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| Delta Air Lines |
Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE: DAL) is a major airline based in the United States headquartered in Atlanta. Delta is the world's largest airline operating under a single certificate, operating flights on six continents across the globe. Delta operates an extensive domestic and international network, spanning North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, the Caribbean and Australia. Delta and its subsidiary Delta Connection operate over 4,000 flights every day. Delta and the Delta Connection carriers fly to 348 destinations in 64 countries. (excluding codeshare) Delta operates the world's largest and busiest hub at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. It has been the world's busiest airport by passenger traffic and number of landings and take-offs since 1999, serving 88 million passengers per year. Delta is a founding member of the SkyTeam alliance.
On October 29, 2008, Delta completed its merger with Northwest Airlines to form the world's largest commercial carrier. In February 2009, the airline began consolidating gates and ticket counters at airports where both Delta and Northwest operate. The consolidation was completed February 2010. On December 31, 2009, the Federal Aviation Administration granted Delta's request to allow Delta and Northwest to operate under a single operating certificate.
Formed as Huff Daland Dusters, Incorporated, an aerial crop dusting operation, on May 30, 1924, in Macon, Georgia, the company moved to Monroe, Louisiana, in Ouachita Parish in northeastern Louisiana, in 1925, and began acting as a passenger airline in late 1929. Collett E. Woolman purchased the company on September 13, 1928, and renamed it Delta Air Service, with headquarters in Monroe. In the ensuing decades, Delta grew through the addition of routes and the acquisition of other airlines. It transitioned from propeller planes to jets in the 1970s, and entered international competition to Europe in the 1970s and across the Pacific in the 1980s.
Airline operations
- Delta, the mainline component of Delta Air Lines, Inc., – serves primarily high-volume domestic flights and long-haul international services.
- Comair a regional component of Delta Air Lines, Inc., – serves primarily domestic short to medium haul flights.
- Mesaba Airlines – regional component of Northwest acquired in the merger. (Currently owned by Pinnacle)
- Compass Airlines – regional component of Northwest acquired in the merger. (Now owned by Trans States)