Originally Posted by
Robert Leach
That is absolutely correct. While there was a Flying Orchid program, it has nothing to do with the FO label, which was applied to the original Medallion members (back when there was only one level), because they flew often. Hence, a Delta FF who flys often was annointed with Medallion level and this appeared as "FO" in the record.
Flying Orchid was an honorary title basically for the secretaries and travel arrangers that booked their bosses on Delta. (Essentially, consider them as the ones who did the booking for the Flying Colonels, although the program grew larger than that).
This is NOT correct. I was told by a Delta Executive at the recent DO that FO designation, was in fact the abbreviation for Flying Orchid. However, I did want to verify this before I made this post, so I posed the question to Delta Heritage Museum to make sure that I got the correct answer on this. They also verified that the FO label was indeed an abbreviation for Flying Orchid. Althought that term is no longer used by the Delta SkyMiles program the two letter designator is still used today.
You are correct - the Flying Orchid program was also once used to honor many females that made a contribution to Delta Air Lines.
I am sure some not familiar with the history of the Flying Orchid history used the "Flies Often" designation as that seemed to make sense, but it is not the "official" designation for those letter. I know this has been an on-going discussion since 2005, so I wanted to be sure to get the correct answer, and now we have it.