MACON, Ga. — Delta Air Lines is celebrating a milestone on Sunday: 100 years of flight.
The airline’s journey, however, didn’t start in its long-time headquarters in Atlanta. Instead, Delta’s history began right in Macon 100 years ago but under a different name, airline archivist Marie Force said.
“So we’re founded as the world’s first aerial crop dusting company. It’s a very unique beginning for an airline,” Force said. “Delta was incorporated as Huff Daland Dusters on March 2, 1925.”
The company was headquartered in downtown Macon, but their flight operations were centered at Camp Wheeler, an old WWI field in east Macon. The field has since become the Downtown Macon airport.
The airline set their sights on Macon thanks to the agricultural output in the region, Force said. Across the southeast, Huff Daland Dusters would crop dust agricultural lands.
“They were headquartered in Macon because of the agricultural work that was around Macon. You had cotton fields, you had pecan orchards, peach orchards — dusting the peaches is actually the first business that they did,” Force said. 
At the time, they were 18 planes strong with 30 employees, Force said. While that sounds small, Force said, it was one of the largest privately held aircraft fleets during its founding.
She said that Camp Wheeler was also important, because it was — at the time — the best airport in the entire state.
“And Macon was also ideal because the airfield that was there,” Force said. “They had looked at Atlanta, they had looked at Athens, but at the time Macon had the best airfield in Georgia.”
Force said that Huff Daland Dusters’ decision to open in Macon also spurred the Atlanta City Council to purchase the land that would become Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
Despite being the first home of Delta Air Lines, Macon would not remain as the company’s headquarters for long. After one growing season, Force said the company made the decision to leave Macon as much of their business was centered at the Mississippi Delta.
They moved to Monroe, Louisiana, before eventually returning to Georgia and setting up shop in Atlanta. The airline began passenger flights to four cities in 1929.
Force said that the airline has grown much from their “humble” beginnings in Macon. The fleet of 18 at the beginning burgeoned into a fleet of nearly 1,300 aircraft serving over 275 destinations. Force said the company serves 200 million customers a year.
However, it all stems back to their incorporation 100 years ago as a small crop dusting operation right here in Macon.
“Macon was the beginning of that,” Force said. “It’s really amazing when you think about how far Delta has come in those 100 years and that Macon was the start of that.”
The Delta Flight Museum, where Force works, is currently closed for renovation, but Force said they’re looking forward to celebrating the company’s centennial when they reopen in April.