January 30^th marked another significant milestone in our merger and to mark the occasion we gathered at LAX with the crew and some very special customers for the last “official” NW departure.

Employees & their families fly on NW #2470

NW 2470 departed for LAS (on time I might add) with a crew of five and about 20 reservations and technology department employees (some accompanied by family members) who purchased tickets well in advance and traveled from around the system to be there. It was pretty impressive that this group of dedicated employees didn’t even stay to enjoy LAS — most boarded red-eyes to get back home! A certificate to commemorate flight 2470, designed by one of our flight attendants, was handed out to the employees and crew and many passed theirs along for autographs. Cameras were flashing, folks were cheering and two cakes were consumed as we boarded. I was so happy to be part of the celebration.

The crew of flight 2470

Joanne Smith, Senior Vice President

In-Flight Service

Did you know pilots, not “stewardesses,” provided Delta’s first onboard meals? Shown here, Co-pilot Jack Slaton serves a box lunch to a passenger in the mid-late 1930s.

In 1936, Delta flew the Lockheed 10 Electras, which cruised 160 miles per hour and held 10 passengers, 2 pilots and our first complimentary meal service—box lunches served by the co-pilot.

At mealtime, the co-pilot would walk to the rear of the Electra. He handed box lunches to the closest passengers and they passed them forward amongst themselves. As the co-pilot made his way back to the cockpit, he poured passengers coffee from a thermos. The box lunches usually contained two sandwiches, fruit (apple, orange or banana) and a small cake.

Marie Force

Archives Manager

Hello everyone.

By way of introductions, I’m a pilot for Delta and very excited about Delta’s reach into the “new media” world.

I hope to become a regular poster giving you an inside view into my world at Delta.

I’ve been very lucky to have a few “odd jobs” around Delta from working in our Operations Control Center to writing a newsletter for our furloughed pilots to producing an internal Flight Operations podcast to flying the antique planes in our museum.

In the coming months, I plan to show you what the heck is inside my flight kit, take you on a tour of our Operations Control Center, show you where we train, and take you through some of our archives.

When I say “show you,” I mean it. I just got a new video recorder. I really want this to be a conversation, so, if there is something you’d like me to show you, post it in the comments.

Tailwinds,
Robin