Delta Air Lines (Atlanta) today (January 21) will celebrate the airline’s 70th anniversary as Atlanta’s hometown airline.

A Delta Boeing 777-200 LR will be christened as the “Spirit of Atlanta” during a celebration at Delta’s massive Technical Operations Center, adjacent to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and in the shadow of the $1.4 billion Maynard H. Jackson Jr. International Terminal currently under construction.

Delta was a small carrier focused on the Southeast when it moved its headquarters from Monroe, LA to Atlanta in 1941. In the decades that followed, Delta built the world’s largest connecting hub in Atlanta, and for more than two decades has remained Georgia’s largest private employer and a major economic force in the region.

Recognizing one of Atlanta’s longest and most successful business partnerships, the “Spirit of Atlanta” will be christened at the celebration with a bottle of Coke. Muhtar Kent, chairman and chief executive of the Coca-Cola Company, will be honored and make remarks at the celebration.

In addition, Lloyd will be honored as the Delta employee who has lived and worked in Atlanta the longest. The airline also will recognize its most frequent Atlanta flyer, Ed Robinette, who has flown nearly 7 million miles on Delta over the past 30 years, and Cheryll Davis, Delta’s most active Atlanta-based community volunteer, who has dedicated thousands of hours during her 20-year Delta career to the airline’s preferred local charities.

Image: Delta Air Lines.