Delta Air Lines

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{{Infobox_Airline|airline=Delta Air Lines|logo=Delta_logo.svg|logo_size=300px|fleet_size=444 (+69 orders)|destinations=332 in 57 countries|IATA=DL|ICAO=DAL|callsign=DELTA|founded=1928 (as Delta Air Service)|headquarters=Atlanta, Georgia, Georgia (U.S. state)|key_people=Richard Anderson (Chief Executive Officer)
Edward Bastian (President)]
Salt Lake City International Airport
Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport
John F. Kennedy International Airport|focus_cities=[LaGuardia Airport
Orlando International Airport
Logan International Airport
Cancun International Airport|subsidiaries= [Comair
Delta Shuttle
Delta AirElite Business Jets|website=http://www.delta.com-->

Delta Air Lines, incorporation (business) () is a major United States airlinehttp://av-info.faa.gov/detail.asp?DSGN_CODE=DALA&OPER_FAR=121&OPER_NAME=DELTA+AIR+LINES+INC headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Georgia (U.S. state) that operates an expansive domestic and international network, spanning North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East and the Caribbean. Delta lands in over 332 destinations in 57 countries (excluding codeshare), across 5 continents. Delta has a larger route network footprint than any airline in the world and is the only major U.S. carrier that flies to Africa.

Delta operates Airline hub at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Salt Lake City International Airport, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, & New York JFK; Delta's Atlanta hub is the largest/busiest airline hub in the world. Delta also has large operations in many other cities, including Logan International Airport, Cancun International Airport,Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, Los Angeles International Airport, LaGuardia Airport, Orlando International Airport, Tampa International Airport, and Port Columbus International Airport. Delta is the leading carrier in Florida, and carries more passengers across the Atlantic than any other carrier worldwide. Its major transatlantic gateways are Atlanta, Cincinnati, and New York-JFK. Transatlantic service is scheduled to start in 2008 from Salt Lake City to Paris as well. Its major Latin American gateways are Atlanta and its rapidly developing hub in Los Angeles International Airport.

In terms of passengers carried (approximately 119 million in 2005), Delta is the second-largest airline in the world (behind American Airlines). In terms of revenue passenger miles, Delta Air Lines is the third largest airline, after American Airlines and United Airlines.Aviation Week and Space Technology, January 15, 2007, p. 349, 2005 data In terms of total operating revenues, Delta is the sixth-largest airline in the world.Aviation Week and Space Technology, January 15, 2007, p. 348, Charts show Air France/KLM, American, Lufthansa, United, British Airways with higher revenue

The company Airline operations

Comair the regional airline component of Delta Air Lines, Inc., - serves primarily domestic short-haul, low-density, high frequency flights.
Delta, the "mainline (flight)" component of Delta Air Lines, Inc., - serves primarily high-volume domestic flights and long-haul international services

Aviation business related operations, divisions, and subsidiaries

Delta Connection marketing brand given to flights operated by certain regional airlines on short- to mid-haul, low- to mid-volume routes, "connecting" Airline hub to airports where the larger "mainline" planes would either have a hard time accessing, go unfilled or too infrequently to be profitable.
Delta Shuttle operates as a short-haul brand of, high frequency service in single-class configuration McDonnell Douglas MD-88s between New York LaGuardia and Boston and between New York LaGuardia and Washington National (Reagan National) and operates with the same operating certificate, callsign, IATA, and ICAO codes as Delta Air Lines, Inc. Delta Air Lines Air Lines unlike Delta Connection branded sub-fleets flown by other certificated regional airlines.
Delta AirElite Business Jets.
Delta Connection Academy
DAL Global Services
DAL Moscow, a 50/50 partnership with Aeroflot
Delta Technology

Defunct airlines operated by Delta

Delta Express began service in October, 1996 in an attempt by Delta to compete with Low-cost carrier on leisure-oriented routes. Its main base of operations was Orlando International Airport and it used Boeing 737 aircraft. It ceased operations in November, 2003 after Song was established.
Song (airline) began service on April 15, 2003 as a single-class airline operated by Delta to compete directly with JetBlue Airways from both airlines' hubs at New York-JFK. While the brand was considered a successful addition to the Northeast-to-Florida market, financially the airline suffered. As a result, on May 1, 2006, Song was folded in to the Delta mainline brand, and "Song" class-of-travel service will remain in place on certain long-haul domestic flights, though failing to compete directly with United p.s. 3-Class service for transcontinental flights. It used Boeing 757 aircraft.

As a historical footnote, Western Airlines was acquired on December 16, 1986 and was operated as a separate airline from Delta for over three months. COMPANY NEWS; Delta-Western Merger Approval In a case by a union to stop the workforce integration, the U.S. Supreme Court wrote "On December 16, 1986, shareholder approval of the merger was confirmed and Western Airlines became a wholly owned subsidiary of Delta."http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=480&invol=1301 The changeover date for discontinuation of the Western Airlines brand and the date for merger of the two airlines' workforce was April 1, 1987 but for several months before that Delta had acquired Western and was operating it as a separate airline.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Airlines

History Early history The company has its roots in Huff Daland Dusters, which was founded in 1924 in Macon, GA, Georgia (U.S. state), by several partners including Collett E. Woolman becoming the world's first Aerial application company. Huff Daland moved to Monroe, Louisiana, Louisiana the following year. In 1928, Huff Daland Dusters was purchased by C.E. Woolman and renamed Delta Air Service after the Mississippi Delta, where its route connected Dallas, Texas, Texas to Jackson, Mississippi, Mississippi, via Shreveport, Louisiana and Monroe, Louisiana. The original directors of Delta Air Service were C.H. McHenry, Travis Oliver, and M.S. Biedenharn. By 1934, Delta began mail service from Charleston, SC to Fort Worth, with stops in Columbia, SC, Augusta, Georgia, Atlanta, Birmingham, Alabama, and Meridian, Mississippi along the way.

In 1941, Delta moved its headquarters from Monroe, Louisiana to Atlanta, Georgia, to center itself along its new route network that now stretched to Chicago, Miami, Florida, and New Orleans, Louisiana. The logo for Monroe Regional Airport is based on the Delta logo, in honor of it being the airline's birthplace and the original headquarters for Delta.

Delta was the launch operator of the Douglas DC-8, which began service in 1959, and the Convair CV-880 in 1960. The DC-8's graceful swept-wing design inspired Delta to come up with a new red, white, and blue delta-shaped logo (the "widget"). Just a few years later, Delta became the launch operator of the McDonnell Douglas DC-9. By 1970, Delta was an all jet airline.

1970s and 1980s In 1970, Delta entered the "wide-body" jet era with the purchase of five Boeing 747s to service its new long-haul high density routes. The initial route was a Los Angeles-Dallas Love Field-Atlanta routing. Delta also had an interchange with Pan Am using Delta 747 to fly to Heathrow Airport in London. However, with the economic slowdown of the early 1970s, Delta found the aircraft too large for its routes and it sold them a few years later. Shortly thereafter, Delta leased five McDonnell Douglas DC-10s from United Airlines as a stopgap until its larger order of the new Lockheed L-1011 TriStars could be delivered.

Delta purchased Northeast Airlines in 1972 to strengthen its market share in the northeastern United States. Through the purchase, Delta began its long Boeing 727 operation.

In 1973 the Lockheed TriStar entered service for Delta. Delta placed these aircraft in international service from Atlanta to London in 1978; Frankfurt was added the following year. Delta's fast growth showed in August 1979 when it became the first airline in the world to board one million passengers in one city in one month (Atlanta).

Delta launched its first frequent flyer program in 1981 which became the SkyMiles program in 1995. In 1983, Delta took delivery of their first 767-200, named the Spirit of Delta, which was paid for "by voluntary contributions from employees, retirees and Delta's community partners." The effort, called Project 767, was spearheaded by three Delta flight attendants to show the employees' appreciation to Delta for solid management and strong leadership during the first years following airline deregulation." The airplane remained the flagship of the Delta fleet until 2006, and was repainted in a commemorative paint scheme and toured the country to celebrate the airline's 75th anniversary in 2004.

In 1984 the company established its Delta Connection partnership linking local "feeder" airlines that served mid-size population areas to Delta nodes. The same year, Delta began its first flight to Hawaii (Honolulu International Airport) with L-1011 aircraft. Also in 1984, Delta began to offer the nation's first public air-to-ground telephone system with Airfone, on the L-1011. Delta was named 'Official Airline of Walt Disney World' in 1986, and their official ride in the Magic Kingdom was Delta Dreamflight, and was discontinued in the late 1990s when Delta's partership with Walt Disney World ended.

In 1987, Delta merged with Western Airlines of Los Angeles, California and absorbed its large hubs at Salt Lake City and Los Angeles. Through these acquisitions and expansions Delta became the fourth largest U.S. carrier and fifth largest world carrier. Also in 1987, Ronald W. Allen became chairman and CEO.

1990s In 1990, Delta became the first U.S. airline to operate the McDonnell Douglas MD-11 aircraft MD-11 jumbo jet arriving to fly Delta into the future, Atlanta Journal-Constitution December 22, 1990, leasing two from Mitsui. Delta operated 15 MD-11s. Delta's most dramatic expansion (at that time) came with its purchase of Pan American World Airways's European routes in 1991 which included all north Atlantic routes and the Frankfurt, Germany hub, shortly before Pan Am declared bankruptcy. The purchase gave Delta the largest transatlantic route network, a fleet of 21 A310 aircraft, and the Worldport (Pan Am) (Terminal 3) at JFK. Due to these acquisitions, Delta became and remains today the largest U.S. transatlantic carrier, in terms of passengers carried and number of flights operated. Delta also acquired Pan Am's northeastern shuttle, inheriting of a number of Boeing 727s, and forming what is today Delta Shuttle.

In 1991, as one of the conditions for Delta's financial support of Pan Am, Delta had the rights to use the Pan Am name on flights across the Atlantic. Delta obtained all of Pan Am's transatlantic rights in 1992, including the route from Detroit to London, despite Northwest Airlines' objections. It was an unusual route for Delta given its small presence in Detroit, and Northwest's correspondingly larger operations. COMPANY NEWS; Pan American Route Transfer Northwest later attempted to buy US Air's (now US Airways) Baltimore-London route for $5 million and transfer the route to Detroit Company News; Northwest Agrees To Pay $5 Million For London Route but ended up buying the route from Delta in 1995http://www.metroairport.com/about/history.asp for a rumored $32 million. This naming right was never exercised even though the Pan Am name was a much widely recognized name in Europe compared to Delta. On December 4, 1991, Delta ended this support leading to Pan Am stopping the following day. Pan Am Faces Shutdown Today Without Financing, Associated Press December 4, 1991

In 1993, responding to Qantas and American Airlines innovation of codeshare agreements, Delta established its own code sharing arrangements, most notably with Air France, forming what would eventually become SkyTeam.

By 1997, during which Leo Mullin was named CEO, Delta began large expansions into Latin America and in 1999 introduced the Boeing 777 into its fleet, for longer non-stop flights. During Mullin's tenure, Delta saw large expansions into Latin America and the Caribbean. This was also known as Delta's "technological growth period". Airport kiosks were introduced, Delta Technology was developed into an industry leading technology division, gate information display screens (GIDS) were rolled out, and internal software was thoroughly revamped. However, Mullin's legacy was ruined by labor woes, huge losses in the post-9/11 period, a major executive compensation scandal, and a bankruptcy filing less than 18 months after he abruptly retired.

Throughout the 1990s, Delta maintained a secondary hub at Portland International Airport for its Asia operations. In addition to regularly scheduled flights to Delta's primary hubs during this time (Atlanta, Cincinnati, Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, and Salt Lake City), several of Delta's flights to Asia were routed from Portland and Los Angeles, using L-1011 and MD-11 aircraft. Destinations included Bangkok, Fukuoka, Fukuoka, Hong Kong, Nagoya, Seoul, Taipei, and Tokyo. Delta was one of the airlines targeted in the failed Operation Bojinka plot: the conspirators planned to bomb a Delta McDonnell Douglas MD-11 flying from Seoul to Bangkok via Taipei on January 21, 1995. Today, all Asia operations from Portland, Los Angeles and New York have ceased, and Delta's only East Asia service consists of Atlanta to Tokyo and Seoul.

In 1996, Delta carried the Olympic Torch from Athens, Greece where it was lit, to Los Angeles, CA for its traditional circuit to the Olympic Stadium in Atlanta, GA for the 1996 Summer Olympic Games, of which Delta was the official airline.

In 1998, Delta and United Airlines introduced a marketing partnership that included a reciprocal redemption agreement between SkyMiles and Mileage Plus programs and shared lounges.http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0CWU/is_2003_July_29/ai_105988602 This scheme allowed members of either frequent flier program to earn miles on both carriers and utilize both carriers' lounges. Delta and United attempted to introduce an even cozier codeshare relationship, but this was deal was effectively killed by ALPA.http://www.frequentflier.com/ffc-0905.htm The marketing partnership ended in divorce in 2003 and paved the way for an expansion of the SkyTeam alliance.

In 1999, Delta was a founding partner of the online travel agency Orbitz originally began by a group of several major U.S. airlines, which was purchased by Cendant in 2004.

2000 saw the creation of SkyTeam, a global alliance, initially partnering Delta with AeroMéxico, Air France, and Korean Air. Three years later, Delta implemented the largest domestic codeshare alliance with Continental Airlines and Northwest Airlines. Today SkyTeam now the second largest airline alliance in the world and continues to add members to its ranks.

Fleet transformation in the early 2000s In an effort to simplify its fleet and capitalize on cross-platform compatibility not only in pilot training but also maintenance, the airline began to retire its trijets (three-engine planes) in favor of twinjets (two-engine planes). Delta's entire active fleet is now composed of twinjets, and the airline is the world's largest operator of Boeing 767 aircraft:

The Lockheed L-1011, for many years the workhorse of the Delta fleet, numbering as high as 56 aircraft in service. The last L-1011 (N728DA) was retired on July 31, 2001. The final flight operated as Flight #1949 from Orlando, Florida to Atlanta, Georgia, and received a huge display of bittersweet fanfare from Delta employees, Hartsfield Int'l Airport Fire/Rescue, and aviation enthusiasts, many of whom took the day off from work, or school to attend the historic final flight. The big Lockheeds were replaced with the Boeing 767-400.
The airline's many Boeing 727s were completely replaced with Boeing 737's in 2003.
Delta operated its last McDonnell Douglas MD-11 flight on January 1, 2004, operating as Flight 56 from New Tokyo International Airport (now Narita International Airport) at 4:45pm. The aircraft arrived in Atlanta at 3:20pm. This concluded the MD-11's relatively short service in the fleet. MD-11 aircraft have been replaced with Boeing 777. On September 23, 2004, a Delta spokesperson confirmed plans to sell eight MD-11s to FedEx. The remainder MD-11s were sold to World Airways for charter use, and some were converted to freighters for UPS.

Dire straits eventually leading to bankruptcy

As early as 2004, in an effort to avoid bankruptcy, Delta announced a restructuring of the company that included job cuts, and an aggressive expansion of Atlanta operations by some 100 new flights, making it a 'super-hub' and requiring the airline to spread its flight schedule more evenly across the day.(This was known to all Delta employees as "Operation Clockwork") Atlanta is the largest hub for any airline in the world, with more daily flights (almost 1,000) to more destinations (246) than any other airline's hub. Further, by mid-2004 the airline had announced it would be closing its fourth busiest hub (Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport), which it did on January 31, 2005. In a hugely concessionary move, the pilots at Delta agreed to across-the-board 32.5% reductions in hourly pay rates in order to help the company stave off a bankruptcy filing. The agreement also included numerous changes in work rules, granting the company efficiencies in staffing and scheduling.

On January 5, 2005, Delta introduced SimpliFares, a radical transformation of its fare structure, which cut its most expensive fares by as much as 50 percent nationwide and capped one-way domestic fares at $499 in coach class and $599 first class. However, due to continued high fuel costs, the company was forced to raise these fare caps by $100 in July, 2005, to $599 in coach class and $699 in first class. Airline fares are constantly in a state of flux, in addition to the constant change in fares due to the selling of seats allocated for lower fares. However, some claim that the SimpliFare is simply a marketing technique to alert the public that there is a maximum ceiling price for Delta's fares. Delta also launched a system of "same-day confirmed" whereby for $25, a passenger is able to confirm a seat on a different flight instead of standing-by. Effective August 2007, the "same-day confirmed" fee increased to $50.

Also in 2005, in an attempt to increase profitability, Delta applied to serve a daily non-stop flight from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport to Beijing Capital International Airport, China starting in March, 2006, but rights were instead awarded to American Airlines operating from O'Hare International Airport to Shanghai Pudong International Airport and Continental Airlines operating from Newark Liberty International Airport to Beijing. As of January 19, 2007, Delta is seeking approval for a daily flight from Atlanta to Shanghai starting March 25, 2008.Delta Air Lines (January 19, 2007) Press release.

On August 15, 2005, in an SEC filing, Delta announced that it had finalized a deal to sell Delta Connection carrier Atlantic Southeast Airlines for $425 million in cash to SkyWest Airlines in an effort to obtain money to avoid bankruptcy. Analysts called the move a desperate one, estimating ASA's worth at around $700-$800 million — a price which SkyWest would not have been willing to pay.http://news.delta.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=9836 Delta Air Lines Reaches Definitive Agreement to Sell Atlantic Southeast Airlines to SkyWest

On September 7, 2005, Delta announced that it would cut 26% of its flights at its Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport hub and redeploy aircraft to its hubs in Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and Salt Lake City International Airport.http://news.delta.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=9852 Delta Air Lines Strengthens Domestic Hubs, Offers Customers More International Choices with Winter Schedule The move will ultimately eliminate up to 1,000 jobs in Cincinnati. In addition and in hopes of increasing profit yields, the airline announced further international expansion into Europe and Latin America.

The moves proved futile. On September 14, 2005, Delta filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for the first time in its 76-year history. The company cited high labor costs and record-breaking jet fuel prices as factors in its filing. At the time of the filing, Delta had $20.5 billion in debt, $10 billion of which accumulated since January 2001.

Reorganization during bankruptcy On September 22, 2005, Delta announced the acceleration of restructuring activities, targeting an additional $3 billion per year in cost reductions by 2007. $970 million of this amount will come from debt relief, lease and facility savings, and previously commenced fleet modifications. Non-union workers' salaries will be reduced by a minimum of 9% across the board, with a 15% reduction for executive officers and a 25% pay cut for CEO Gerald Grinstein. In December 2005, the Delta pilots agreed to an additional temporary 14% cut in pay, piggybacking onto the 32.5% taken at the beginning of 2005. This cut was made permanent with the ratification of an agreement in June 2006. Additionally, the company plans to lay off between 7,000 and 9,000 of its 52,000 employees.http://news.delta.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=9879 Delta Air Lines Steps Up Transformation Plan to Accelerate Path to Profitability

As for its route network, Delta plans to alter its structure by reinforcing hub presence in Atlanta, Cincinnati, New York, and Salt Lake City, while at the same time increasing point-to-point routes, reducing domestic capacity by up to 20% while growing more profitable international route (special Asia, Caribbean and Europe) capacity up to 25%.

In 2006, Delta purchased rights to fly between New York and London from United Airlines.http://news.delta.com/print_doc.cfm?article_id=10303

On February 24, 2006, Delta, along with Continental Airlines and FedEx, saw future operations to Venezuela severely affected by List of Presidents of Venezuela Hugo Chávez's decision to restrict flights coming into that South American country from the United States. As of March 23, 2006, U.S. and Venezuelan aviation authorities were able to negotiate a solution to their dispute, likely ensuring that Delta's operations to Venezuela will not be curtailed in the future.

On March 7, 2006, Delta announced expanded service from its prominent hub at New York-JFK. In addition to the expansion of mainline service at the airport, Delta will partner with Mesa Air Group to provide regional flights throughout the northeast under the Delta Connection banner. At the same time the airline announced an expansion to a number of new cities from its Salt Lake City hub.

Based on all of these new initiatives, Delta projects a return to profitability by late 2007, based on a crude oil price model of $66 per barrel, in contrast to other bankrupt carriers' restructuring modeled on $55 per barrel.

Delta has announced that coach travelers in the United States who have a flight longer than four hours will have on-demand programming on all those flights starting in 2007 at their main hubs in New York, Salt Lake City, and Atlanta. This will counter entertainment offerings of other airlines like JetBlue Airways. Delta claims to offer the leading in-flight entertainment system in the United States. Live programming and music are free, and movies will be available on demand for a nominal fee in coach and for free in first class. Delta also intends to install an improved in-flight entertainment system on internationally-configured aircraft, featuring a personal selection of movies. The system will be installed in all classes on Boeing 767-400ER and 777-200ER aircraft, and in the BusinessElite section on Boeing 767-300ER aircraft.

On November 9, 2006, the airline announced that it will recall 1,000 flight attendants that were previously laid off. In addition to the flight attendant recall, Delta announced in late December 2006 that it had exhausted its pilot recall list and is now accepting pilot applications for the first time in 5 years. They expect to take on close to 200 first officers through 2007.http://news.delta.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=10496 {{cite press release ], 2007, the airline announced an order for 30 Bombardier CRJ-900 regional jets with an option for 30 additional aircraft, pending approval of the bankruptcy court judge.{{cite web| last = Silcoff | first = Sean | url = http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/financialpost/story.html?id=f16b19e9-0c30-47ed-a072-ceff24dfb2ea&k=25295 | title = Delta to buy 30 jets from Bombardier | work = [National Post | accessdate = 2007-01-04 | date = [2007-01-04 -->

On February 9, 2007, the airline received bankruptcy court approval to buy 30 Bombardier Canadair Regional Jet regional jets with an option for 30 additional aircraft. These aircraft will be operated by Delta Connection.

Failed takeover attempt by US Airways During the later part of 2006 and early 2007, US Airways Group, holding company for US Airways, proposed an acquisition of Delta Air Lines. The combined entity would have been operated under the Delta name. This attempt was withdrawn after failing to gain support from Delta's major creditors and opposition by Delta management.

On November 15, 2006, Bloomberg reported that US Airways Group, the parent of US Airways, proposed a takeover of Delta for United States dollar 8 billion in cash and stock. However, Delta's CEO reiterated that the best interests of Delta and its creditors were served by the company emerging from bankruptcy as an independent, stand alone carrier. In the ensuing days, Delta mounted an aggressive defense against the takeover attempt.

In addition to Delta management, Delta employees appeared to be extremely skeptical of US Airways management's claims that a merger would result in no job reductions and provide a more secure future for a combined entity. Employees had started wearing "Keep Delta My Delta" buttons and campaigning to raise public awareness of their opposition to the proposed takeover.

On December 19, 2006, Delta announced (as expected) it rejected US Airways Group's proposed merger. Along with the announcement, it launched a media campaign against the merger to raise public support. The campaign, "Keep Delta My Delta", was picked up from the employee grassroots effort of the same name. The effort's website harbored an e-petition, quotes from prominent dissidents, and the effects the merger could have on selected localities. In its report, Delta cited many reasons for rejecting the bid, including it would lead to worse customer service, possible layoffs, an inefficient carrier, the carrier with the largest debt-load in the industry, and near-monopoly powers. Delta's Campaign Headquarters

On December 20, 2006, Delta and its financial advisor, the Blackstone Group, declared that Delta would be valued at between USD 9.4 billion and 12 billion after emerging from bankruptcy, which would (at the time of this writing) give it a market capitalization comparable to that of Southwest Airlines Co. or greater than that of American Airlines' AMR Corp. and Continental Airlines, Inc. combined. US Airways Group CEO Doug Parker stated that Delta's self-valuation lacked credibility and was unrealistic.{{cite news| last = Grantham | first = Russell | url = http://www.ajc.com/business/content/business/delta/stories/2006/12/21/1222bizdelta.html | title = US Airways CEO: Delta's self-valuation 'lacks credibility' | work = [Atlanta Journal-Constitution | accessdate = 2006-12-22 | date = [2006-12-22 --> Delta CEO Gerald Grinstein retorted by stating that the Tempe-based airline was "the worst of all potential merger partners".{{cite news| last = Gibbons | first = Tom | url = http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=81138 | title = Money talks in bid to acquire Delta | work = [East Valley Tribune | accessdate = 2006-12-24 | date = [2006-12-24 -->

On January 10, 2007, US Airways raised its bid by 20%, to USD 10.2 billion. The revised offer was set to expire by February 1 unless Delta's creditors opened the airline's books to US Airways and delayed a scheduled February 7 court hearing pertaining to Delta's reorganization plan. Delta responded with a statement, claiming that "...the revised proposal does not address significant concerns that have been raised about the initial US Airways proposal and, in fact, would increase the debt burden of the combined company by yet another $1 billion." That same day Delta Air Lines was speculated to be in talks with Northwest Airlines and United Airlines to fend off the US Airways bid. Delta Air Lines Is Speculated To Be In Talks with Two Other Airlines For Possible Merger (CNN Money: January 10, 2007) CEO Gerald Grinstein, however, denied that any serious negotiatons were ongoing with Northwest or any other airline.http://www.keepdeltamydelta.org/getObjectReal_Deal.aspx?Name=Issue2

On January 28, 2007, US Airways holding company raised its bid by another $1 billion in cash according to the Wall Street Journal,Wall Street Journal, January 29, 2007, p. 3 but company spokesmen denied any change.http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/4509363.html On January 31, 2007, Delta's creditors rejected US Airways' hostile takeover attempt, and US Airways withdrew its offer to buy Delta. On the same day, executives and employees of the company gathered to celebrate the re-lighting of the historic "FLY DELTA JETS" sign at the company's main hub, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.http://money.cnn.com/2007/01/31/news/companies/usair_delta/index.htm?http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YP-wl6_1VMo Video showing FLY DELTA JETS sign being relighted

Emergence from bankruptcy

On April 25, 2007, the airline's bankruptcy plan was approved by the Bankruptcy Court. On April 30, 2007, Delta Air Lines emerged from bankruptcy protection as an independent carrier. Delta also unveiled a new logo and new paint scheme. Delta's bankruptcy exit strategy was vastly different from that of United in that it expanded its way out of bankruptcy, rather than retrenching .

Delta's previous stock was canceled as of Monday, April 30, 2007, and new shares are trading on a "when issued" basis on the New York Stock Exchange. These shares began trading normally on Thursday, May 3, 2007. The starting price was around $20.00 a share, and went up to as high as $23.35. But investors showed little confidence in the stock as the price fell to $19.00 later in the week. http://finance.google.com/finance?q=DAL*

Upon exiting bankruptcy, Delta also announced a 50% increase in operations at Los Angeles International Airport , thus establishing Los Angeles as Delta's second Latin America hub and new potential Asian gateway with a total of 99 daily departures.

News On May 10, 2007, Delta announced a partnership with US Helicopter, who will provide service from John F. Kennedy International Airport to several helipads in downtown Manhattan.

On July 12, 2007, Delta and its SkyTeam partners announced that it would forfeit slots in the EU to relieve antitrust concerns.http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=ag27VufFRVBI&refer=europe

On August 21, 2007, Delta named Richard Anderson, former CEO of Northwest Airlines and executive at UnitedHealth Group, as a replacement for outgoing CEO Gerald Grinstein. Anderson assumed the post on September 1.. It has been rumored that Delta and Northwest Airlines are in talks of a merger agreement, http://www.airliners.net/discussions/general_aviation/read.main/3659039/http://www.startribune.com/535/story/1489536.html however this has yet to be confirmed or denied.

Hub history Former hubs:

Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. Delta at one time operated over 200 flights a day from DFW. At times, it was Delta's second largest hub.
Los Angeles International Airport. LAX is re-emerging as a Delta hub, but it's unclear if LAX is a hub, a focus city, or a "gateway." Delta has referred to LAX as its "Latin gateway" and "another hub" at times.

Former secondary hubs:

Frankfurt International Airport Delta's Frankfurt hub was acquired from Pan Am. Delta dismantled the hub in 1997.
Portland International Airport Portland was at one time Delta's premier Asian gateway. It was closed in 2001.

Advertising Delta has had several different slogans throughout its history:

In 1940, Delta adopted the slogan: "Airline of the South".
In 1961, Delta adopted the slogan: "The Air Line with the Big Jets".
In 1966, with the introduction of the first Series 61 DC-8, Delta adopted the slogan "Fly big to Florida... Fly Delta!". Bob Hope, known in ads as Bob "Super DC-8" Hope, was Delta's spokesperson at the time.
In 1968, Delta adopted the slogan: "Delta is ready when you are".
In the interim period between 1984 and 1986 Delta adopted the slogan: "Delta gets you there".
In 1986, Delta became: "The Official Airline of Walt Disney World".
In 1987, Delta adopted the slogan: "The Best Get Better", reflective of the airline's merger with Western Airlines.
In 1987, Delta adopted the slogan: "We Love To Fly, And It Shows".
In 1989, Delta became: "The Official Airline of Disneyland and Walt Disney World".
In 1994, Delta adopted the slogan: "You'll love the way we fly".
In 1996, Delta adopted the slogan: "On top of the world". This slogan was launched at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, for which Delta was the official airline.
In 2000, Delta adopted the slogan: "Fly___", in which the blank was filled in according to the context of the slogan's usage. For example, on the airline's cocktail napkins, the slogan was "Fly refreshed".
In 2004, Delta adopted a marketing scheme using "Secret Places - ___", in which the blank was filled in according to the picture being used in the advertisement (and coinciding with a major Delta destination). Several examples of this marketing remain in place on jetways and in gate waiting areas in Atlanta and New York-JFK.
In 2005, Delta adopted the slogan: "Good Goes Around" Delta Slogan "Good Goes Around"
In 2007, Delta Air Lines exited bankruptcy; to highlight surrounding changes, the airline chose "Change Is:__________" (in which the blank was filled according to the context of the slogan's usage) as their slogan. Other ads used the tagline "Change Is: Delta" in a play on the use of the Greek letter delta (letter) to denote the difference operator in mathematics.

Karl Jenkins' Adiemus project began in 1994 as a music project for Delta Air Lines' European advertising campaign. The song was later released on the albums Pure Moods and Adiemus: Songs of Sanctuary, and was also used in Delta's commercials in the United States from 1996 until 1999.

Delta awards the annual Delta Prize for Global Understanding in conjunction with the University of Georgia.[http://www.uga.edu/news/deltaprize/ The Delta Prize for Global Understanding

Personnel Between its mainline (flight) operation and subsidiaries, Delta employs approximately 48,000 people.

Delta's approximately 7,000 pilots are represented by the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA). The union has represented Delta pilots since 1940.http://www.alpa.org/?tabid=183#Delta Pilot domiciles are located in Atlanta, Cincinnati, Los Angeles, New York City, and Salt Lake City.

The company's approximately 350 flight dispatchers are represented by the Professional Airline Flight Control Association (PAFCA).

The rest of Delta's workforce, in contrast to other legacy air carriers, is nonunion.

Destinations

Delta (including its wholly owned subsidiary Comair, Inc. and regional service carriers), serves 240 domestic cities in 49 states. The airline also serves Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, in addition to 57 countries.

Delta is the only airline in the world to serve over 300 destinations--302 in total.

Delta operates 1,632 flights per day.

Significant past route eliminations Airline routes occasionally change as the public's travel patterns change and if a route becomes unprofitable. Although Delta serves the most destinations of any US airline, it has also eliminated the most destinations of any major US airline as well. Some routes that have been eliminated include:

Delta served several cities in Asia, including Hong Kong, Seoul and Bangkok, from Portland and Los Angeles, using L1011s with stops in Anchorage for refueling. Asian service began in 1987 but was largely discontinued by 1995; Atlanta-Tokyo and Portland-Nagoya were Delta's only transpacific routes during the late 1990s; Nagoya was discontinued in 2002, but Atlanta-Seoul service commenced in 2007.
With Delta's acquisition of Pan Am Frankfurt hub, a number of new routes started to the city, including San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Dallas-Fort Worth. The hub at Frankfurt would eventually be closed.
Tag end services between medium sized cities in the southern United States to the Atlanta and Dallas-Fort Worth hubs have been superseded by nonstop Delta Connection service to the hub cities. Discontinued services have included Shreveport-Monroe and Birmingham-Jackson, Mississippi.
Closure of the Dallas-Fort Worth hub, created after Braniff Airlines ceased operations in 1982, in 2005 as noted elsewhere in this article.
Expansion of Western Airlines Los Angeles service after acquisition of that airline, including the starting of a Tokyo-Los Angeles route. After 2000 flights were significantly reduced. In 2006/2007, Delta started adding new routes out of LAX, signaling a build up of LAX again.

Future destinations

On September 25, 2007, Delta announced that the US Department had awarded them the right to fly to Shanghai. The new flight, pending foreign government approval, is set to begin on March 30, 2008 and will be operated daily by Boeing 777 aircraft. Delta Air Lines Wins Rights to Serve China Nonstop from Atlanta

Delta is attempting to continue its increase in service to Africa, adding a third flight (fourth destination) to the continent with daily service from Atlanta to Lagos, Nigeria starting December 3, 2007 (pending government approval). Delta to offer flights to Nigeria, Atlanta Journal Constitution, February 21, 2007

On April 15, 2007 The Times reported that Delta had acquired slots at London Heathrow Airport to be used once the new US-EU open skies agreement takes effect. The airline has not announced how the slots will be allocated, but it is expected that they will be used for service from Delta's hubs in Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and John F. Kennedy International Airport. Delta scoops slots at Heathrow April 15, 2007

Delta will expand its John F. Kennedy International Airport in Central America and the Caribbean beginning non-stop flights to Panama City, Panama on December 13, 2007; to Guatemala City, Guatemala starting December 14, 2007; to Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago on December 20, 2007; and the Costa Rican cities of Liberia, Costa Rica starting February 16, 2008 and San Jose, Costa Rica on February 15, 2008.

Delta is focusing flying more direct routes overseas and will also target the business traveler. In addition to Shanghai and London-Heathrow, Delta will seek routes to Hong Kong, Singapore, Sydney and another frequency to Japan.{{cite web

Delta announced the first trans-atlantic nonstop service from its hub in Salt Lake City International Airport to Paris. The flight is set to commence on June 2, 2008.

Delta announced it has reinstated flights from its hub in Atlanta to Curaçao beginning 22 December 2007 and also flying from Atlanta to Bonaire on 9 February 2008. Both of these flights will be making use of a Boeing 737-800 Aircraft. This will be Bonaire's second direct connection flight to the U.S. with Continental Airlines being its first. Along with Bonaire and Curaçao, Delta will also begin six weekly flights to Stockholm, Sweden on June 3, 2008. [http://news.delta.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=10857

On September 26, 2007 Delta announced nine new trans-Atlantic routes with nonstop service between JFK and: Tel Aviv, Israel (effective March 10)*; Edinburgh, Scotland (effective May 1); Dakar, Senegal (effective June 2)*; Nairobi, Kenya (via Dakar) (effective June 2)*; Cairo, Egypt (effective June 4)*; Malaga, Spain (effective June 4)*; Amman, Jordan (effective June 5)*; and Lagos, Nigeria (effective June 9)*. In conjunction with today’s announcement, Delta is applying to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) for authority to add the only direct service operated by a U.S. carrier to Cape Town, South Africa (effective June 3)*

On October 15, 2007 Delta announced it would begin new nonstop service from its Atlanta hub to Querétaro, Mexico on January 14, 2008.http://news.delta.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=10880 Delta Adds Service to Mexico’s Colonial Jewel: Queretaro

Fleet

Delta Air Lines has an all-Boeing Commercial Airplanes (including McDonnell Douglas aircraft) fleet. Delta was one of the last major airlines to operate the original Boeing 737#737-200 models, until the last of these aircraft retired in 2006. Delta has the largest fleet of Boeing 757 and Boeing 767 aircraft of any airline. It is the second largest operator of the McDonnell Douglas MD-80 (behind American Airlines).

Delta Air Lines is the only MD-90 operator in the Western Hemisphere, Orders and Deliveries, The Boeing Company although Reno Air operated the type for several years before being acquired by American Airlines and the type disposed. Initially, Delta had a large order for MD-90s to replace the Boeing 727 fleet. After McDonnell-Douglas was acquired by Boeing, Delta canceled their remaining MD-90s on order and ordered the longer-range Boeing 737-800 instead, but has hinted it may acquire some second-hand MD-90s (possibly from China Southern Airlines) for domestic expansion at Salt Lake City International Airport, thus freeing 737-800s for longer routes from Delta's other hubs.

All sixteen MD-90 Delta aircraft are based at the Salt Lake City hub. This is because the MD-88 has smaller, more slender turbofan#Low bypass turbofans Pratt & Whitney JT8D engines making it more difficult for them to depart on the hot, dry summer days in Salt Lake City. Therefore, the MD-90s with their more powerful turbofan#High-bypass turbofans International Aero Engines V2500 engines are used. Some MD-90s were also based at Delta's former Dallas-Fort Worth hub until the hub was closed in 2005.

Delta's Boeing 737-800 airplanes have an empty area in the rear cabin where seats are normally located. Not placing seats in this area results in a

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