Delta celebrates 85 years of flying passengers

Delta Air Lines (Atlanta) yesterday (June 17) celebrated the grand opening of the new Delta Flight Museum, a 68,000 square-foot facility located at the airline’s world headquarters in Atlanta. The museum traces Delta’s history and the development of commercial aviation. The grand opening event marked Delta’s 85th anniversary of passenger service, dating back to its first passenger flight from Dallas to Jackson, Mississippi, on June 17, 1929.

The museum, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is housed in the airline’s two original maintenance hangars dating from the 1940s. After a significant renovation to the historic buildings funded by the Delta Air Lines Foundation and other sponsors, the museum is now open to the general public. The museum was designated a Historic Aerospace Site in 2011.

The museum contains displays and exhibits filled with hundreds of artifacts, many of which have never been on public display. They chronicle more than eight decades of Delta history and the growth and development of commercial aviation. The museum houses a permanent collection of five historic aircraft, including a Travel Air 6B Sedan similar to the one that operated Delta’s first passenger flight in 1929 (above), and The Spirit of Delta, a Boeing 767 purchased for the company by employees in 1982. Also on display is a DC-3, Ship 41 (below), that flew for Delta and was restored by Delta employees and volunteers.

Copyright Photo: Brian McDonough/AirlinersGallery.com. Douglas DC-3-357 NC28341 (msn 3278) arrives at Baltimore/Washington when it was flying.

The museum features a 117-seat theater and a 30-seat conference room located inside the fuselage of an L-1011 TriStar aircraft. Also on display is the cockpit of a Convair 880 jet. Additionally, visitors can have the ultimate aviation experience and pilot a Boeing 737-200 full-motion simulator, the only one open to the public in the U.S., formerly used to train Delta pilots.

A tour of the museum starts with Delta’s beginnings as a crop-dusting operation in the rural South and takes visitors through the early propeller era of passenger service and into the jet age.

A special exhibit honors Delta’s founder and first CEO, C.E. Woolman. The display includes a portrait of Woolman along with quotes and personal items.

Visitors have the opportunity to explore the museum at their own pace through a self-guided tour, though guided tours are available as well. Special interactive features, including a pilot pre-flight checklist for a Boeing 767 as well as a scavenger hunt, engage children touring the museum. There is also a retail store with hundreds of Delta- and aviation-related items for sale, including aircraft models, clothing and accessories.

The hangar space also serves as a unique public and private rental venue to host meetings, conferences and other events with state-of-the-art audio and video capability and full catering services that can accommodate a seated dinner for as many as 1,200.

Major sponsors of the Delta Flight Museum include the Delta Air Lines Foundation, American Express, Airbus, the New York Yankees, ST Aerospace and Aero BridgeWorks. The full list of sponsors is available at the museum’s website.

More information, including hours of operation, admission fees, event rentals, simulator fees and directions, is available on the museum’s website at deltamuseum.org.