It’s the only airline to hold a regular sale like this; people travel from all over to attend the ‘Surplus Sale.’
Delta pilot Richard Baker looks at merchandise at the Delta Flight Museum Surplus Sale in Atlanta on Friday, Oct. 10, 2025. He stopped by after finishing a few days of flying that morning, before flying home to Orlando later that day. Every month, Delta fans wait in line for hours for the chance to buy vintage airline merch. (Arvin Temkar/AJC)
In the early morning hours of the second Friday of every month, a collection of Delta Air Lines employees, aviation aficionados and curious locals converge outside a low-slung warehouse near the Delta Flight Museum for the chance to shop.
This is “the world’s largest airline garage sale,” said RD Dewberry — a self-proclaimed “av geek,” former airline employee and a frequent “Surplus Sale” shopper.
“You will find anything and everything in here. It’s really amazing.”
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(L-R) RD Dewberry, Robert Phillips and Ryan Cook look at vintage stickers and airline timetables at the Delta Flight Museum Surplus Sale in Atlanta on Friday, Oct. 10, 2025. Every month, Delta fans wait in line for hours for the chance to buy vintage airline merch. (Arvin Temkar/AJC)
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Andrew Williams and his son Terran Bosserman, 9, of Nashville, peek to see the goods before the Delta Flight Museum Surplus Sale in Atlanta on Friday, Oct. 10, 2025. They drove in for the night just for the sale. Every month, Delta fans wait in line for hours for the chance to buy vintage airline merch. (Arvin Temkar/AJC)
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People line up before the Delta Flight Museum Surplus Sale in Atlanta on Friday, Oct. 10, 2025. Every month, Delta fans wait in line for hours for the chance to buy vintage airline merch. (Arvin Temkar/AJC)
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Michael and Carrie McCarthy of Lawrenceville check out the airport seats they purchased at the Delta Flight Museum Surplus Sale in Atlanta on Friday, Oct. 10, 2025. Every month, Delta fans wait in line for hours for the chance to buy vintage airline merch. (Arvin Temkar/AJC)
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New York University student Jay Agrawal (right) packs his newly purchased galley cart from the Delta Flight Museum Surplus Sale in Atlanta on Friday, Oct. 10, 2025. He plans to check the cart on the flight to New York in his homemade box. (Arvin Temkar/AJC)
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Delta pilot Richard Baker rolls his newly purchased galley cart from the Delta Flight Museum Surplus Sale in Atlanta on Friday, Oct. 10, 2025. He plans to use it in a building he is renovating at his home in Florida, which already has a Boeing 747 lavatory door serving as its restroom door. (Arvin Temkar/AJC)
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As a business reporter, Emma Hurt leads coverage of the Atlanta airport, Delta Air Lines, UPS, Norfolk Southern and other travel and logistics companies. Prior to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution she worked as an editor and Atlanta reporter for Axios, a politics reporter for WABE News and a business reporter for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
