While sitting in Atlanta's Hartsfield International Airport, one cannot help but to notice and feel an overwhelming dominant presence of one particular airline. Delta as we know it today, traces its roots way back to 1924. Huff Daland Dusters was founded as the world's first aerial crop dusting organization. In 1928 the company became Delta Air Service, and the following year Delta carried its first passengers over a route stretching from Dallas, Texas to Jackson, Mississippi with stops in Shreveport and Monroe, Louisiana. In 1941, the company moved its headquarters from Monroe to Atlanta, Georgia.
Although headquartered in Atlanta, Delta is a Delaware corporation (Delaware is the most "pro-business" state in the US). Delta Air Lines Inc. provides air transportation for passengers and freight throughout the United States and around the world. As of February 1, 2001, Delta (including its wholly owned subsidiaries, Atlantic Southeast Airlines, Inc. and Comair, Inc.) served 201 domestic cities in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, as well as 50 cities in 32 countries. With its domestic and international code share partners, Delta's route network covers 218 domestic cities in 48 states, and 131 cities in 58 countries.
When analyzing Delta, you do not have to search very far before quite possibly one its strongest attribute rears its head. Based on calendar 2000 data, Delta is the largest U.S. airline in terms of aircraft departures and passengers enplaned, and third largest as measured by operating revenues and revenue passenger miles flown. Delta is the leading U.S. airline in the transatlantic, offering the most daily flight departures, serving the largest number of nonstop markets and carrying more passengers than any o ...