Do you remember the original name of our SkyMiles loyalty program? We called it our Frequent Flyer program when we introduced it in 1981 for our “frequent business travelers.”

In 1981, we flew to 81 cities in just 7 countries–including the U.S.  Initially, travel awards could only be used on our routes within the continental U.S. and the Caribbean. The next year, we added the rest of our international cities (all 3 of them!): London, Frankfurt and Montreal.

Alamo Rent A Car and Avis were our first car rental partners in 1982, offering the first opportunity to earn Delta flight award miles other than flying.

In 1984, we expanded the Frequent Flyer program to  include our Delta Connection customers.

Today, as Delta and Northwest Airlines merge into one airline serving 6 continents, we’ve combined the best of our loyal flyers programs—Delta SkyMiles and Northwest WorldPerks® programs—and created the world’s largest -in-class elite loyalty program.  Check out the new enhanced program for 2010.

Happy flying!

Marie Force

Archives Manager