Delta Flight Museum to Open in Atlanta in 2014

Delta Heritage Museum earlier this year

Delta Air Lines announced plans to renovate the former Delta Heritage Museum, which will reopen in June 2014 as the Delta Flight Museum.  The project is being funded by a $6.3 million grant from the Delta Air Lines Foundation plus additional corporate sponsorship.

Once open, the Delta Flight Museum will offer daily tours and a private event space.   The museum is situated in hangars that were originally built in the 1940s for maintenance on the airline’s corporate campus.  In 1995, they became the site of the Delta Air Transport Heritage Museum, which had the mission of preserving the airline’s history and culture.

Delta is adding a welcome theater for visitors, an elevator for improved access, and a new mezzanine level.  The Spirit of Delta Boeing 767-200, which has been on display since 2006, will continue to be a featured exhibit in the new museum. The aircraft was originally purchased by Delta employees in 1982.  Two new permanent exhibits will include a full Convair 880 cockpit and a Boeing 737ß200 flight simulator.

The hangars were designated an official Historic Aerospace Site by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics in 2011. The renovation will include returning the hangar doors to their original condition.

As an event space, it will be able to accommodate private events for groups ranging from one hundred to 1,200.   Delta is also building a museum shop that will sell aviation memorabilia.

(Photo: Accura Media Group)