Delta Air Lines (English)

 Early History of Delta

 Delta flew for the first time in 1929 as Delta Air Services based in Monroe, Louisiana. Delta was founded by Collett E. Woolman who on September 13, 1928 bought an air fumigation company named Huff Daland Dusters, established in 1924 in Macon, Georgia for the fumigation on cotton fields in the Southern United States, and changed its name to Delta Air Services. Delta was named for the Mississippi Delta River. Its first flight flew from Dallas to Jackson with stops in Shreveport and Monroe. Its first aircraft were one engine Travel Air five passenger planes. D.Y Smith was the first president and Woolman was vice president and general manager. In 1941 Delta moved its base to Atlanta. Delta's growth slowed during the Second World War. Delta converted its maintenance facility in Atlanta for training in the national war effort. In 1945, Delta Air Services changed its name to Delta Air Lines and Woolman ,who was vice president became president and managing director. In 1953 Delta bought Chicago and Southern Air Lines and during the 1950s started its first routes to the Caribbean. 
 

History of Delta during the Jet Age

  In 1959 Delta took delivery of it first jet, a McDonellDouglas DC 8. In 1962 Delta began flying more international routes thought an agreement with Pan Am. The founder Woolman passed away in 1966. In 1972 Delta bought Northeast Airlines. In 1978 came airline deregulation and Delta began flying its first transatlantic flight to London and Frankfurt the next year, both from Atlanta. During the first years of the 1980s, Delta created its first frequent flyer program known today as Delta Sky Miles and began a regional airline Delta Connector for short flights. In 1987 Delta bought Western Airlines and became another American giant and the same year began flying transpacific routes to Tokyo, Soul and Bangkok from Portland, Oregon. At the beginning of the 1990s, Delta became the official airline of Walt Disney World after the shutdown of Eastern Airlines who was before the official airline. The year 1991 was a big year for Delta when it bought Pan Am's transatlantic route and its hubs in New York JFK and Frankfurt Main. As part of the purchase, Delta also got Pan Am's entire Airbus A310 fleet. The purchase of all this made Delta the world's third largest airline after United and American. In 1996 Delta began a low cost airline Delta Express so it could compete better with its low cost rivals. In 1997 Delta introduced a new logo, its first since the 1960s and began flying its first routes to Latin America from its base in Atlanta and then from other cities too.

Delta in the New Millennium

  At the start of the new millennium, Delta introduced a new logo with three colors painted on the tail and a while fuselage with the Delta titles in front and also formed an airline alliance Skyteam with its partners Air France, AeroMéxico and Korean Air. Then came September 11, 2001 and this had a very negative impact on the airline industry for many years. In 2004 Delta replaced its low fare airline, Delta Express, with Song to better compete with its new rival Jetblue based in New York. Song offered similar service as Jetblue. Due to the bad economy, high gas prices and continuing loses, Delta was forced to file for bankruptcy protection in September 2005. Delta dismantled its Dallas Fort Worth hub that same year. During its time in bankruptcy, Delta began flying to more international destinations and grew its hub at New York JFK. With all the new destinations Delta had begun flying to, the United States again for the first time in many years had an airline that flew to all five inhabited continents since the bankruptcy of Pan Am. Delta closed Song, its low fare airline, in 2006. In 2007 Delta introduced a new logo with the whole tail pained dark blue and the famous Delta wing pained red on the tail. US Airways y United had made an intent to buy Delta but Delta rejected both offers became it wanted to remain independent. In 2008 having already exited bankruptcy, Delta bought Northwest Airlines and overtook American Airlines as the world's largest airline. On October 1, 2010, Delta was overtaken by United as the world's largest airline because of the United and Continental merger. Delta then established a base at New York LaGuardia airport when Delta traded with US Airways its routes at Washington Ronald Regan National for US Airway's routes at LaGuardia airport. 

Delta Today

 Today Delta es the world's second largest airline after United. Its world headquarters are in Atlanta and has major bases in Atlanta, New York, Detroit, Cincinnati, Memphis, Salt Lake City, Minneapolis, Paris, Amsterdam and Tokyo. Delta flies to all five inhabited continents and has a fleet of over 700 aircraft, mostly of Boeing and Airbus. Its CEO is Richard H. Anderson, Delta is part of the Skyteam world airline alliance.