Charles Herbert Dolson

Charles “Charlie” Herbert Dolson, born May 13, 1906, in St. Louis, MO. had a pioneering, 45-year career in the aviation industry, mostly accomplished as a 50+ year Georgia resident. He is the only line pilot to rise through the ranks to become the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of a major US airline. Charlie’s career spanned single-seat planes of the 1920s, to passenger jet airliners. Charlie led Delta’s transition to jet service helping to solidify the carrier’s global prominence and importance to Georgia’s economy.

Charlie learned to fly with the U.S. Navy in 1926 (Naval Aviator #4436). From 1928-1930, he flew Boeing F3Bs from the carrier U.S.S. Saratoga. He received his commercial pilot's license on November 21, 1929, and was hired as a test pilot for the Curtiss-Wright Aircraft Company. He joined American Airways in 1931 working early US Mail runs between St. Louis-Omaha, Chicago-Atlanta (via Evansville, Nashville, and Chattanooga).

Charlie joined the Delta Air Corporation, then located in Monroe, LA, on June 17, 1934, as one of seven pilots flying Stinson Ts. He piloted inaugural mail routes from Candler Field, now Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, to Charlotte, Columbus, and other cities. In 1934, Dolson survived a Stinson T Trimotor crash due to mechanical failure. Shortly afterwards, he co-founds of Air Lines Pilots Association (ALPA) at Delta in 1935.

During World War II, Charlie was recalled to active Navy duty and served three years as operations officer of the Naval Air Transport service in the Pacific. In 1941 Lt. Dolson survived a crash in a GH-2 Nightingale in Honolulu. He would retire from the United States Naval Reserve Force as Lieutenant Commander.

In 1940, he became Delta's Chief Pilot, one year later, Delta moved its headquarters to Atlanta. In October 1947, he was promoted to Vice President-Operations. February 22, 1954, Capt. Dolson piloted the inaugural flight of Delta’s first DC-7 from Jacksonville, FL, to Santa Monica, CA, in six hours at 371 miles per hour. 5 years later, with Dolson as Executive Vice President-Operations, Delta is the first airline to purchase the Douglas DC-8 passenger jet.

Dolson is elected to Delta's Board of Directors in 1955, Later Charlie succeeded C.E. Woolman as Delta's second President in 1965. In 1967, he attended a US Industrial Payroll Savings Committee meeting at the White House with President Johnson. Charlie became Delta’s Board Chairman and CEO in January 1970. He retired in 1971 but remained a member of the Board of Directors through 1986.

Charlie’s influence on the aviation industry and the state of Georgia included not only the development of a major US corporation, but also the development of Candler Field into the Atlanta Municipal Airport and then Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport along with the 63-acre Delta Technical Operation Center.

Charlie received many awards including Secretary of the Navy Commendation with ribbon (1945), the Alumni Award from Washington University, St. Louis, MO (1967), and the Gold Medal for Extraordinary Service from the FAA (1972). Charlie passed away on September 4, 1992, in Atlanta, GA.

*This biographical sketch is taken from the Delta Flight Museum with additional notes and dates added by the family.