Corporate identity

An Airbus A330-300 painted in Delta's current livery, "Upward &

Onward"
Delta's logo, often called the "widget", was originally unveiled in 1959. Its triangle shape is taken
from the Greek letter delta, and recalls the airline's origins in the Mississippi Delta.[141] It is also said to
be reminiscent of the swept-wing design of the DC-8, Delta's first jet aircraft. [142]
Delta's current livery is called "Upward & Onward". It features a white fuselage with the company's
name in blue lettering and a widget on the vertical stabilizer. Delta introduced its current livery in
2007 as part of a re-branding after it emerged from bankruptcy. The new livery consists of four
colors, while the old one (called "colors in motion") used eight. This meant the switch saved the
airline money by removing one day from each aircraft's painting cycle. The airline took four years to
repaint all of its aircraft into the current scheme, including aircraft inherited from Northwest Airlines.
[141]

Environmental initiatives
In 2008, Delta Air Lines was given an award from the United States Environmental Protection
Agency's Design for the Environment (DfE) program for its use of PreKote, a more environmentally
friendly, non-hexavalent chromium surface pretreatment on its aircraft, replacing hazardous
chemicals formerly used to improve paint adhesion and prevent corrosion. In addition, PreKote
reduces water usage by two-thirds and reduces wastewater treatment.
PreKote is also saving money by reducing the time needed to paint each airplane. With time savings
of eight to ten percent, it will save an estimated more than $1 million annually. [143]
Despite having purchased 9.7 million metric tonnes of carbon offsets in 2022, Delta was in the
process of moving away from such investments to reduce the company's carbon footprint by the end
of March of that year and was instead focusing on reducing emissions from company operations.
[144]
In May 2023, Delta Air Lines received a consumer class action lawsuit filed in Central California
U.S. District Court over marketing claims that the company is the world's first carbon neutral airline.
[145][146][147]

In popular culture
Deltalina
Main article: Deltalina
As part of the re-branding project, a safety video featuring a flight attendant was posted on YouTube
in early 2008, getting over 1 million views and the attention of news outlets, specifically for the
video's tone mixed with the serious safety message. The flight attendant, Katherine Lee, was
dubbed "Deltalina" by a member of FlyerTalk for her resemblance to Angelina Jolie.[148][149] Delta had
considered several styles for its current safety video, including animation, before opting for a video
presenting a flight attendant speaking to the audience. The video was filmed on a former Song
Airlines Boeing 757-200.[150]

On-time performance
In 2023, Delta flights arrived at their destination on time 84.72% of the time, compared to the North
American industry average of 74.45% per Cirium. Delta completed 98.82% of its scheduled flights.[151]

Accidents and incidents

The following are major accidents and incidents that occurred on Delta mainline aircraft. For
Northwest Airlines incidents, see Northwest Airlines accidents and incidents. For Delta Connection
incidents, see Delta Connection incidents and accidents.
All told, in 14 fatal accidents involving at least one death, 299 passengers and crew died, 11 on two
other aircraft died (in two collision accidents), and 16 persons on the ground died (in four accidents).
[152]

For a more detailed list of the accidents:

Main article: List of Delta Airlines accidents and incidents