Delta Air Lines (DL, Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson) has revealed in its quarterly report that it has ordered four used B737-900ERs, due for delivery this year, as well as an incremental A330-900 from Airbus (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac) due in 2025.
The carrier is known for its strategy of sourcing second-hand, mid-life aircraft and operating them longer than many of its rivals. It currently operates 159 B737-900(ER)s, of which 29 are used units sourced from various Lion Air Group airlines.
The additional A330-900 ordered from Airbus increases the carrier's order book for the type to 23. Delta's active fleet of A330-900s comprises 15 aircraft.
"We have focused a lot of our energy in the last few years on the widebody and specifically the A350-900s and the A330-900s, and we are pleased with the used A350s that we have acquired [from LATAM Airlines Brasil (JJ, São Paulo Congonhas)]. And we have got a pretty healthy stream of widebodies coming," Chief Executive Ed Bastian said during the investor call.
The airline currently operates twenty-four A350-900s and has a further ten on order - eight from Airbus and two more from LATAM Airlines Brasil.
Bastian said that as the deliveries of the A330s and A350s progress, Delta would turn its attention to "large narrowbodies" in five years time. It has 152 A321-200NX on order (on top of three units of the type already delivered) but has been widely reported as being close to placing an order for 100 B737-10s, its first B737 MAX commitment.
"We have an opportunity in the next three to five years for delivery of some additional large narrowbodies, and that's something that we are always talking to Airbus and Boeing about. Whether that's used or whether that's new, there is opportunity there. I would say the focus in the back end of the five-year period is on the large narrowbodies," Bastian said.
Bastian also commented on the current capacity crisis affecting American and European aviation, underlining that Delta is rapidly growing its staff to address the stronger than anticipated demand.
"Close to 2,000 of our pilots took [voluntary redundancy packages] in the summer of 2020. And it's easy to have a revisionist history and wonder whether we should have done that or not should have done that. But you put yourselves back in the summer of 2020 when the total revenues were probably less than 20% of 2019 levels. There was no knowledge of what a vaccine could do, when it would be found, the effectiveness, etc. I don't look back with any regret at all about those decisions," Bastian said. "By the latter part of 2025, 2026, 2027, I think we will be in a great spot with respect to our pilot staff."
