2025 marks the 100th anniversary of Delta Air Lines. The Atlanta based carrier was founded on March 2, 1925, as Huff Daland Dusters in Macon, GA. What started as a small crop dusting operation has grown into one of the largest airlines in the world and the airline appears to be gearing up to celebrate.
A photo has been floating around on social media showing a yet to be delivered Airbus A321neo sporting a unique paint scheme. While only the tail and nose cone have been painted, two things are clear. This plane is definitely intended for Delta, and it won’t have the carrier’s traditional paint job. Based on the timing, one can assume that Delta is rolling out a special livery for its 100th anniversary.
#A321neo #Delta N589DT
— Tobi (@Tobias_Gudat) November 19, 2024
MSN12417 with a grey logo special paint?@jonostrower @TheAviationBeat @FlyingHighRyan pic.twitter.com/U5TCoyCkz2
There is another photo making the rounds, which I won’t link here, that shows renderings of A321 aircraft in some of Delta’s previous schemes including the famous ‘Widget’. I can’t identify the source and, as they are just renderings, could just be a hopeful AvGeek designing the livery. Delta historically hasn’t operated planes in heritage liveries, unlike American and United but I’m hopeful that we’ll see some of the older designs take to the skies for the 100th anniversary in 2025.
At the very least, Delta seems to be rolling out a new design to celebrate its 100th anniversary though the carrier is being tight lipped about its plans. Delta CEO Ed Bastian is expected to kick off the anniversary celebrations at CES in Las Vegas on January 7, 2025.
Summary
Delta appears to be working on a new special livery to celebrate the carrier’s 100th anniversary. An Airbus A321neo, expected to be delivered as N589DT, was spotted at the Airbus facility in Toulouse sporting new colors on the tail. If anyone has any additional information, let us know in the comments!
