Welcome Message from your Center Director, Tim Miller
"No one person is an airline. An airline is a team. It must be friendly, courteous, cooperative, efficient and bound as closely as a devoted family." – C.E. Woolman, founder of Delta Air Lines
CARR-WOOLMAN FLIGHT APPRECIATION CENTER
Welcome to the Carr-Woolman Flight Appreciation Center. This site is dedicated to one of the passions of my life, aviation, and specifically the airline industry. I named it for two of the pioneers of American civil aviation, Hal N. Carr and C.E. Woolman. These men led my two favorite airlines of all-time. Mr. Carr led the late, great North Central Airlines and Mr. Woolman led Delta Air Lines.
Mr. Carr took a fledgling regional airline and built into one of the nation’s leading regional carriers in the 1970s. He then went onto help amalgamate a number of regionals into Republic Airlines, which was for a time, the nation’s largest airline. Sadly, to me, Republic was lost into merger with Northwest Airlines. Republic was a victim of over expansion in the early 80s era of de-regulation.
Mr. Woolman’s legacy begins with purchasing a crop dusting service, turning it into a mail service and then passenger service. He carefully grew Delta from its roots covering routes from east Texas to Georgia in the 1930s. He stewarded Delta’s reach beyond America’s south though the mid-1960s. While he stepped away from day to day operations as Delta headed into the late 1960s, his imprint on the “Delta Family” continued. While there is debate inside and outside of Delta as to how much of this family spirit is still there, in my experiences it largely is. It is what makes Delta so rare. I hope the infusion of Northwest people, only strengthens the family, especially those who go back to Republic Airlines.
I look upon the recent merger of Northwest into Delta as the two legacies having joined, in fact. I am glad to see the corporate DNA of North Central and Republic now merged into Delta. As a fan of both, it is practically the best of both worlds. Seeing the image of a once, North Central DC-9 now in Delta livery was very cool for me to see. Now, if only Delta could have the widget and Herman the duck on the plane, that would be airline nirvana for me.
If you look to the left of the page you see the CFAC divided into concourses with gates (links) to sites about Delta, North Central and other airlines of the past and present that I have an interest in. If you put your cursor over a gate, you will see a description of the destination.
On the right, you will see connections to sites that will help you learn more about aviation. Visit the Control Tower to find out more about the technical and business sides of aviation. Go to the Passenger Information Desk for the latest on the ins and outs of airline travel. My lists in all areas are by no means comprehensive, but I think are a good selection to help you learn more about the world of aviation. I hope you enjoy the Carr-Woolman Flight Appreciation Center. Welcome Aboard.
