Originally Posted by
atldlff
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.
I never thought I would say this but we need a sticky titled
"Post 'What does FO stand for?' and YOU DIE!!"
It can have all the freakin' "What is FO?" threads merged into it and the above post can be copied into mile marker #1.
Robert has been very polite (AFAIK) in the past posting his knowledge of the FO origin whenever this this question has popped up. There is a chance he was wrong.
atldlff seems to have uncovered an official Delta line on the designation FO. However, there is a chance that the response he got came from someone who was wrong. How many of us have educated gate agents and phone reps on policies, promos, and OPS issues? If a prior employee did not have the chance to transfer their knowledge to the next generation then an incorrect explanation could become "the party line". I am not saying this is what happened but it is possible. Older FF of Delta might actually know more than the younger current employees.