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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Financially troubled Delta Air Lines reaffirmed it commitment to Salt Lake City during a ceremony honoring the carrier's 75th year in business.
The carrier threw a 75th anniversary party Wednesday at Salt Lake City International Airport, commemorating the company's first flight June 17, 1929, from Dallas to Jackson, Miss.
The Atlanta-based airline welcomed corporate and community dignitaries at its celebration, which featured a restored Douglas DC-3, originally flown by Delta in the 1940s, and a specially painted "Spirit of Delta" Boeing 767 purchased for Delta by its employees in 1982.
"There are a lot of challenges facing the industry, but Delta has been an absolutely spectacular part of the solutions and a tremendous partner to Salt Lake City," said Mayor Rocky Anderson.
Delta Air Lines launched its Salt Lake service on April 28, 1980, with four daily flights to Atlanta, Denver, Dallas/Fort Worth and Reno, Nev. It solidified its presence with the acquisition of Western Airlines in 1987, when it also made Salt Lake City one of its hub airports.
Anderson and others said that served as an economic catalyst for the entire region.
"The 4,000 jobs you have, along with how critical it is for jobs throughout our state, makes Delta a major, major player in the future of Utah," Gov. Olene Walker said.
The celebration was a welcome boost for employees concerned by speculation last month that Delta is facing bankruptcy.
Delta lost $383 million last quarter on top of more than $2 billion in losses during the previous two years.
"It Ûthe bankruptcy speculationÝ just makes us work that much harder to bring Delta back," said spokeswoman Peggy Estes.
Delta Chief Executive Gerald Grinstein has called for Delta's pilots union to make deep concessions to stave off bankruptcy.
Still, Estes said the airline remains committed to Salt Lake City.
Delta currently accounts for 73 percent of the airport's departures, with 93 daily Delta flights and about 200 Delta Connection flights, Estes said. Salt Lake is the company's third-largest hub.
"Salt Lake is a very important destination for us," she said. "It is our gateway to the West."
(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
