5 things to know about Delta Air Lines 1. Delta started in Macon, Ga., as Huff Daland Dusters in 1924, becoming Delta Air Services in 1929. 2. Delta serves more than 180 million customers each year, employs more than 80,000 employees worldwide and operates a mainline fleet of more than 800 aircraft. 3. Delta filed for Chapter 11 protection in 2005, emerging from bankruptcy early in 2007 with a new look and logo. 4. In 2016, Atlanta-based Delta reported a pre-tax income of $6.1 billion. 5. Delta and the De