100 YEARS OF DELTA AIR LINES
HUFF-DALAND DUSTER PETREL 31 ( 1925-1948 )
On March 25 , 1925 , Huff Daland Dusters started commercially dusting peach trees in Montezuma , Georgia — the first ever dusting of fruit orchards by airplane for insect control . Its fleet of up to 18 aircraft operated in the USA in the summer months and shifted to Peru in the winters of 1927 and 1928 . In 1928 , General Manager CE Woolman led a move to buy the crop-dusting division . The new company , named Delta Air Service , began passenger flights on June 17 , 1929 .
ROBERTO LEIRO
TRAVEL AIR S-6000-B ( 1929-1930 )
Delta bought two Travel Airs from Fox Flying Service and one from the manufacturer . Before being retired in 1937 , the third Travel Air biplane was used for flight training , charters and company travel . The aircraft was designed to carry four passengers and two Pilots . Delta , however , flew the aircraft with one Pilot , allowing a fifth passenger to take the co-Pilot seat .
ROBERTO LEIRO COLLECTION
STINSON SM-6000B ( MODEL T ) ( 1934-1937 )
In 1930 , Delta had high hopes of winning a badly needed mail contract to cover the costs of flying passengers . Instead , the contract went to AVCO , the predecessor of American Airlines , forcing Delta to suspend passenger service in October 1930 and sell its planes . In 1934 , the new Franklin D Roosevelt administration canceled all airmail contracts and called for new bids . A bid of 24.8 cents per pound won Air Mail Route 24 , which ran from Fort Worth , Texas to Charleston , South Carolina . The Stinson T aircraft carried Delta ’ s very first air mail on July 4 , 1934 . Passenger service resumed on August 5 .
DELTA FLIGHT MUSEUM
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