georgia. Huff Daland Dusters became the world's first aero-crop dusting company, which sprayed fertilizers, pesticides and fungicides from an agricultural aircraft. In 1923, the company moved to Monroe, Louisiana. In 1928, C.E. Woolman purchased Huff Daland Dusters and renamed it 'Delta Air Services', after the Mississippi Delta. By 1934, Delta Air began mail service from Charleston to Fort Worth, including Atlanta, Augusta and other stops in Georgia.

In 1941, Delta shifted its headquarters from Monroe to Atlanta, Georgia, to position itself along its new route network that connected Chicago and New Orleans to Florida and Ohio. The carrier purchased Chicago and Southern Airlines in 1953, after which, it flew under the name of Delta C&S, for the next couple of years. Soon, Delta started its long-haul service and plied flights on routes with high density of passengers. In order to serve the purpose, the airline purchased four Boeing 747s in the 1970s, thereby entering the new 'wide-jet' era.

To strengthen its market share in the northeastern United States, Delta Airlines merged with Northeast Airlines in 1972. Delta started its air cargo service named Delta Air Express, in 1975. One of the milestones in the history of the carrier was reached in August 1979, when it became the first airline in the world to board one million passengers in one city (Atlanta) within a short period of one month. The following years proved to be fruitful for the airlines. It launched its frequent flyer program in 1981. The airline was delivered its first Boeing 767-200, in 1983. In 1987, the airline had a merge up with Western Airlines of Los Angeles.

Delta Airlines reached another milestone in the early 1990s, when it became the US's first to operate the McDonnell Douglas MD-11 aircraft. The airline expanded its network by purchasing some lucrative routes, including Pan Am's European routes in 1991 that encompassed all the north Atlantic routes. Over the year, the carrier managed to acquire the largest transatlantic route network. This is the reason, why the airline is still US's largest transatlantic carrier, both in terms of the passengers carried and the number of scheduled flights operated.

Codeshare Agreement
Delta Airlines has come up with codeshare agreements with a number of airlines, to maintain its international stance. The airlines, with which Delta has signed the codeshare agreements, include American Eagle, Avianca, China Airlines, Emirates Airlines, Midwest Airlines, Royal Air Maroc and U.S. Helicopter.

Destinations And Fleet
Delta Airlines currently flies to as many as 375 destinations, in 88 countries across the world. In India, Delta Airlines flies to Mumbai. Until the carrier merged with Northwest Airlines, it had an all-Boeing fleet. Currently, the fleet of Delta Airlines consists of 484 aircrafts, which includes McDonnell Douglas MD-90, McDonnell Douglas MD-88, Boeing 777-200LR, Boeing 777-200ER, Boeing 767-400ER, Boeing 767-300ER, Boeing 767-300, Boeing 757-200, Boeing 737-800 AND Boeing 737-700.