Today, Delta Air Lines is one of the world's largest airlines, transporting 160 million customers to more than 200 destinations around the world and carrying more than 2.4 billion cargo ton-miles each year. However, when the airline was founded in 1924 in Macon, GA, its fleet of 18 planes was solely a crop-dusting operation. The airline quickly grew. In 1934, when it received the Air Mail Route 24 from the United States Post Office, Delta Air Lines expanded services to include mail transportation. By 1946, it was a full-service passenger airline and had also started offering regularly scheduled cargo services. Throughout the next two decades, Delta continued to extend its reach by expanding internationally to offer service to the Caribbean and South America.
