Wednesday morning at Hartsfield-Jackson, the world’s busiest airport got a little busier — and a lot heavier.
Inside Delta’s Tech Ops Hangar 10, 180 teams of 25 grabbed a rope, dug in their heels, and yanked a 255,000-pound Boeing 757 a full 25 feet across the tarmac.
The challenge: do it in under 15 seconds — one second for every American diagnosed with cancer in that span.
It’s called the Delta Jet Drag, and by lunchtime it had pulled in $1.4 million for the American Cancer Society.
The event started in 2010 with 22 teams and just under $39,000 raised. Sixteen years later, it’s grown into Delta’s signature community event, with thousands of employees from around the globe flying in to sweat, cheer, and remember loved ones lost to the disease.
A familiar face joined the rope line: seven-time Super Bowl champ Tom Brady, a Delta partner since 2023, helped pull the Delta team’s jet across in 10.6 seconds. Turns out the GOAT can still move the chains — even when the chains are attached to a 757.
Tom Brady pulled a plane to help raise money for the American Cancer Society as part of the airline’s “Jet Drag” fundraiser in Atlanta.
Details: https://t.co/HNmHalpn0v pic.twitter.com/g7LQA5qHJ8
— 11Alive News (@11AliveNews) April 29, 2026
Over 24 years, Delta’s partnership with the American Cancer Society has now raised more than $22 million.
