Did you know that you can ask your Delta pilot for a secret trading card. Most Delta pilots will have a small stack of trading cards on them for the type of airplane they fly. And you can collect them all!
Delta has had these trading cards for a long time. I have 747 and 777 cards somewhere stashed away, but it seems as of late the craze of collecting Delta trading cards has become more popular. I remember seeing Delta pilots give trading cards out to kids who went up to the cockpit and it made it just a bit more special.
Delta Trading Cards??
by u/snkalczy in delta
However I noticed over the past few months there have been an increasingly number of social media posts on Reddit, TikTok, and more exposing a wider audience to the fact that Delta pilots carry around trading cards with them.
Collect Them All
Looking at photos online, and even eBay listings it seems there isn't just one for every fleet type that Delta has, but some fleets have multiple of one card. The highest of one card that I have is #60, leading me to believe that there are at least that number of cards floating out there somewhere.
I have quite a few trading cards, 11 of them in total. But I always am on the lookout for more. Some of the now rare cards, like the 777 and 747, are very sought after and I'm sure will fetch a lot online.
Should Other Airlines Follow?
Absolutely, as an avid #avgeek I would love to see all the airlines come out with their own trading cards. The community around trading cards would explode and it would be fun to collect and trade cards across airlines. If I was running the program it should be a collaborative effort across all the major airlines to create these cards in one series that way traders and collectors could trade up and down the community.
This would for sure expand the community and promote things like meetups and events where people get together to trade and show off collections.
Don't Be Afraid To Ask
It doesn't matter how old you are, the next time you get on an airplane don't be afraid to stick your head in the cockpit or ask on your way out of the aircraft to have a trading card. Most Delta pilots would be more than happy to give anyone who asks.
Being in the aviation industry for as long as I have, we absolutely love to share the joy of flying with whoever will listen. And any time we can get someone interested or excited about flight is a memorable day.
Final Thoughts
Don't be afraid! Ask your next Delta pilot for a trading card, start your collection and don't be afraid to show it off with those around you. I have quite the collection myself but I'm always on the lookout for more cards.
How many Delta trading cards to you have?
