Today’s ‘Delta Air Lines – The History In Magazine Advertising’ series post, dedicated to Delta’s 85th Anniversary, contains magazine print advertisements from the 1920s-1950s and the Delta Air Lines fleet history facts.
The Delta Air Lines Fleet
In 1924, The Huff-Daland Duster, nicknamed the “Puffer”, was the first agricultural airplane flown by crop-dusting division of Huff Daland Airplanes, Inc., called Huff Daland Dusters. The company has formed the roots for Delta Air Lines.
Pre-Jet Era. Propellers
Up until the late 1960s, Delta Air Lines fleet operated propeller-driven aircraft. Here is a list of airplanes with the years they joined the fleet.
- 1928 – Travel Air 4000
- 1929 – Travel Air S-6000-B (later known as the Curtiss-Wright 6B)
- 1934 – Stinson T
- 1935 – Stinson A
- 1935 – Lockheed 5C Vega
- 1935 – Lockheed 8A Sirius
- 1935 – Lockheed 10 Electra
- 1940 – Douglas DC-2 (Flight attendants, called “stewardesses,” added to flight crews)
- 1940 – Douglas DC-3
- 1946 – Douglas DC-4
- 1946 – Douglas C-47
- 1948 – Douglas DC-6
- 1953 – Lockheed Constellation
- 1953 – Convair 340
- 1954 – Douglas DC-7
- 1956 – Convair 440
- 1957 – Curtiss C-46
Turbo
Delta briefly flew several propeller-driven aircraft types with turbine engines.
- 1966-1973 Lockheed L-100 – The all-cargo airplane was a commercial version of the military C-130 Hercules
- 1972-1974 Fairchild-Hiller FH-227B – Came from Northeast Airlines during its merger with Delta
Jets
Delta entered the jet era in 1959, as the world’s first operator of the jet airliner, Douglas DC-8. Delta was also the first to fly the Convair 880 in 1960, and the Douglas DC-9 in 1965. When big “wide-body” jets arrived, Delta was the first airline with three different types in its fleet— the Boeing 747, Douglas DC-10 and Lockheed L-1011 in 1973. Note, a sign plus [+] below indicates that an airliner is still operated by Delta.
- 1959 – Douglas DC-8 – Delta is first airline to launch Douglas DC-8 jet service
- 1960 – Convair 880 – First airline to launch Convair 880 jet service
- 1965 – Douglas DC-9 – Delta becomes first airline to launch Douglas DC-9 service
- 1970 – Boeing 747 [+] – Starting 1970, Delta has an all-jet passenger airplane fleet
- 1972 – Douglas DC-10
- 1972 – Boeing 727 – Northeast Airlines merges with Delta. Delta begins operating the Boeing 727 and aircrafts with turbine engines (above)
- 1973 – Lockheed L-1011
- 1982 – Boeing 767 [+] Employees raise $30 million in payroll deductions to purchase the first Boeing 767, named “The Spirit of Delta” The airplane remained the flagship of the Delta fleet until March 2006, when it was replaced with a Boeing 777-200 Delta Spirit
- 1983 – Boeing 737 [+]
- 1984 – Boeing 757 [+]
- 1987 – McDonnell Douglas MD-82/MD-88 [+]
- 1991 – McDonnell Douglas MD-11
- 1991 – Airbus A310
- 1995 – McDonnell Douglas MD-90 [+]
- 1999 – Boeing 777 [+]
- 2008 – Airbus A319 [+]
- 2008 – Airbus A320 [+]
- 2008 – Airbus A330 [+]
- 2013 – Boeing 717 [+]
Click on image to view full size.
September 1929. One Of The First Delta Air Service Ads Featuring Travel Air Airplane.
1940 Delta Airlines Douglas DC-2 Ad
1940 Delta Airlines Douglas Wings Over Dixie Print Ad
1946 Delta Airlines Enjoy A 200 Mile Dinner Print Ad
1949 Delta Airlines New Flights Owl DC-4 Rocket DC-6 Print Ad
1952 Delta Air Lines How To Mix Business And Pleasure For Profit Magazine Ad
1954 Delta CS Air Lines It Was Wonderful I Will Never Go Any Other Way Print Ad
1955 Delta Air Lines Golden DC-7 Crown Print Ad
1955 Vintage Delta CS Airlines Miami Beach Magazine Ad
1956 Delta Airlines DC-7 Houston Atlanta New-York Print Ad
1958 Delta Airlines DC-7 Trunk Line To Sunshine Magazine Ad
1959 December Delta Air Lines DC-8 Jets Link 7 Cities Magazine Ad
1959 Delta Airlines DC 8 Jets The First Jetliner Magazine Ad
1959 Delta Air Lines DC-8 “Royal Service Flights” Stewardesses Magazine Ad
1959 Delta Airlines DC-8 “Royal-Jet-Service” Travel Magazine Ad
Absolutely love these vintage travel ads. Kudos!
Maria recently posted..Waiting for the Number 8
Thanks, Maria! Vintage is gold!
Memographer recently posted..Delta Air Lines – The History in Magazine Advertising
I love these vintage images. I wish they made a wallpaper like this. I would totally smear my walls with it if it existed.
Colleen Brynn recently posted..Let The Games Begin!
The ads from the 50s are amazing. The “ad wallpaper” is a great idea, Colleen!
Memographer recently posted..Delta Air Lines Fleet – Magazine Ads From 1920’s-1950’s
Nice collection of relics to a bygone era. Thank you for sharing.
Are you going to post ads from 60s and 70s?
Thank you for stopping by, Dany!
Yes, I will post Delta print ads from 1960s in March, 1970s in April, 1980-2000s in May. All posts will contain interesting Delta history facts. Please stay tuned [wink]
Memographer recently posted..Delta Air Lines – The History in Magazine Advertising
Hi Memographer, I’ve been going back and looking at some of your other posts. I absolutely love nostalgia so these were all in my wheelhouse. Not to mention that my Dad would “put me” on a 707 on many weekends to fly from Sacramento to Reno to visit my aunt and uncle. I got alot of attention as a little boy flying alone. In those days we could check out the cockpit! :)
Mike recently posted..Top 10 Steven Spielberg Movies – Getting Started With Part I
Oh, Boy! You could check out the cockpit then! Good times! It is still on my To-Do-Go list [smile]
Thanks for stopping by, Mike. I’ve already scheduled three other posts with Delta’s ads (60s on 3/1, 70s on 4/1, and 80s-2000s on 5/1/2014). Please come back for more[wink]
Memographer recently posted..Delta Air Lines Fleet – Magazine Ads From 1920’s-1950’s
Alex, these are amazing. Where do you get all these? Do you really collect them? I love seeing the evolution in graphics.
Marisol@TravelingSolemates recently posted..Bhutan: The Hike to the Tiger’s Nest Monastery
Thanks, Marisol! I have found all these images on the Internet. However, I have a good number of print ads and magazines. I do collect stuff [smile] I gotta continue my “On My Shelves” series- http://memographer.com/tag/on-my-shelves/
I love old airline ads. In fact I’ve got a framed one hanging over my computer as a reminder of a book I wrote on the history of airfreight in Scandinavia.
Mette recently posted..Palace of Venaria and rooms that make you go wow
I love all old ads! Especially Autos and Airlines!