Delta Air Lines (DL, Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson) has announced in its latest quarterly earnings report that it has acquired two second-hand A350s with deliveries scheduled by year-end.
"These opportunistic acquisitions are consistent with the broader fleet strategy, complementing other actions taken over the last 18 months as the company accelerates fleet renewal efforts and prepares for continued recovery," the airline said without revealing the identity or the variant of the aircraft.
The ch-aviation fleets module shows Delta operates twenty-two A350-900s and has a further ten on a direct order from Airbus. While in 2020 Delta cancelled the acquisition of another four ex-LATAM A350s and paid a USD62 million penalty, it then signed a commitment to lease seven ex-LATAM Airlines Brasil units of the type from AerCap. All seven were delivered to the US carrier between June and September 2021, the ch-aviation fleets history module shows, and are now included in its tally of 22 aircraft. The remaining fifteen A350s were delivered to Delta directly from the manufacturer.
During the third quarter of 2021, Delta reported its first net profit since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The airline said its adjusted pre-tax income, excluding the USD1.3 billion Payroll Support Programme aid from the US federal government, stood at USD216 million, while its adjusted net profit was USD194 million (also excluding PSP inflows).
