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Historical Highlights
Aerial Crop Dusting Develops When the cotton boll weevil reached the Mississippi Valley, such a serious economic threat faced the South that the Entomology Bureau of the U.S. Department of Agriculture set up a laboratory in Tallulah, Louisiana, as the base for large-scale cotton insect research in the early 1920s. What was needed was a method of applying calcium arsenate, a dry powder insecticide, which would be faster and more effective than sprinkling by hand, from a mule-drawn wagon or tractor. Application by air seemed most practical. From 1918 there were various attempts at aerial crop-dusting. The first successful small experiments came in 1921, when the Ohio Department of Agriculture dusted catalpa trees against moths. Dr. B.R. Coad, director of the Delta Laboratory in Tallulah, learned of the work in Ohio and was able to obtain a government grant and loaned Army aircraft (Curtiss Jennies and De Havilland DH-4s) and pilots for further dusting tests in the Louisiana cotton fields in 1922-1924. A frequent and interested observer of the experiments was C.E. Woolman, a young district agent of the Extension Department of Louisiana State University, aviation enthusiast and future founder of Delta Air Lines.
The work of Coad and his team of entomologists and pilots resulted in improved calcium arsenate insecticide, improved aircraft dispensing equipment (insecticide hoppers and agitators), and new application procedures. Crop-dusting become a viable commercial possibility—the first serious development in agricultural aviation. Huff Daland Dusters To market aerial dusting directly to farmers, Huff-Daland Company set up a subsidiary, also named Huff Daland Dusters, which was incorporated on February 27, 1925. Operations were first based in Macon, Georgia, but a lack of experience and the small number of cotton fields in the area resulted in an unsuccessful first season. Dr. Coad, from the Louisiana government laboratory, suggested that the Dusters move to the area. Headquarters were soon established in Monroe, Louisiana. On May 30, 1925, Woolman left the Agriculture Extension Service to take charge of Huff Daland's entomological work and sales. To the company he brought a genial personality, integrity and a stubborn resistance to failure. He was "a fantastically good salesman," recalled Harold R. Harris, who headed aircraft operations. The Huff Daland Dusters fleet became the largest privately owned aircraft fleet in the world with 18 planes. The number soon grew to 25 small planes and some larger planes, called "Ton of Dust." Peruvian Operations It was in Peru that Woolman was first involved with passenger service by air, when he and Harris successfully secured Peruvian air traffic rights over stiff competition. In an agreement with the financiers of Pan Am, the Huff Daland Dusters' airline and air mail contracts were operated by Peruvian Airways Corporation, a Pan Am subsidiary. Service was inaugurated on September 13, 1928, from Lima to Paita and Talara, with a 6-passenger Fairchild FC-2 flown by Huff Daland Dusters pilot Dan Tobin. Peruvian Airways Corporation was absorbed into Pan American-Grace Airways (Panagra) in 1929. Delta Air Service D.Y. Smith was the first president and Woolman retained his title of vice president and general manager. Delta sold its South American dusters to a Peruvian firm. U.S. dusting operations continued until 1966, but new undertakings were underway in 1928, with the purchase of three 5-passenger, 90-miles-per-hour Travel Air monoplanes. Passenger Service Begin Delta's new activity represented a bold financial venture since the route was operated without benefit of a mail contract, and revenue from airmail was needed to supplement passenger operation expenses.
In 1934, Delta had an opportunity to win back the route it had pioneered when the U.S. Post Office canceled all airmail contracts and called for new bids. Delta's bid won the airmail contract for the route from Fort Worth, Texas, to Charleston, South Carolina, via Atlanta, Georgia. Delta started its first mail flight on July 4, 1934, with Stinson T aircraft; passenger service resumed on August 5. The planes were capable of carrying seven passengers and the mail at speeds of 100 miles per hour. From this point the airlines climb to prominence in air transportation was firmly established. 
Delta Moves to Atlanta Delta's route system now stretched north of Atlanta to Cincinnati, and south to Savannah—soon to be extended to Miami in 1945. Delta now flew 21-passenger Douglas DC-3 planes, the industry's first modern airliner. From Atlanta, Delta greatly contributed to wartime efforts with its aircraft modification program. From a rented hangar, Delta modified a total of 916 aircraft of 14 different types for the armed forces from May 1942-November 1944. Delta's program was the last temporary modification center in the country closed after the war, due to its efficiency. Delta also overhauled 1,115 aircraft engines, 243 propellers and 194 instruments at the military base in Warner Robins, Georgia; trained pilots and mechanics; and operated cargo supply routes for the military during the war years. 
On October 29, 1945, the Company's name changed from Delta Air Corporation to Delta Air Lines. In the early 1950s, Atlanta became the testing site of Delta's pioneering spoke flight scheduling model. Planes were scheduled to bring passengers to a hub airport where travelers connected to other Delta flights for destinations far and near. Chicago & Southern Merger The years following the merger saw new growth and strengthening of the company's prominence in air transportation. 
Jet Leader Delta's famous "widget" logo appeared in branding for new Royal Jet Service in advance ads for the DC-8 jets in 1959. It was gradually adopted as Delta's official corporate logo over the next several years. Northeast Merger 
Delta and Deregulation The Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 brought more changes virtually overnight than had been experienced in the entire forty years that the airlines spent under formal government regulation. Delta continued a steady, controlled growth amid the frenzied expansion of many of its competitors. Western Merger 
Acquisitions and Alliances In 1991, Delta acquired the transatlantic routes of a bankrupt Pan Am and became a major provider of service across the Atlantic. Delta also purchased the Pan Am Shuttle with its frequent service between New York-Boston and New York-Washington, DC. 
The Delta Connection program (started in 1984) grew during the 1990s, establishing a nationwide network of regional airlines to support Delta's mainline and hub traffic. In 1999 and 2000 Delta acquired its Connection partners Atlantic Southeast Airlines (ASA) and Comair. 
In 2000, Delta offered more choices and flexibility in international travel through SkyTeam, a global alliance founded with partners Aeroméxico, Air France and Korean Air. Skyteam grew steadily in its first decade, as new airline members joined to offer over 385 million annual passengers a worldwide system of over 12,500 daily flights to destinations in 169 countries. Transforming Delta With Delta's filing, four of the six largest U.S. carriers were operating under bankruptcy protection, including Northwest Airlines (which filed just minutes after Delta), United Airlines and US Airways. Delta defeated a hostile takeover attempt by US Airways in 2007, and completed restructuring of its transformation plan one year ahead of schedule, emerging from bankruptcy on April 30, 2007, and relisting on the New York Stock Exchange on May 3. 
Northwest Merger Eight Decades of Service Eight decades to the month after its first flight, Delta became the only U.S. airline serving six continents. Nonstop Delta flights started between Los Angeles and Sydney, Australia in June 2009. |
If a little insect had not spread north through Mexico into the southern United States in the 1890s, devastating cotton fields along its way, there might not have been a Delta Air Lines.
The crop-dusting experiments caught the attention of George Post, a vice president of Huff-Daland, a company based on Ogdensburg, New York, known for building military planes. Recognizing a potential new market for his company, Post persuaded his company to start building a new aircraft—the 
Returning to Monroe in 1928, Woolman found the parent company, Keystone Aircraft (formerly Huff-Daland), attempting to sell the dusting division. He quickly aroused the interest of Monroe businessmen who purchased the dusting operations. The new company was named Delta Air Service, and then Delta Air Corporation ("Delta" for the Mississippi Delta region).
The year 1930 brought news that the Post Office Department had awarded the badly needed airmail contract for the southern route to a rival airline. Delta suspended airline services and expanded its dusting and aircraft maintenance operations; Dr. Coad joined Delta as chief entomologist.