80 Years Since D-Day: Delta Flies WWII Veterans To Normandy

Delta flew WWII Veterans to Normandy for the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion commemorated on June 6th.

The US carrier, Delta Air Lines, earlier this week operated its single, yearly charter service to Normandy, in order to carry Veterans of World War II, for the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings. Delta has been operating this once-a-year roundtrip service since 2022.

Direct to Deauville

Until 2022, Delta used to operate this special service to carry veterans and other guests into Paris, before they were transported via bus to Normandy. AviationPros reports that it was a Delta employee, who also happens to be a Normandy Native, who suggested the idea of operating flights directly from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) to Deauville Saint Gatien Airport (DOL).

The direct service to DOL launched in 2022 has always been operated by the airline’s fleet of Boeing 767-300ERs using flight number DL9994 on its flights to Deauville. This year, the flight was operated on Sunday, June 2nd.

Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying

The flight this year carried 48 veterans onboard, which included two veterans flown in from the west coast of the US on Delta’s private jet partner – Wheels Up. The veterans were treated with business-class meals and Hershey chocolate bars as a throwback to Hershey bars being given to them during World War II.

Simple Flying has reached out to Delta Air Lines to know more about how the journey was made memorable for the veterans. Any response received will be updated into this article.

Not just Delta

Apart from Delta, another carrier operating flights for veterans to attend this special event is American Airlines, which this year flew nearly 70 World War II veterans. The carrier celebrated it with style by inviting veterans to join a 40s-era dinner with a big band at the airline’s headquarters in Dallas, Texas.

Photo: Markus Mainka | Shutterstock

Despite this, the US Department of Transport (US DoT) states that several major airlines within the country are not doing enough to support veterans, the military, and their families and have recently created a dashboard on their website displaying which airlines support the DoT’s “Support Our Troops” program.

Importance of aviation

Aviation did play an important role during World War II and contributed to the success of the D-Day campaign, particularly the involvement of the US Air Force (USAF) and the UK’s Royal Air Force (RAF).

American fighter aircraft such as the P-51D Mustang and the B-26 Marauder had a significant presence during this pivotal event of the war, along with the likes of the RAF Supermarine Spitfire, Hawker Hurricane, and Hawker Typhoon.

In fact, late last year, the D-Day Squadron had also planned to fly a Douglas DC-3 from the US to Europe to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Normandy Landings and the 75th anniversary of the Berlin Airlift, with plans of C-47s joining the DC-3 once over Europe.

Photo: EvrenKalinbacak | Shutterstock

Source: Simple Flying