Today celebrates another milestone in Delta’s history. On June 17, 1929, Delta Air Service carried its very first passengers on a five hour, 427 mile flight from Dallas, Texas, to Jackson, Mississippi, with scheduled stops at Shreveport and Monroe, Louisiana (which wasDelta’s headquarters at the time).

Johnny Howe piloted the plane, which had wood paneling inside the cabin, woven wicker seats, handholds rather than seatbelts, and windows the passengers could open. The advertised fare between Dallas and Jackson was $47.25 one way and $90.00 round trip.

Here’s a view inside a 1929 Travel Air cabin. It’s from a Delta brochure “Fly for Business and Why,” published to encourage businessmen to travel by plane instead of the railway.

The brochure notes that Travel Airs, “bring a new luxury and comfort to air travel, undreamed of even five years ago. Each plane seats five passengers and pilot and provides ample space for luggage, wash room and toilet. These planes take-off, fly and land with remarkable ease and smoothness and there is a noticeable absence of minor discomforts. Passengers up for the first time experience a feeling of absolute security, confidence and relaxation that is agreeably surprising.”

To learn more about flying in our early days and see Delta’s restored Travel Air, go to the Delta Air Transport Heritage Museum’s website.

Looking forward to the big 8-0 next year!

Marie Force
Archives Manager

When I was a kid, I was known to disassemble toys (occasionally my own) to get an idea of how they were put together. Once in awhile, I would take great pride in reassembling one to its original condition. If that didn’t happen, then under the bed it would go. The dog was responsible if the subject came up in later conversation. We had a pact. But he was a cute beagle named Popeye. He could get away with way more than me anyday, so it was an easy out.

Fast forward a few decades, and I’m still fascinated by how things work. So you can imagine how excited I was to see this rendition of the birth of a Delta 777–from concept to wheels up–in under 4 minutes. You gotta see this!

For all the loyal customers who keep Delta strong. And for Popeye.

Enjoy!

Rick

delta.com & self-service

Viva la France! It was a great day for Salt Lake City and Delta when the first transatlantic flight to Paris launched last week. It was over 2 years in the planning but state, city and county officials along with the business community came together to bring Europe a little closer to Utah.

The festivities started with the arrival flight from Paris. The airport officials graciously offered to meet the flight with a water cannon salute and a police escort to the Delta gate – it was quite a site for the media to cover this historic event from the tarmac. Upon arrival at the gate, the customers were greeted by Utah volunteers who provided them with a gift bag commemorating the inaugural flight. The customers were completely shocked by the enormous crowd outside the customs area when they arrived!

On the other side of the gate, the activities for the departing flight were in full swing. The Paris Restaurant in SLC provided yummy French cuisine including chocolate truffles that were to die for!!! The local Delta airport staff served the crowd of several hundred people. Janet Todd, a local musician, serenaded the crowd with her French accordion music.

All the local politicians were in attendance for the ribbon cutting ceremony – a last minute change to a meeting allowed Governor Jon Huntsman, SLC Mayor Ralph Becker and Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Caroon to be present at the gate to help cut the inaugural ribbon along with the Delta flight crew.

The customers were interviewed by the local media and some of the great stories included a gentleman who was traveling to Paris to meet his internet girlfriend, winners of radio promotions who had never been out of the country and a local SLC resident was traveling to Bristol, England via Paris which reduced his normal travel time by 5 hours.

It was a great day for the airport as well. Brett Rydault, Delta’s station manager, organized pizza parties for the Delta employees to celebrate. I was fortunate enough to be on the inaugural flight to Paris. It was one of the more memorable experiences I’ve had in my 17 years with Delta. As the Delta airport staff gathered on the tarmac to wave goodbye, the water cannon salute bid the flight “bon voyage”!

Julie

Marketing Manager

Delta Air Lines