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Delta: An Airline and Its Aircraft : The Illustrated History of a Major U.S. ...
By: R. E. G. Davies
List Price: $32.50
Amazon Price: $7.50

CUSTOMER REVIEW:
Christmas!!
I was like a child on Christmas morning when this book arrived! My dad is a pilot for Delta and I have been crazy about flying my entire life! I am very proud of the airline my dad works for, so I wanted to get as many books as I can about Delta. The pictures are amazing, the history is very interesting, and the "extras" in the book (the chart showing Delta's 80-year history and what all merged together to make Delta the company it is today, the route maps, etc.) just make it an exciting item to own! It is obvious the author spent a lot of time on this book! Wonderful, wonderful book!!

Delta Air Lines: 75 Years of Airline Excellence (Images of Aviation: Georgia)
By: Geoff Jones
List Price: $19.99
Amazon Price: $13.78

Product Description
The history of Delta Air Lines can be traced back to 1924 and the start of an aerial crop dusting outfit, but it was in 1929 that scheduled passenger services began. From the small beginnings at Macon, Georgia and then Monroe, Louisiana and a small five-passenger plane, Delta has grown to become one of the worldís leading airlines. This book celebrates a remarkable 75-year history in words and pictures, highlighting the men and women who have helped to make Delta a tour de force. ÝÝMonumental growth and change occurred at Delta throughout the second half of the 20th century. By the start of the new millennium, Delta Air Lines was the worldís largest airline in terms of passengers carriedó120 million in 2000óand operating from the worldís largest hub airport, Atlanta Hartsfield International. This volume uncovers the earliest days of Delta, from it first scheduled passenger service on June 17, 1929, through the myriad developments of the 20th century. Images culled from the Delta Air Transport Heritage Museum, Inc. and the authorís personal collection are coupled with an engaging narrative in a collection sure to be treasured by Delta employees past and present, aviation enthusiasts, and the many who have flown with Delta over the years. ÝÝ

Delta: The History of an Airline
By: W. David Lewis
List Price:
Amazon Price: $53.14

CUSTOMER REVIEW:
Deserving of a permanent place on the bookshelf of any serious student of aviation lore
In 1972 two Auburn University professors approached Delta Air Lines about writing a scholarly history of the company. Since Delta would soon be celebrating its fiftieth anniversary in 1979, Delta's executives were receptive to the idea. The book that W. David Lewis and Wesley Phillips Newton authored, Delta, The History of an Airline, is a scholarly history but, since it was to be distributed free to employees, one written in a narrative style. However it includes enough detail to make it worthwhile for the academic community. Delta is appropriately organized chronologically for easy reading and extensively researched and documented with footnotes and a large bibliography.

The authors hypothesize that their work is probably "the first history of an American commercial Airline to be written by professional historians having full access to the business records, correspondence, and personnel of the corporation involved." (ix) This is made particularly more meaningful because the origin of Delta Air Lines is unique in the annals of American aviation. Other airlines grew out of the federal promotion of commercial aviation through the Post Office. On the other hand, Delta's genesis was in the fight against the boll weevil. Its predecessor was Huff-Daland Dusters, Inc., a crop dusting company organized to counter the cotton scourge from the air. It was strictly a private venture without government assistance.

Following WW I, Thomas H. Huff and Eliot Daland organized the Huff-Daland Company in Ogdensburg, New York to build military aircraft. Seeking a new commercial use for its aircraft, George B. Post, vice-president and a pilot for Huff-Daland, landed in Tallulah, Louisiana where B. R. Coad, at the USDA's Delta Laboratory, was conducting experiments with aircraft to apply calcium arsenate on cotton fields infested by the boll weevil. The military type aircraft being used were inadequate and Post returned to Ogdensburg where he urged his company to develop a more satisfactory aircraft. Huff-Daland redesigned one of its military types and organized a subsidiary company, Huff-Daland Dusters, which began operations at Macon, Georgia in 1924. Soon afterward its general manager, Harold R. Harris, an Army Air Corp pilot on leave from the military, moved the operation to Monroe, Louisiana. In 1925 C. E. Woolman, an agent with the agricultural extension service, was hired as a salesman. Woolman was to play an enduring and patriarchal role in Delta up through his death in 1966.

About this time the army worm became a serious cotton pest in Peru and Harris and Woolman traveled to Lima in 1926 and 1927 in order to secure permits and contracts to operate there. Since the seasons were reversed, this was seen as an opportunity to work year round. Successful in this endeavor, Harris' and Woolman's attention turned to the formation of an airline back home. Mail contracts were being awarded to private companies following the Kelly Act of 1925 and, even though they did not have a Post Office contract, Woolman and others nonetheless bought out the assets of the duster company. Reorganized as a passenger airline, Delta Air Service began flying out of Monroe in 1929. Utilizing six person, single engine Travel Air 6000 aircraft, Delta flew a route that by 1930 stretched between Atlanta and Ft. Worth. The name "Delta" came from the Mississippi Delta region. Unfortunately, because of Post Master General (PMG) Walter F. Brown's desire to award contracts to heavily capitalized companies, Delta was not granted a mail contract. Despite an exemplary safety record, it was forced to cease carrying passengers and reverted to its original dusting business to survive. The next years, during the depths of the Great Depression, would be very difficult but Woolman held the company together waiting for better times.

Under Franklin D. Roosevelt accusations of favoritism in the award of mail contracts under Postmaster General Brown led to a full scale investigation by Senator Hugo Black of Alabama. Woolman, speaking before the Senate committee, testified that it was impossible to make money without a mail contract and that Delta had been forced to shut down because the contract had been given to a rival airline even though Delta had pioneered the route. FDR cancelled all mail contracts and ordered the Air Corps to carry the mail with disastrous results.

As an outgrowth of this situation an order was issued which let new contracts but which prohibited previous "guilty" airlines and managers from bidding. Fortunately Delta was exempt from these restrictions and in 1934 was granted Contract Air Mail route 24 along the trans-southern route from Charleston to Ft. Worth. From this point forward there would be no more interruptions in passenger service, though there would be other trials and tribulations to overcome.

By the advent of WW II, the company's management team was well established, a modern aircraft fleet acquired, which included the venerable DC-3, a new north-south route from Cincinnati to Savannah inaugurated, and a cadre of dedicated employees hired. Following the war, this foundation, combined with new opportunities, such as the 1945 award of the Chicago to Miami extension by the Civil Aeronautics Board, permitted the company to expand. However Delta was not the only carrier seeking new opportunities.

Competition was stiff, particularly from its rival, Eddie Rickenbacker's Eastern Airlines. Delta's purchase of reconditioned four engine C-54s, the military version of the DC-4, demonstrated Delta's conservative fiscal management style and enabled the company to get a jump on Eastern which had ordered brand new DC-4s. But Rickenbacker leapfrogged ahead when Eastern introduced the pressurized Lockheed 049 Constellation, eclipsing the now obsolete DC-4s. Later the debacle of the turboprop Lockheed Electras redeemed Delta's management. Delta had decided to forgo the jet props and to wait for the pure jets. A design flaw, with dire consequences, resulted in the early obsolescence of the Electras and Delta was first to introduce the DC-8 jet liners in 1959.

With routes controlled by the government, competition between carriers focused on service. In-flight service was a Delta hallmark - even when considering its liquor policy! The company steadfastly held back from serving liquor on its flights. Ultimately, despite strong passenger and internal employee dissent, the policy was changed with the inauguration of service between Houston and New York in the 1950s.

For competitive reasons securing routes to New York (1955) and the west coast (1961) were long sought after and hard fought for objectives by the Delta team. In the regulated environment, under which airlines were operating at the time, the only way to expand was by route awards granted after a long competitive process before the CAB or through mergers. In the course of the post war years, Delta merged with Chicago & Southern (1954) and Northeast Airlines (1972). [Author's note: I was hired in 1972 just after the merger, when Delta was expanding its service following the acquisition]

There is a lot of information packed into the pages of Delta, The History of an Airline but the relationship between management and employees is a major theme. In Delta, there is infused throughout the book the understanding of a sense of loyalty and commitment between managers and employees. The "Delta Family" tradition grew out of this relationship. Much of the credit belongs to the benevolent leadership style under C. E. Woolman. Delta, the company, imbued in its employees the values from its Southern heritage and was dedicated to servicing its customers accordingly. Delta's promote from within policy, open door policy, intensely cost-conscious management, practical informational advertising program, and its emphasis on quality were enduring traditions at the time of the company's fifty year mark.

Perhaps the most significant event foreshadowing the future was the 1977 award of the Atlanta to London route by the CAB. International expansion became a key element of Delta's growth plan. In 1979 there was no reason not to be optimistic for the future. But, if the past was any indication of what was to come, it was not the time to rest on laurels.

As a postscript, since 1979 the greatness of Delta has been tested again many times over. Fuel spikes, stagflation, recessions, the air traffic controller's strike, and the effects of deregulation have all occurred since then. Delta managed to surmount these obstacles and continue its climb to greatness. However, after 9/11, in its seventy-fifth anniversary year, Delta is being tested like never before...at least so it would seem. Each crisis in Delta's long history has threatened the company's very existence and, in that light, was as severe as the present situation. Delta survived in the past by adapting to market realities. Delta people are again making the difficult adjustments necessary for the company to survive in a very competitive world. Analysts predict only one or two of the legacy carriers will remain but, if the past is any indication of the future, Delta will be one of them.

As Mr. Woolman commented about the airline industry, "the only constant is change."

Contrails: Delta Airlines In-flight Service Memory Book
By: Delta Airlines
List Price:
Amazon Price: Click for Availability

Product Description
Delta Airlines - a combination of airline history and a memory book. Published in 2003, the book commemorated the closing of several crew bases.

Delta Airlines Book (ABC Airliner)
By: Geoff Jones
List Price: $12.95
Amazon Price: $157.07

CUSTOMER REVIEW:
Book of air
For background, I have significant experience in the airline industry, but have never worked for Delta.

While the author has clearly talked to many people involved with Delta's history, he has done little more than catalog the bitter sentiments of former employees. His criticisms of the management team would have a lot more credibility if they were accompanied by something resembling a practical alternative. For example, while he seems to agree that costs were out of line in the early 90s, he blasts the layoffs as an assault on the Delta Family. How would he have reduced costs without layoffs? The fact is, nearly every legacy airline in North America has gone bankrupt at least once. Running one requires making a lot of tough decisions in the face of criticism from many people that don't know what they're talking about.

This book appears to be nothing more than a large piece of marketing material for his consulting business. If there were more substance included it might be more effective.

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July Fourth Can Be Especially Stressful for Pets By Erica Little - The Register-Guard Fireworks have been a keenly appreciated tradition on the Fourth of July from the nation?s beginning. But what can be fun for people can be harsh on pets. Jerry Boggs, veterinarian and owner of Bush Animal Hospital in Eugene, says fireworks are an unfortunate way of celebrating the Fourth of July, as the noise makes many pets so anxious that they may harm themselves. In his 35 years as a veterinarian, • Mileage Run Time and Maybe a Bump Run
Photo: Norway in a Nutshell Tour I booked this ticket 6 months ago when the fare from Traverse City to Salt Lake came out at $187 all in. I had a "$100 lousy service by United" coupon so my cost is $87. My plan was to take advantage of the triple miles promo from my Elite Choice from 2008 and I had hoped it would be a bump run as well. The National Cherry Festival begins this week in Traverse City and that combined with the Fourth of July holiday I was sure would lead to a bump o rama.

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