Delta Airlines : The Largest Operating Airline

Delta Airlines in a major American airline company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The company was founded on May 30, 1924. They operate as an extensive domestic and international network. Delta currently operates a fleet of more than 700 aircraft and they employ approximately 80,000 people. In 2011 they were the world’s largest airline in terms of fleet size. Delta Airlines is a very successful company. Part of what makes them so successful is expansion, making good decisions in route selection and hubs location, being service oriented, having a strong operation management, being reactive in terms of prices, and offering low fares.

Before the Deregulation Act of 1978, the airline industry was federally regulated in regards to

Delta airlines have multilateral and formed alliances with other airlines. This is beneficial since the airline is able to gain access to international airlines. By forming alliance, the airlines share

While Frontier and Delta are both popular choices of airlines for Americans, Delta has become more of a household name because of their friendlier service, more comfortable cabins, and their limited extras fees. Frontier airline still is a worthy competitor by being cheaper, but they also have many added on fees for things that are free with Delta. Overall, Delta knows how to take better care of their customers and make sure everyone is satisfied.

The United States Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 was a dramatic turning point in America. It was the first systematic dismantling of a comprehensive system of government control since the Supreme Court declared the National Recovery Act unconstitutional in 1935. It was also part of a broader movement that, with varying degrees of thoroughness, transformed such industries as trucking, railroads, buses, cable television, stock exchange brokerage, oil and gas, telecommunications, financial markets, and even local electric and gas utilities. Since the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978, the airline industry has experienced significant growth,

Delta Airlines initially started out as a very small crop dusting operation named Huff Daland Dusters in 1942 (Delta, 2016). Today, Delta has become one of the largest global airlines with serving more than 160 million travelers each year (Delta, 2016). Delta airlines provide both domestic and international flights to customers to 318 destinations over a span of six continents. They also have nine domestic hubs and three international hubs (Delta, 2016).

The first federal government regulations of the interstate airline industry were the Air Mail Act of 1925 and the Air Commerce Act of 1926. Additional federal regulation of commercial aviation was imposed with the passage of the Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938.

"Run the best airline in terms of operating performance. Deliver on customer promises so that the customer decides to fly with Delta first, and before anyone else. Run the airline to achieve the proper payers commensurate with the service that they provide. Delta really seems like they want a go-to airline in the marketplace for primarily business travelers, but also leisure travelers as well. And do all that in a safe and highly profitable manner."

Delta Airlines is the largest airline carrier on the Atlantic Coast. In terms of scheduled passengers carried they were world’s largest airline with 277.6 billion in 2013. Also the second largest

The Delta airlines serve more than 170 million customers each year.the survey conducted by Business travel news annually the delta airlines came No.1 for four continues years.

This report provides an examinaion of the current structure, performance, stragergy and management of Delta Airlines, along with an industry analysis of the airline industry. The report uses current and past financial and statistical data for the company along with other up to date material to determine Delta's current market position and future potential.

The primary inputs to the airline industry include airplanes, labor and fuel. There are only two major manufacturers (three at the time of the case – Boeing, Airbus and McDonnell Douglas) for large commercial aircraft. This, along with the relationship specific

Delta Air Lines started out as a small, 18 aircraft, commercial agricultural flying company (Deltamuseum.org, 2014). In the early 1920s Dr. B. R. Coad and Collett E. Woolman began experimenting with aerial fertilization to fight against the boll weevil infestation (Nationalaviation.org, 2014). The Huff Daland Corporation an aircraft manufacturer, became interested in their research, and assisted them with creating a crop dusting operation named Huff Daland (Nationalaviation.org, 2014). By 1927, the crop dusting operations began to extend south during the off peak months and also began international mail delivery and passenger routes in South America (News.delta.com, 2014). Huff Daland Corporation sold the crop dusting division to Collett E. Woolman and a few Mississippi investors in 1928 (Nationalaviation.org, 2014). After the purchase of the division the company was renamed Delta Airlines after the area it serviced (Nationalaviation.org, 2014).

Delta Air Lines began in the early 1920’s as a crop dusting operation, known as the Huff Daland crop dusting company, and was based out of Macon, Ga. This was the first agricultural flying company in existence at the time and grew into the world’s largest privately owned fleet of aircraft (18 planes) by the mid 1920’s. At the turn of the decade, co-founder C.E. Woolman lead a movement to purchase Huff Daland and re-branded the company as Delta Air Service, named after the Mississippi River Delta region the company would navigate.

Since deregulation (1978) the average return on investment below cost of capital for the 5 largest carriers. Due to 9/11 the demand for air travel declined sharply.