First commercial aerial crop dusting company in the world (as predecessor company Huff Daland Dusters, established 1924). Inaugurated the first international mail and passenger route on the west coast of South America in 1927 (in Peru as Huff Daland Dusters. Route sold to Pan American Grace (Panagra) in 1928). On May 9, 1945, Delta transported the first shipment of living vegetable plants by air. 160,000 tomato plants were pulled from the ground in Tifton, Georgia, flown 700 miles, and set out again at Bowling Green, Ohio. Two Department of Agriculture specialists went along to test the reaction of the plants to flight, and a photograph of the shipment was used in Time magazine on May 21, 1945. First airline to establish non-stop Chicago-Miami service (November 1946). First airline to offer packaged summer vacations to Miami (Summer 1947). Delta Millionaire Dream Vacations, later renamed Delta Dream Vacations, greatly increased tourism to Miami, and helped change the economy of Miami from a four-month year to a normal 12-month year. First interchange service in the United States was the Delta-TWA interchange, inaugurated on June 1, 1948, over the airlines' Miami-Detroit routes. Delta is the first airline to supplement visual inspection of aircraft parts with a portable x-ray machine to examine interior structures. (See Delta Digest April/May/June 1954). First Douglas DC-7 flight between two continents was operated by Delta (Chicago-Caracas, April 1955). Delta was an early hub and spoke system pioneer in 1955. Airplanes were scheduled to bring passengers to a hub airport where travelers connected to other Delta flights enroute to destinations far and near. First to offer complimentary meals on all daycoach flights (May 1959). First airline to offer passengers steaks cooked to order. Delta entered the jet age on September 18, 1959, by operating the world's first Douglas DC-8 jet service. First airline to introduce three commercial jets (the Douglas DC-8 in 1959, Convair 880 on May 15, 1960, and Douglas DC-9 on November 29, 1965). First to provide California with single-carrier jet service to the South (1961). The Caribbean was linked with the West Coast in December 1961, when Delta inaugurated the first jet service from California to Montego Bay and Caracas. First to operate an Lockheed L-100 in scheduled cargo service (September 15, 1966). Also first to operate the larger Lockheed L-100-20 version (1968). In 1973, Delta was the first airline to simultaneously operate three of the first generation wide-bodied jets—the Boeing 747, Douglas DC-10, and Lockheed L-1011. Delta was the first airline to offer its own air express service. On March 3, 1975, Delta started a new high priority guaranteed cargo service called Delta Air Express. Shipments had guaranteed reservation, expedited ground handling and preferred aircraft loading (right after mail and before regular air freight). First domestic airline to order and fly Lockheed L-1011-500 aircraft (June 1979). First airline in the world to board one million passengers in one city in one month (Atlanta, August 1979). First airline to operate the MD-11 in scheduled service in the U.S. (February 5, 1991). Delta was the first U.S. carrier to voluntarily ban smoking on all flights in 1995. Delta offers the airline industry's first seasonal menus on July 8, 1995, with spring/summer and fall/winter menus. Delta was the first airline to board 100 million passengers in a single year in 1997. Also in 1997, Delta became the first to board over 2 million passengers in one city (Atlanta, Georgia) in one month. In 1998, Delta was the first airline to install automatic defibrillators on board all of its aircraft. In October 2001, the restored Delta Air Lines Douglas DC-3, Ship 41, was the first aircraft to receive an award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Delta Heritage Museum mechanics and volunteers meticulously restored the airplane over five years, beginning in 1995. In November 2001, Delta is the first airline to launch a comprehensive security solution aircraft: MD-88, Ship 920, with an enhanced transponder system, cabin video surveillance system and a cockpit door security bar. Delta becomes the first airline to offer flight attendants personal defense training. Delta is the first U.S. airline to offer prerecorded audio flight information at gates (September 15, 2003). First airline to offer mileage gift cards (February 2004). In 2004 Delta was the first airline to employ a computerized system to serve passengers whose flights were delayed of canceled. Delta passengers with connecting flights delayed more than 2 hours or canceled may retrieve food and hotel vouchers automatically through kiosks or gate scanners without standing in line and waiting for a gate agent to assist.