Delta Air Lines fleet

Delta's fleet consists of 812 Airbus and Boeing aircraft. 474 Boeing aircraft make up about 60% of Delta's fleet, while its 338 Airbus aircraft make about 40%. Its 216 aircraft on order however, covering six aircraft types of three different aircraft families, are to be delivered by Airbus in their entirety.

Its 688 narrow-body aircraft comprise about 83% of its fleet, while its 137 wide-body aircraft comprise the remaining 17%.

Delta operates the largest fleets of the Airbus A220, the Boeing 717, the Boeing 757, and the Boeing 767 worldwide. Alongside United Airlines, it is one of only two airlines worldwide operating the Boeing 767-400ER.

In 2012, Delta agreed to lease 88 Boeing 717s from Southwest, with deliveries between 2013 and 2015. It is part of the airline's fleet revamp to eliminate turboprop, replace 50-seat regional jets and DC-9s.[5]

Delta has one of the oldest fleets of any United States airline, with an average fleet age of 13.7 years as of 2020.[4] Its oldest aircraft types are the Boeing 757-200, Boeing 767-300ER, and Airbus A320-200, which have an average age of 22.9, 24.7 and 24.2 years, respectively. Its youngest aircraft types are the Boeing 737-900ER, Airbus A350-900, Airbus A321-200, Airbus A220-100, and Airbus A330-900, which have an average age of 3.8, 2.3, 2.1, 1.1, and 0.8 years respectively.[6]

Delta's began a large fleet renewal project with 25 A350-900s and 25 A330-900s aircraft (ordered November 2014) and its order of 95 Airbus A220 (both the -100 and -300 variant) aircraft.[7]

In September 2013, Delta ordered 30 A321, its first order with Airbus in more than two decades.[8] Delta ordered 15 more in 2014,[9] an additional 37 in 2016,[10] and 40 more in 2017.[11][12]

In addition, Delta ordered 100 A321neo aircraft in December 2017 to replace its aging McDonnell Douglas MD-80/90 series and Boeing 757s.[13] Delta primarily uses narrow-body aircraft for its domestic flights within the United States and international flights from the United States to Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and some European destinations. Most of its Boeing 717 aircraft are based in Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport and are mainly used for short-haul flights.[14] Its Airbus A220, Airbus A320, Boeing 737 and Boeing 757 aircraft are used for short-haul flights and medium-haul transcontinental flights, while some of its Boeing 757-200 aircraft are used on long and thin flights to Europe. Delta primarily uses its wide-body aircraft on long-haul flights to Africa, Asia, Europe, Oceania, and South America. Its Airbus A330s, Boeing 767-300ERs,[15] and Boeing 767-400ERs mainly operate on flights to Europe, while the Airbus A350-900 mainly operates on flights to Asia and Oceania. In September 2019, Delta Air Lines announced that it was taking a 20% stake in LATAM. As part of this deal, Delta will take over LATAM's purchase rights for 6 A350-1000 and 4 A350-900.[16]

In a memo on March 18, 2020, to company employees, Delta CEO Ed Bastian announced that as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic impact on airline operations, the company would accelerate the retirement of the remaining MD-88 and MD-90 aircraft, as well as some older Boeing 767s.[17] All the MD-88 and MD-90 aircraft were retired on June 2, 2020, with its final revenue flight from Washington-Dulles to Atlanta on MD-88 (DL88), and from Houston to Atlanta on MD-90 (DL90), becoming the last operator to fly the MD-90 and as well the last major U.S. airlines to fly the MD-88. The retirement of its MD-88s and MD-90s officially ended Delta's 80-year era of flying Douglas and McDonnell Douglas aircraft, which started in 1940 with the DC-3.[18] Furthermore, on May 14, 2020, Delta announced that the airline would be retiring its Boeing 777s as a result of the pandemic, and to further simplify its wide-body fleet in favor of the Airbus A350-900s.[19] The Delta 777 was retired on October 31st with the final revenue flight from New York-JFK to Los Angeles (DL8777) after being the experimental aircraft with Delta for 18 years. The aircraft came on Delta property in 1999. When Delta announced its June quarter results, its plan to retire the 737-700, as well as accelerate 767-300ER and A320-200 retirements were revealed.[20]

In September 2020, Delta announced through its SEC filing its plan to retire all Boeing 717-200 and remaining Boeing 767-300ER aircraft. [21]

As of February 2021, Delta Air Lines fleet consists of the following aircraft:[6][4][22][23]

• Pither, Tony (1999). Boeing 707, 727 and KC-135. Air Britain Historians. ISBN 978-0851302362.