From the Hangars

Big milestones in Delta’s history coming soon

Apr 26, 2023

Delta Air Lines and the Delta Flight Museum have some exciting milestones coming up in 2025. Delta will be celebrating their early beginnings with 100 years of Huff Daland Dusters, and the Museum is celebrating 30 years of incorporation.

It’s an exciting time to join the team as the new Director of Exhibits & Public Programs. I’ve been tasked to look ahead and strategize about how we want to refresh the Museum exhibits and spaces to celebrate these two milestones.

Luckily for me, the Museum has so many opportunities with an abundance of historic artifacts and great stories. Even the Museum itself is an artifact in that it sits in the oldest buildings on ATL campus: Delta’s two 1940s historic hangars.

I come from Ohio where my subject-matter expertise has been steeped in American Temperance & Prohibition, as I managed the Westerville History Museum - which is located in the former headquarters of the Anti-Saloon League. Below I sit in a Ford Model T with my former staff at the opening of a museum exhibition to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Prohibition (2020). 

Westerville History, Prohibition

Although aviation is a new subject for me, I have experience working with the public in a variety of ways through exhibitions, programs, tours, video series, and more. I am passionate about stories that connect people to the past in a way that sparks curiosity. One of my favorite things to hear from a visitor is that they learned something they didn't know before, and they no longer think "history is boring."

Historic walking tour, Westerville

Currently, I have been immersing myself in aviation, and the amazing idea and history of flight. I've been studying early commercial aviation, and learning many of Delta's historic "firsts" - such as being the first airline to fly living vegetable plants in 1945 (160,000 tomato plants!) I'm learning about Catherine Fitzgerald, who was Delta's first female board member in 1930. She also is the one responsible for choosing the name "Delta." 

As I stepped into this role, I became a visitor advocate. When I put myself in the shoes of the museum visitor, I can see many opportunities to amplify artifacts and stories, so that the Museum is more engaging, inclusive, accessible, welcoming, and more up to date with our constantly changing and evolving times.

The Museum staff are to be applauded as visitor survey results show 99% of visitors said they would recommend the museum to others. The museum is already an amazing place that people love to visit, so I look forward to building on that stellar reputation as we look ahead to the future - the sky is no limit!

Nina Thomas

Nina Thomas

Director - Exhibits & Public Programs

5 comments

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  1. Julio Rivera | May 23, 2024
    Nina - welcome and looking forward to the Delta Flight Museum Evolution. It is a living document and display of Delta’s impact on the aviation industry. From my experience with other companies no everyone does what we do and it makes me think that different is good. We value our history, present and future. We are not perfect but we continue to lead the pack. Let’s show everyone that no one connects the world better than Delta!! That we are the Delta Difference!!
  2. j.w.freck | Aug 23, 2023
    still looking forward to visiting the museum and personall donate my CV-880 POM.not a whole bunch of these around.rtired from delat as a line mtc mech.worked another 28 years as a flying mechanic for a dc-8 airfreight operator flying all over the world.
  3. Mae Smith - External Sales Delta Flight Museum | May 24, 2023
    Congratulations and welcome aboard Nina! I love your uniqueness and can't wait to see how you shake things up around here.
  4. LaVerne Brown | Apr 26, 2023

    Welcome to Atlanta and to the Delta Flight

    Museum.

  5. Kelley Moore - Executive Director, Delta Flight Museum | Apr 26, 2023

    Welcome Nina! - She is certainly already earning her wings! Great ideas, enthusiasm and excitement for the Delta Flight Museum - Welcome Aboard!

     

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