MEMOGRAPHER | Travel Photo Journal

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 [+]