The Peach, the Apple, the Captain and the Flying Colonels

The Peach, in this instance, is Delta Airlines, symbolized by the nickname of its home state, Georgia.  The Captain?  None other than Eddie Rickenbacker, the redoubtable head of Eastern Airlines for many years.  The "Flying Colonels of the Delta Fleet" were those Delta customers deemed worthy of special recognition by the carrier prior to the advent of modern frequent flyer programs.  The invitation-only program was begun originally by Chicago & Southern Airlines, and migrated to Delta when C&S was merged into the Atlanta-based carrier in 1953.  The Apple is, of course, the Big one -- New York City.

Until  February 1, 1956, however, Delta did not serve the Big Apple at all.  Historically, the Delta route system had consisted of east-west routes across what would come to be known as the "Sunbelt" of the United States; an early advertisement for the carrier urged travelers to "Specify 'The Trans-Southern Route' Across Dixie".  Post-World War II, there were north-south extensions to Cincinnati and Chicago in the Midwest (which was amplified by the addition of C&S) and Miami.

Initial NYC service was provided at the Newark Airport, and operated via Washington, DC.  Additional penetration into markets northeast of Atlanta was provided by the inauguration of service to Charlotte, North Carolina, Baltimore, Maryland and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania beginning in April 1956.  So, Delta had arrived, belatedly, in the populous northeastern U.S. in a significant way.

However, DL's principal Atlanta rival, Eastern, was far better ensconced in this part of the world.  Indeed, EA's headquarters, for many years, were in New York City's Rockefeller Center.  Eastern's presence in the New York-Atlanta market dated back to an air-mail award to predecessor Pitcairn Airways in 1927, giving the future "Wings of Man" considerable seniority on the New York-Atlanta route.  By 1928, Eastern was also flying between Atlanta and Miami, a route Delta wouldn't serve until almost two decades later.

In 1957, Delta gained access to New York International Airport, known more commonly as Idlewild.  Still, with service oriented towards the upper south and Gulf Coast, it was not a major factor in New York on either side of the Hudson River.  Eastern, meanwhile, under the leadership of the World War I flying ace "Captain Eddie", was one of the "Big Four" U.S. airlines, which included strong positions at all three New York City area airports, and while also serving primarily points in the southeast from New York, it had a premier position in the large markets to Florida.

Delta addressed the Florida market, strengthening its NYC position in 1972 with the acquisition of Northeast Airlines, whose principal assets were routes between New York, Boston and Florida points.  Delta had also gained access to La Guardia Airport in the late 1960s.  EA and American were the dominant players at this location, however, with each carrier having one of the four concourses essentially to itself, while all the other airlines at LGA had to share the remaining two concourses.  In addition, Delta could only offer service to LGA initially using the relatively small Douglas DC-9, since it would not have the Boeing 727 in its fleet until after the NE merger.  Eastern, which was first airline to offer 727 service, had operated it at La Guardia beginning in the mid-1960s.  Post-NE, however, Delta would eventually amass the largest fleet of 727s, many of which would appear at LGA.

Post-deregulation, Delta's position in New York grew steadily; eventually, it opened its own terminal, to the east of the Central Terminal Building, with future merger partner Northwest as a tenant.  A growing facet of this era was the implementation of frequent flyer programs as 'loyalty' devices, in particular to capture the relatively high-yield revenues from business travelers.  No longer was it necessary to wait for an invitation to be a Flying Colonel; everyone, in fact, was urged to sign up.

Eastern, meanwhile, was not faring well economically, and Captain Eddie had long since retired.  Both EA and the legendary Pan Am would fail in 1991; DL would pick up the latter's northeast Shuttle operations prior to the end, and most of PA's remaining transatlantic routes, centered on New York's JFK airport, at the time of Pan Am's demise.

So, by the 1990s, the former crop dusting outfit from the southeast (Huff Daland Dusters was a DL predecessor) had become a power in both the domestic and international arenas in the largest metropolitan area in the United States.  More recently, in October 2011 it announced a deal with US Airways to exchange airport slots at LGA and Washington's Reagan National Airport, giving Delta about fifty percent of the flights at La Guardia, which, along with its strong position at JFK -- including a recent partnership with Virgin Atlantic -- was aimed at giving Delta a leg up on its competitors in the battle for the hearts, minds and revenues from the Big Apple's ample base of frequent flyers.

All of this would have been hard to imagine in 1956, prior to the first Delta service to Newark.  Sometimes not being first proves not to be a hindrance in the long run; being last initially isn't so bad when you're the one that lasts.