Delta History & Lore

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Historical Remembrances

Over its rich 100-year history, Delta Air Lines has grown from its beginning as a crop duster to become one of the world’s largest and best airlines. A large part of this success has been its people, past and present! As a Delta retiree you should be very proud of your contribution to Delta’s continuing success! Perhaps information presented over these pages may refresh many memories from your days at Delta. For those that joined Delta through a prior company’s merger or acquisition into Delta there is a section highlighting some of your prior company’s history.

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Delta Heritage and Legacy to 2011

The Origins for Delta Air Lines to World War II (prepared 2010)

Delta Family Tree through 2007

Delta Rises Again on New Wings The London Times, April 15, 2007

Delta Opens Jet Base 1960

Flying High Over the Cotton Patch by Robert W. Coggin pub: November 28, 2018

Helen Denton and Her Biggest Secret 2013

David Garrett Memorial 2012

2011 Interview of Buster Cooper – His Involvement During a 1972 Miami Hijack of a Delta Aircraft

Delta Salutes Founder C. E. Woolman – 2009

Gerald Grinstein’s Message of Deep Gratitude 2007

Business Week Article on C. E. Woolman November 1, 1961

Speed, Safety, Comfort: The Origins of Delta Air Lines by James John Hoogerwerf pub: October 11, 2023

Glory Lost and Found: How Delta Climbed from Despair to Dominance in the Post 9/11 Era by Seth Kaplan and Jay Shabat pub: January 22, 2016

Delta Air Lines: 75 Years of Airline Excellence by Geoff Jones pub: November 26, 2003

Delta: The History of an Airline by W. David Lewis and Wesley Phillps Newton updated version pub September 1, 2016. Note: first pub: June 1, 1979 and a copy given to each employee at that time.

Delta: The Illustrated History of a Major U.S. Airline and the People Who Made It by R.E.G. Davis pub: January 1, 1990. Note: a copy given to each employee at that time.