Atlanta – Delta Heritage Museum: The Spirit of Delta
Image by wallyg
The Spirit of Delta, or Delta Ship 102, housed in Hangar 2 of the Delta Heritage Museum, was Delta Airline’s first Boeing 767-200. This aircraft was acquired in 1982 and paid for by Delta employees and retirees who raised million as a gift to the Company. The fundraising effort, nicknamed Project 767, was led by three Delta flight attendants and was intended to show appreciation for corporate management following airline deregulation.
Dedicated on December 15, 1982, the Boeing 767-200 remained the flagship of the Delta fleet until March 2006, when it was replaced with a 777-200 Delta Spirit. After being painted in special liveries for the 1996 Olympics and Delta’s 75th anniversary in 2004, it was painted back to its original liveries. After a farewell tour around the United States, it took its final final flight on March 6, 2006. A month later, on May 7, it was pulled otto the museum where it was transformed into a unique exhibition space and opened to the public on December 15–24 years after its first flight.
The Delta Heritage Museum, an aviation and corporate museum housed in two 1940’s era Delta Air Lines maintenances hangars outside Atlanta Hartsfield International Airport, was established in 1995. The hangars were used until the 1960’s when the Delta Technical Operations Center, formerly known as the Jet Base, was completed. The museum’s collections and facilities include a number of historical aircrafts including the Spirit of Delta, Delta’s first 767, and Ship 41, the first DC-3 to carry Delta passengers, as well as an archives of artifacts related to Delta and its ancestor airlines, an aviation reference library, and a replica of the first Delta station in Monroe, Louisiana.
