When asked to roll out the red carpet, Delta Air Lines opts for blue — the color of the sky is more its style.
A blue tunnel designed to give the impression of soaring through the clouds helped usher more than 1,000 members of Atlanta high society to a party no other airline has hosted before.
“So how does it feel to turn 100?” Delta CEO Ed Bastian asked the crowd Saturday evening at his company’s centennial gala.
This year marks Atlanta-based Delta’s 100th anniversary, a milestone no other airline has reached. The festivities culminated in a star-studded party at the recently renovated Delta Flight Museum near the company’s headquarters at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, which also is celebrating its centennial anniversary in 2025.
Credit: Jenni Girtman
Credit: Jenni Girtman
The gala brought together generations of Atlanta mayors, Delta executives, celebrities and aviation enthusiasts to celebrate the company’s journey from crop-dusting barnstormer to the apex of commercial aviation.
“Y’all don’t look a day over 100 at all,” Mayor Andre Dickens said while taking the event’s stage. “You look good to be 100.”
The idealized elegance of air travel was on full display.
Glasses of Champagne were handed to guests through a life-size cabin window as they exited the sky-themed tunnel into the main event space. Food stations acted as an international tour, offering shrimp siu mai steps away from brisket and grits. The event was bookended by performances from Vitamin String Quartet, a group known for classical renditions of pop songs, and seven-time Grammy winner Jon Batiste.
Credit: Jenni Girtman
Credit: Jenni Girtman
The event culminated in the flashy reveal of a new Delta jet bearing an emblazoned 100th anniversary emblem.
Credit: Jenni Girtman
Credit: Jenni Girtman
“You’ve taken us from a crop duster to a transcontinental community,” former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young said during the event’s invocation. He visibly held back tears during his prayer, which took place a day after his youngest daughter, Lisa Young Alston, died.
Delta’s centennial also has prompted lawmakers in Georgia and across the country to issue commemorative resolutions and proclamations. This includes resolutions introduced by Georgia’s two senators, Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, and U.S. representatives Brian Jack and Nikema Williams.
“Thank you to Delta for getting me to work each week,” Williams told the crowd, highlighting the resolutions.
But throughout the hours of festivities, Delta’s status as Atlanta’s largest private employer and its company culture were the centerpiece.
“(Delta) may not have the fanciest airplanes and may not be considered the best at technology — we’re great at that stuff, too,” Bastian said. “But it’s the people and the consistency of excellent service and taking care of each other that makes Delta who we are.”
Credit: Jenni Girtman
Credit: Jenni Girtman
‘Keep climbing’
The gala’s glitz and glam is far removed from how James Sarvis first got to know Delta.
He began his Delta career 50 years ago cleaning toilets, and he now oversees the company’s entire cleanliness and sanitation operation.
While much of the night celebrated Delta’s storied history and global expansion, Sarvis said his company’s culture shines the brightest on its darkest days.
“We say that at Delta safety is absolutely our No. 1 value,” Sarvis told the crowd. “We couldn’t exist without it, but to support that value has to be a genuine culture of care.”
Credit: Jenni Girtman
Credit: Jenni Girtman
He saw it firsthand in 1988 as a passenger on a Delta flight that crashed at the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, killing 14. Sarvis and his two young children survived and were surrounded by support from colleagues and bosses.
“The way that Delta wrapped their arms around me and the rest of our family was very special,” Sarvis said. When a Delta flight crashed upon landing earlier this year in Toronto, an incident in which all aboard survived, Sarvis stepped in to help.
He was among the Delta employees who traveled to help the survivors of this year’s Delta crash in Toronto, saying, “Those examples multiply decade after decade.”
Credit: Jenni Girtman
Credit: Jenni Girtman
Former flight attendant Diane Carvelli spoke highly of her time with Delta, which includes one of the most famous moments in company lore: She was among the flight attendants in 1982 who raised $30 million to buy their employer its first Boeing 767 jet, named “The Spirit of Delta.”
“It was a sight to be seen,” Carvelli said, reminiscing upon first seeing the jet, which now is on display at the company’s museum. The museum closed in December for its centennial refresh and is scheduled to reopen to the public on April 7.
Credit: Jenni Girtman
Credit: Jenni Girtman
C.E. Woolman, credited as Delta’s founder, undoubtedly did not know the corporate giant he was creating in 1925 when he began dispatching crop dusters to eradicate boll weevils terrorizing Southern crops, Bastian said. Several of Woolman’s grandchildren and great-grandchildren were honored at Saturday’s gala.
“Your grandfather must look down and (wonder), ”What in the world is going on down there?‘ ” Bastian told them before toasting the centennial milestone. “Hopefully, we’re making him proud.”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has launched a series of stories to mark the 100th anniversaries of both Delta Air Lines and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. This is the third story in the series.
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