The Delta Air Lines fleet consists of 936 aircraft, making it the second largest airline by fleet size in the world, behind American Airlines. Delta Air Lines operates a fleet manufactured by Airbus and Boeing.
Delta historically has preferred purchasing or leasing used aircraft or use older generation models to keep initial acquisition costs down and then keep those aircraft flying for a longer time than its competitors. To support this business model, Delta has also invested in an extensive MRO (maintenance, repair, and overhaul) organization, called TechOps. However, Delta has acquired lower priced new aircraft as airframers move towards their next generation designs and offered discounts on slower selling models. As a result, Delta flies the second-oldest fleet among the legacy carriers, and the average fleet age has been reduced to 14.8 years.
Prior to its 2008 merger with Northwest Airlines, Delta's fleet was made up of solely Boeing and McDonnell Douglas aircraft. Airbus aircraft from Northwest joined the fleet after the merger, and more have since been added.
Fleet overview
Delta's fleet consists of 943 Airbus and Boeing aircraft. , Delta has 501 aircraft from Boeing or about 55 percent of the fleet and 421 aircraft from Airbus or about 45 percent of the fleet. The airline has 749 narrow-body aircraft, comprising about 81% of its fleet, while its 173 wide-body aircraft comprise the remaining 19%.
Delta operates the largest fleets of the Airbus A220, Boeing 717, and Boeing 757, the largest passenger fleet of the Boeing 767, and the largest Airbus A330 fleet of any US airline. Alongside United Airlines, it is one of only two airlines operating the Boeing 767-400ER.
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 out of Atlanta and are mainly used for short-haul flights. Its Airbus A220, Airbus A320, Boeing 737 and Boeing 757 aircraft are used for short-haul flights and medium-haul transcontinental flights.
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, and Boeing 767-400ERs mainly operate on flights to Europe, while the Airbus A350-900 mainly operates on flights to Asia and Oceania.
Fleet renewal
Since 2013, Delta has been working to reduce the age of its fleet by purchasing or leasing newly built aircraft or newer model used aircraft. Since launching the effort, Delta has preferred to purchase aircraft from Airbus, a major change for the company which had been a loyal customer of Boeing and McDonnell Douglas (which merged with Boeing in 1997). At the time, Delta had over 200 DC-9, MD-88 and MD-90 aircraft from McDonnell Douglas in its fleet. Replacing these older aircraft was a top priority for Delta.
For its narrow-body fleet, Delta acquired 277 aircraft from the Airbus A321 series and 119 aircraft from the Airbus A220 series. The first major purchase came in September 2013, when Delta ordered 30 A321 aircraft, its first order with Airbus in more than two decades. This order would later be incrementally increased to 122 aircraft with 15 more added to the order in 2014, an additional 37 in 2016, and 40 more in 2017. Since 2017, Delta has also purchased a total of 155 A321neo (new engine option) aircraft, with an initial order for 100 aircraft in December 2017, followed by a purchase of 55 more in 2021. Delta placed its first order for 75 A220 aircraft in April 2016, when the program was still managed by Bombardier Aerospace. Delta purchased the aircraft at a steep discount: $19.6m each, well below their $33.2m production cost, which led Boeing to accuse the company of dumping the aircraft. Delta would later increase its order to a total of 119 A220 aircraft.
For its wide-body fleet, Delta acquired 25 Airbus A330neo and 42 of the newly introduced Airbus A350 aircraft. The A330neo and the first 25 A350 aircraft were purchased in November 2014. The A350 fleet was increased assuming the purchase rights for 10 aircraft from LATAM as part of a deal to acquire a 20% equity stake in LATAM Airlines Group in September 2019 and by leasing 7 used aircraft in July 2021.
Delta has also acquired some aircraft from Boeing. The airline purchased 29 used Boeing 737-900ER aircraft in July 2021 and also agreed to purchase 100 Boeing 737 MAX 10 aircraft in 2022.
As a result of the fleet renewal, Delta was able to retire its McDonnell Douglas MD-88/MD-90, Boeing 777, and Boeing 737-700 fleets in 2020.