Delta Airlines began as Huff Daland Dusters in 1924, becoming Delta Air Services in the 1920s and merging with other airlines over the decades to become the largest airline worldwide. It has expanded its routes through mergers and acquisitions, including Northwest Airlines in 2008. Delta celebrated many aviation firsts including the first commercial crop dusting, first jet training, and first to operate various widebody aircraft.
2. HISTORY
• Delta's history begins with the founding of Huff Daland Dusters in Mason, Georgia in 1924. Huff
Daland Dusters was the first commercial agricultural flight company in the United States and had
to carry passengers and mail as its business expanded. In recognition of the success and value of
the company, CE Woolman bought the firm and changed its name to Delta Air Services.
• The first merger took place in 1953. It enabled Delta to become the world's first service provider
with Chicago and Southern Airlines.
• In 1984, a strategic partnership was established with Comair Airline.
• Between 1986 and 1991, Delta acquired both Western Airlines and Pan American World Airways.
With these acquisitions, Delta gained routes and became a major carrier on the US West Coast
and across the Atlantic to Europe.
• Delta managed to get out of bankruptcy by acquiring Northwest Airlines in 2008. It became the
airline with the most traffic in the world.
3. HISTORY TIMELINE
• 1925 Huff Daland Dusters, which formed the roots for Delta, founded in Macon, Ga. It
was the world's first aerial crop-dusting company. For more information, see Founding.
• 1945 Delta is first airline to fly living vegetable plants (160,000 tomato plants).
• 1946 Delta is first airline to fly nonstop Chicago-Miami, initially with Douglas DC-4 planes.
• 1957 First airline to begin jet training of personnel (March 12).
• 1959 Delta is first airline to launch Douglas DC-8 jet service.
• 1973 First airline to simultaneously operate three of the first generation wide-bodies
jets—the L-1011, Douglas DC-10 and Boeing 747.
• 1975 The first airline to offer its own air express service, a new high priority, guaranteed
cargo service called Delta Air Express.
• 1979 First airline in the world to board a million passengers in a city in a month (August
in Atlanta).
4. HISTORY TIMELINE
• 1991 Delta became the first to offer MD-11 jet service in the United States.
• 1997 The first airline to handle more than 100 million passengers a year.
• 2007 First U.S. airline to offer customers the opportunity to help offset carbon emissions associated with air
travel.
• 2008 First airline with a comprehensive onboard recycling program for aluminum cans, newspapers, snack
containers and water bottles.
• 2011 First airline with mobile baggage tracking via Fly Delta app.
• 2017 First U.S. airline to fly the Airbus A350.
• 2019 First U.S. airline to offer door-to-door parcel delivery nationwide with Delta Cargo's DASH Door-to-Door
service.
• 2020 First airline to explore first-of-its-kind wearable robotic exoskeleton to bolster employee strength and
safety.
• 2020 First U.S. airline to fly with cargo on the main deck of the aircraft by removing the seats of a Boeing
777-220ER, thus enabling more than 10,000 pounds of additional cargo capacity – an increase of more than
35% more weight per flight. The cargo carried included medical and PPE equipment, pharmaceuticals, home
office supplies, U.S. mail and food during the midst of the COVID-19 global pandemic.
6. Current Performance
• Delta Air Lines is among the largest airlines in the United States. Considering the number of passengers it
carries, the company is the largest airline company in the world. When other airline companies are taken
into account, Delta operates more than 5,400 flights per day. Delta operates direct flights to 64 countries in
the world. The total number of routes of these 64 countries is 333 as of June 2014. Since Delta is a SkyTeam
member, it can fly a total of 420 routes, apart from the 333 routes it flies directly. Other airline companies in
SkyTeam, such as Air France-KLM, Alitalia, Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Australia, can arrange flights with Delta as
part of the codeshare program. Buda offers a wide range of destination maps for passengers who will choose
Delta or Air France-KLM.
• Delta is actually a group of companies and apart from Delta Air Lines, there are many airlines and cargo
companies within the company. Even without considering these companies, Delta, which has 789 aircraft, is
registered as the company with the largest fleet in the world, together with American Airlines.
• The company has developed significantly in the last 15 years, and as a result, its turnover has increased
significantly every year compared to the previous year. The company has managed to become one of the
airline companies that provides the most employment in the world, with approximately 78 thousand people
employed within the company. The company's annual net profit; While it was around $10.5 million, its sets
reached $53 million. It is recognized as a worldwide success. The company has aircraft provided by aircraft
suppliers such as Airbus and Boeing.
7. Corporate Goals
• Mission: To provide its customers with a comfortable, cheap and enjoyable flight.
• Top objectives : ensure sustainable growth and earnings
meet customer needs
to be a leading company in service
offer comprehensive, lucrative promotions and products
highly educated employees
achieve international growth
8. Strategy
• Differentiation Strategy :Delta airlines is trying to attract customers
with mileage programs and follows a cheap and comfortable travel
strategy.
• Growth Strategy : Delta airlines has adopted the strategy of increasing
and maintaining its size in the airline market by acquiring many new
companies and establishing business partnerships.
• Marketing Strategy : Using the SkyMiles program, Delta airlines has
adopted the marketing strategy of surpassing its competitors in terms
of marketing and offering free tickets to its customers.
14. Recommended Strategies
• Use and improve social media marketing more actively
• Check competitors' prices and bid lower
• Keep buying or merging
• Create a smartphone app for online ticketing
• Provide wider flight destinations