Delta Air Lines' Original 1940s Buildings Designated A Historic Aerospace Site

The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics issued the following news release:

The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) will designate Delta Air Lines' World Headquarters' original 1940s buildings at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, Atlanta, Ga., as a Historic Aerospace Site. A historic marker will be unveiled on November 9 during a 1:00 p.m. ceremony at the Delta Air Transport Heritage Museum's Historic Hanger, 1060 Atlanta Blvd., Atlanta, Ga.

Delta Air Lines' historic buildings consist of two aircraft hangers and several office buildings at the Delta World Headquarters site constructed between 1941 and 1947. On March 1, 1941, Delta Air Lines moved its corporate headquarters to Atlanta, constructing offices space and Hangar 1, the largest aircraft hangar in the Southeast United States at what was then Atlanta Municipal Airport. The airport was later renamed Hartsfield - Jackson International Airport in honor of Atlanta Mayors William B. Hartsfield and Maynard H. Jackson Jr. In 1947 Delta Air Lines doubled the size of the headquarters site by building Hangar 2 and an executive office building. In addition to being the oldest buildings at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, the 1940s Delta Air Line buildings serve as important artifacts of the historic partnership between the leaders of Delta Air Lines, the City of Atlanta, and Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, and their shared conviction that air commerce would become one of the main engines of America's economic prosperity.

AIAA established the Historic Aerospace Sites Program in January, 2000, to promote the preservation and dissemination of information about significant accomplishments made in the aerospace profession. In addition to the Delta Air Lines World Headquarters' Original 1940s Buildings, other sites recognized by the AIAA History Technical Committee include the Bremen Airport in Germany; the Getafe Airfield in Spain; the site of T.S.C. Lowe's first balloon reconnaissance demonstration on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.; the Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory/CALSPAC Facility; the St. Petersburg Yacht Basin; the Honeysuckle Creek, Tidbinbilla, and Orroral Valley Tracking Stations in Australia; the Downey Industrial Site, Downey, Calif.; NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.; and Tranquility Base on the moon. For more information about AIAA's Historic Aerospace Sites Program, contact Emily Springer at 703.264.7533 or [email protected]

Contact: DUANE HYLAND, 703/264-7558, [email protected]

TNS CT21CT-111029-3655098 61ChengTacorda