Delta Dedicates Airplane To Late Georgia Football Coach Vince Dooley

The plane will transport the Bulldogs to the National Championship next week.

Delta has made it possible for the late, great Vince Dooley to accompany the Georgia football team to the National Championship in California next week.

The Atlanta-based airline commemorated the life and legacy of the legendary coach with the dedication of a Boeing 767-400 featuring a memorial seal in his honor on Tuesday.

The dedication ceremony was attended by CEO Ed Bastian as well as fellow Delta leaders—and UGA alumni—Chief Marketing and Communications Officer Tim Mapes and Chief Customer Experience Officer Allison Ausband. The Dooley Family was in attendance alongside Governor Brian Kemp, Lieutenant Governor-Elect Burt Jones, former chairman of Augusta National Golf Club Billy Payne, and 1980 team captain Frank Ros.

“Vince Dooley’s legacy lives on through his enduring spirit and meaningful dedication to the University of Georgia and Bulldog fans everywhere,” Ausband said in a news release. “Delta and the University of Georgia have a longstanding relationship. As the official airline of UGA Athletics, we are honored to dedicate this aircraft to Coach Dooley in remembrance of his impact across athletics, community and family.”

Delta has been the official airline of Georgia athletics for more than 40 years dating to 1980, when Delta first transported Dooley’s team to New Orleans to win a national title.

Dooley, the head coach of the Georgia Bulldogs from 1964 to 1988, died in October at the age of 90. Having secured 201 victories, six SEC titles, and the 1980 national championship, he is remembered as Georgia's winningest football coach. Dooley also served as UGA's athletic director from 1979 to 2004. He was a strong supporter of women's athletics and was instrumental in bringing parts of the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games to Athens.

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