Delta Airplane Trading Cards: Ask Pilots For New Centennial Collection

For many years, Delta Air Lines pilots have had aircraft trading cards, which they’ve been able to offer to passengers who request them. The popularity of this has increased greatly in recent years, and it should become even more popular this year, thanks to some new Centennial-themed trading cards that have just been unveiled…

The basics of Delta’s pilot trading cards

Delta has had aircraft trading cards in one form or another going back as far as 2003. When they were first introduced, they were limited edition trading cards to celebrate the retirement of the MD-11. However, that has been expanded significantly over the years, and includes seven different series of cards, with a total of 68 unique cards.

Up until a couple of years ago, almost no one knew about these. However, in late 2023, Delta posted about it on social media, and then suddenly there was a ton of interest. Lots of people posted to social platforms about their experience asking for trading cards, and it sort of went viral.

The idea is simple — if you see a Delta pilot, you can ask them for a trading cards, as they’re the ones who have them. Of course not all Delta pilots will have them, but many do. I suppose you could ask in the terminal, or before departure or after landing. Of course you’ll always want to check with the flight attendant before entering the flight deck.

This is a cute initiative on Delta’s part. It’s a fun idea for aviation geeks and children, and it creates a way for pilots to interact with passengers, adding a human touch that’s often missing in the travel experience.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Delta Air Lines (@delta)

Now, in fairness, Delta actually isn’t the only airline to have trading cards. Frontier Airlines’ aircraft are themed after animals, and passengers can ask the crew for a collectable trading card for that specific aircraft. For an airline that has a charge for printing boarding passes, I’d say that’s pretty generous.

Delta unveils special centennial trading cards

Delta is currently celebrating its 100th anniversary, and that involves a variety of festivities. Among those is that as of today (March 25, 2025), the airline has launched a fresh trading card collection, which is specifically centennial-themed. The cards have the centennial colors and branding, so aviation geeks should appreciate these.

Delta is initially producing five million of these, and there are cards for the Airbus A220-300, Airbus A321neo, Airbus A330-900neo, Airbus A350-900, Boeing 717, Boeing 737-800, Boeing 757-200, and Boeing 767-300. Delta Connection flights also have Bombardier CRJ-900 and Embraer E175 cards.

Here’s how Ryan Gumm, Delta’s SVP of Flight Operations, describes this:

“Delta pilots have handed out millions of trading cards over the past 22 years, with over 3 million distributed in 2024 alone. This simple, yet impactful interaction between our pilots and customers elevates and enriches the flight experience – and has created meaningful connections and memorable moments along the way.” 

For those who really want trading cards without flying Delta, starting in April 2025, the airline will offer a commemorative gift set featuring two limited edition centennial livery trading cards when purchasing a physical gift card at delta.com/giftcards. 

Bottom line

For years, Delta pilots have had trading cards that they can give to passengers. They didn’t get much attention until late 2023, when it became a bit of a social media trend. With it now being Delta’s 100th anniversary, the airline has launched centennial trading cards, so maybe more people will want to request these on upcoming flights.

It’s interesting to learn that three million of these were handed out in 2024, and five million have been produced so far in 2025. I guess the airline is expecting these to be popular! It’s a cool initiative, so kudos to Delta for offering this!

What do you make of these Delta trading cards? Do you ask for them when flying with the airline?