Delta Air Lines Will Restart Boeing Widebody Orders With Thirty 787s

Delta as usual announced strong quarterly results and positive expectations, underscoring both with a new order for thirty Boeing 787-10 aircraft.

“We’re excited to buy the 787,” CEO Ed Bastian said on a Tuesday call with reporters. “We’re the last of the U.S. majors to be finally acquiring that aircraft. It’s been a longtime since we took a Boeing widebody.

“We look at the dash ten and realize it’s going to have great utility, particularly in the transatlantic and South American regions for us,” Bastian said, noting that the dash ten “does not have the length that the 350 can create, so it’s a little cheaper to operate on international.” He added, “We are one of the largest airlines in the world, so it’s pretty tough to operate in international being reliant on a single source provider.”

Delta’s fleet includes 41 Airbus A350s: the carrier has orders for 20 more. Within the carrier’s fleet of about 1,000 aircraft, the only Boeing widebodies are around 60 Boeing 767s. Delta took its first 767 in 1982 and its last in the early 2000s: the total once stood at 124. About 20 of the remaining 767s are scheduled to be retired around 2030.

Deliveries of the 787 are slated to begin in 2031. With the new Boeing commitments, Delta has 232 narrowbody and 54 widebody aircraft on order for delivery in coming years. Besides the 30 firm 787-10 deliveries, Delta has options for 30 more. The aircraft has 25% better fuel efficiency per seat than the aircraft they will replace, Delta said.

Delta also has an order for 100 Boeing 737-10 MAX aircraft, with deliveries to begin upon certification. “This order underscores the strength of the U.S. aerospace industry and advanced manufacturing, with both the aircraft and its GE engines designed and manufactured in the United States,” Delta said in a press release. The aircraft will be assembled in North Charleston, South Carolina.

Bastian noted that the pandemic caused problems for both aircraft makers and engine makers, producing “some real constraints in the overall supply for metal.

“We did not have, out into the next decade, an order position for widebodies,” he said. “This gave us a chance to put a stake in the ground with a very important aircraft and a very important partner.”

Asked whether Delta would consider flying narrowbodies on the transatlantic, as competitors – soon to be joined by American Airlines – do, Bastian responded, “Never say never.” Retiring President Glen Hauenstein has said that Delta has no plans to fly narrowbodies in the region.

This article was published by Forbes