Delta ordered up to 40 Airbus A350s at the start of 2024. Those will begin arriving next year or early 2027 and feature new business class suites. I told you to expect this order 15 months ahead of time thanks to a wise tip from aviation watchdog JonNYC.
Delta A350-900
Current Delta Business Class Suite
The Atlanta-based carrier has figured out how to beat Trump’s tariffs and has consistently said they won’t be paying any when they take delivery of new European jets.
Delta doesn’t do a good job keeping secrets about their fleet plans. I told you in advance they were planning to buy Boeing 737 MAXs and they did.
Now they’re planning to make another order from Boeing, according again to JonNYC who has been on more than a roll lately. He’s revealed routes that Delta would be announcing (Lufthansa, too), Delta’s plans for suites, and United’s plan to partner with JetBlue.
Now he shares that Delta will be placing an order for Boeing 787s before end of the year or beginning of 2026.
And, yes, 787-10 seems like an extremely safe bet
— JonNYC (@xJonNYC) July 17, 2025
Delta didn’t used to buy Boeing, except for used. But Boeing has had a long way to go to get its act together, and is certainly cutting unprecedented deals to do so. Traditionally airlines pay about 50% of list price for new planes. Delta drives a harder bargain than anyone else – I’ve written in the past whether it’s with partners, suppliers or customers that in a 50-50 deal Delta takes the hyphen.
And right now order books are full into the 2030s. American Airlines has said that they’re big enough that airframe manufacturers will ‘make room’ for them. And no doubt that’s true with Delta as well, especially since Boeing wants an increasing piece of their business. But Delta also needs to spread out their order book precisely because the duopoly of Airbus and Boeing lack the capacity to deliver the planes that airlines want to buy.
Your times to shine @Tim Dunn @1990 and @Matt!
@L737 — You were so fast! I bet Ed didn’t wanna deal with the threat of (EU) tariffs anymore. @Tim Dunn was right, DL waited a bit for the AI171 stigma to die down (apparently, it wasn’t a Boeing issue.) Now, what say ye, @Matt? Please consider…
Popcorn is ready.
Gary knows that Ben ran a story about DL’s pending 787-10 order based on my comments in a service-related DL article.
I’m glad to see Jon come along and confirm that his sources validate what I said.
GIVE TIMMY A METAL TO KEEP HIS EGO FROM FLOATING INTO SPACE!
*MEDAL
Tim better be careful. Delta may consider his reports and leaks treason and send the Delta KGB after him.
and 1990,
DL is not paying tariffs on A350 deliveries. They are not being imported to the US and are entering the US as used aircraft which apparently they can get by with. as an aside, tariffs hurt Boeing in the EU more than tariffs on Airbus hurt them in the US.
As I noted in Ben’s article, the biggest reason comes down to the fact that the 787-10 is a low CASM aircraft that is well suited to DL’s TATL and S. America flights while the A350s will be primarily deployed to Asia – both across the Pacific and Atlantic.
Also, there is no way that DL can get by with replacing its 767 fleet w/ Airbuses and having an all Airbus widebody fleet.
There will be room for the 787 as DL gets rid of the 767-300ER across the Atlantic and then later the 767-400. It is far more difficult to keep reserves on international fleet types and DL does not want any more widebody fleet types to have to staff. The 767-300 pilot category is shared with the 757 so using the 757/763 solely on domestic routes makes staffing much easier. The 764 is a separate pilot category and might take the place of the 763 on DL’s domestic and short haul int’l system.
I don’t expect the 787s to come before the late 2020s; DL is likely to take the remaining options on its Airbus widebodies which will keep DL’s widebody deliveries fairly high until the late 2020s.
and GE is reportedly willing to give DL engine maintenance (MRO) rights on the GEnx engines as part of the deal. DL has MRO engine rights for every engine type on every airplane model it has on order.
Delta will likely have Boeing throw in an extra auxillary fuel tank for free to achieve a 7,000 mile range for $150M each or $15 Billion SkyMiles.
DL will have a fleet of 50-60 787s by the mid 2030s.
and this deal is part of Boeing’s customer compensation for the delayed 737 MAX 10 order.
and AA is also expected to order the 787-10 to replace their 777-200ERs
@Tim Dunn — Right, also because TACO; those tariffs keep getting delayed, and are a decoy tactic, as part of the inside trading, pump n dump schemes going on since late January.
@Tim Dunn “Gary knows that Ben ran a story about DL’s pending 787-10 order based on my comments in a service-related DL article.”
I saw Ben quote your comments that a 787 order was logical. It is! But that’s different than putting a timeframe to it. I’m confident in the sourcing on Delta’s current thinking with the order.
“Delta didn’t used to buy Boeing, except for used.”
Wildly inaccurate. Delta has bought factory new from Boeing, though that has not happened in a while. The last big order was for the 737-900ER in 2011. Prior to that, they bought 10 737-700s, which weren’t “used”, and neither were the 737-800s they bought beginning in the late 1990s, or the 767-300ER order from the mid-1990s. The DL and Boeing relationship has not been the warmest, but it is simply not true that Delta didn’t buy Boeing but for used planes.
Tariffs on the A350 or not, with all of the sucking up to the government that UA is doing, it certainly is not a bad time for Delta to be finalizing a large order from an American company. May be a helpful part of their fleet modernization of course, but it’s also a helpful talking point for them right now and in the coming months and years. Smart move (even though I personally dislike flying on 787s).
@Gary, what?. “ Delta didn’t used to buy Boeing, except for used.”
Delta ordered new from Boeing in the past, quite a bit in fact.
727-200
737-800
737-900
737-10
757-200
767-200 remember the Spirit of Delta
767-300
777-200ER / LR
Delta has also purchased used or obtained via mergers 727s 737s 757s DC-10s and 747s
Too bad TD says aircraft orders don’t matter. Maybe rumors about aircraft orders do?
UA: 227 WB, 188 WB/501 NB on order, 15.6 average fleet age, Polaris Suites on 204 WB
DA: 176 WB, 29 WB/246 NB on order, 14.9 average fleet age, Delta One Suites on 80 WB
AA: 130 WB, 26 WB/284 NB on order, 14.1 average fleet age
Too funny.
@Pilot93434 — I miss the 747 from Northwest. Pretty cool taking those between ATL-NRT, back in the day.
The timing around tariffs seems more than opportunistic. It looks like a hedge. Delta has sidestepped Airbus tariffs using indirect delivery schemes, but ordering Boeing right now gives favorable optics domestically and could soften any Airbus-related political pressure.
If Boeing/GE layers on generous engine servicing terms, expanded MRO access via MTU and Delta TechOps, and favorable financial offsets tied to GEnx longevity, then Delta’s deal morphs from a simple aircraft order into a multi-dimensional strategic pact and one that touches fleet capacity, maintenance sovereignty, cost structure, and long-term operational resilience.
Ordering now also secures capacity which is also a real advantage as much as any discount price. So this is ultimately shaping up to look like a three‑pronged strategy: cabin‑network optimization, political hedging, and production pipeline prioritization. That’s a deft strategic play.
Gary,
your title is correct “insider leaks.”
I am more than happy for Jon to come along and validate what I said on Ben’s site but there isn’t a thing he said other than a date that I didn’t already say – and he omitted a whole lot of other things I did say including delivery dates.
And, in case you and JL missed it, contractual delivery dates mean little at Boeing. and the amount of orders they have doesn’t mean much either. JL and you should listen to UA’s earnings call transcript in which UA execs said that Boeing is getting UA’s MAX deliveries close to the highly revised schedule – and not for the MAX 10 – but they are still well behind on the 787s.
Boeing knows full well that it has customers whose plans are being pushed back because of Boeings’ delivery delays and yet Boeing has no choice but to keep getting new customers.
UA blew the whole wad of its first round of customer compensation on massive orders that will provide planes well into the 2030s. and yet Boeing is still delaying deliveries so United is still getting compensation – but it makes NO SENSE for them to place orders for 10 years out – beyond their current orders. and Boeing knows that United can’t reasonably “cash in” its delay compensation because they already ordered so many planes – so Boeing has no incentive to get UA’s orders back on track.
and Boeing is not going to make DL wait til the end of UA’s orders no matter how far out Boeing is delayed. DL will order the 787 for delivery in the latter part of this decade and early next decade and DL’s options for Airbus widebodies will ensure that DL will have the growth capacity to absorb Boeing’s delays.
JL, DL is massively growing its international network over the next few years because UA is not getting the planes to do so – and UA is still staring down the need to retire scores of aging widebodies in the next five years.
what is sad, JL, is how hard it is for you to accept reality so you continue to live with manipulated information to avoid facing that reality.
and DL was an exclusive Boeing customer until the Boeing- McDonnell Douglas merger. AA ordered Airbus widebodies long before DL ever did.
AA and DL’s fleets even today are within a couple percentage points of being half Airbus and half Boeing.
and it is also very noteworthy that UA – which has the biggest orderbook w/ Boeing – ran to Airbus to try to bail UA out of the Boeing induced mess and the best UA came up w/ is a couple dozen leased aircraft.
DL will order the 787 when the board gives its approval – which Jon cannot predict – it isn’t even on their agenda.
DL will get 787s DELIVERED long before UA’s current orderbook is fulfilled. and the same will be true for AA’s 787-10s that will also arrive before the end of the decade as the 777-200ERs are retired.
Hot lot of good that massive UA orderbook did or will do
@Tim Dunn — ‘UA blew the whole wad…’ Unrelated, but where’s @E. Jack Youlater?
TD said UA orders don’t matter and having more orders makes the airline less of a priority, but a rumor of a future DL aircraft and taking credit for it is critically important.
So entertaining.
@JL — Pretty sure UA’s gonna be waitin’ on those 737max 10s for a while. Arguably, that’s a UA (and everyone) problem. Boeing should’ve never closed down the 757 line; or at the very least, actually pursued the 797 as a replacement airframe. Anyhoo…
Good. I hope the 737 Max 10 is scuttled. More A321 Neos and XLRs please.
@JL — Ok, we’re in agreement there. The fact that nearly all commercial passenger 737s don’t use ULDs is a huge efficacy gap. The AKH by Airbus is far superior. Fast turnaround. Usually less ground crew (baggage handlers) required, too. Win-win.
1990
Scott Kirby loves to demonstrate his testosterone.
and he wasn’t smart enough to realize that once he “shot his wad” Boeing has no incentive to keep the planes coming to them because all of the compensation they will have to give won’t matter – because he is “spent”
and JL,
you still can’t grasp that DELIVERIES matter. Orders are of little consequence.
and DL would probably very much like to TAKE DELIVERY of MAX 10s but they aren’t going to wait forever for Boeing and DL could most certainly say “we tried” but we’ll rely on the 225 or so remaining A321NEO and A220-300 orders and options and take the MAX order in 787-10s – plus an additional sum – after the discount.
Boeing will keep stringing UA along w/ the MAX 10 – there isn’t anything they can do because they already “blew their wad” on a massive 787 order while WN just might say “enough is enough w/ the MAX 7 and finally order A220s and 787s.
In the fleet game, DL plays chess and UA plays checkers.
@Tim Dunn — The day Southwest flies a 787 will be quite a day. Maybe those rumors of flying to Europe are a thing. No, no… just Iceland. Pah.
Of course. That was checkers ordering over 700 airliners at rock bottom prices in the wake of Covid. Much smarter to wait until now when Boeing isn’t nearly as desperate and AA and others want more 787 also. Hopefully, Delta can get these interiors approved before they’re delivered and manage to install more than 10 new interiors/year.
TD has such unique insights into the airline biz. You could say one of a kind. Too funny.
1990.
yes, I do believe that WN is serious about becoming the 4th global carrier; unlike AS, WN already has a massive domestic system.
JL,
you still can’t grasp that UA ordered so many airplanes not because there was demand for Boeing airplanes but because Boeing was already very late in delivering the first massive round of Boeing airplanes that UA ordered and so UA gained a bunch of customer credits which UA cashed in.
Boeing hasn’t come close to delivering all of United’s first orders so all UA has done is extend its orderbook well into the 2030s – which means that any customer credit that Boeing offers is worthless to UA and Boeing has no incentive to speed up deliveries for UA.
Boeing DOES have significant motivation to add DL to its customer list and slot it in within 5 years – which is reasonable considering 787 delays – but still well ahead of other airline orders. Boeing is simply not going to move every delayed order forward and close every delivery position as long as it can sell more planes.
As I said before and no matter how hard it is for you to understand, the number of aircraft DELIVERED and WHEN is what matters and not the massive length of the order book.
Mike Hunt is correct.
DL is once again executing its fleet strategies better than any other US airline but also accomplishing multiple goals that other airlines simply cannot do – including having massive MRO operations.
With the GEnx MRO contract, DL will have overhaul contracts for every engine in the US carrier fleet except for the LEAP-A on the A321NEO. and DL could order a bunch of new 321NEOs just to get that maintenance contract.
Yep, cheaper prices, credits and being ahead of your competitors in line for new aircraft in which the lead time is now up to six years is checkers, and a rumored order in six months or so is chess. Got it.
Poor little TD.
As long as Delta charges 10 billion Sky-Pesos for a one way ticket, why would anyone care.
Delta is just not worth it for those in the points and miles game.
@ Tim Dunn – Thank you for the nod.
As to your comment “”…DL could order a bunch of new 321NEOs just to get that maintenance contract.”
Absolutely, and this is not hypothetical. It echoes Delta’s proven playbook. They’ve repeatedly used fleet decisions to secure aftermarket dominance. Extending that strategy to LEAP‑A engines would make Delta the only US airline with full-spectrum engine MRO capabilities, turning fleet planning into a vertically integrated powerhouse that others simply can’t replicate. A virtual empire that will print money long after the aircraft leave the factory.
As usual, Tim Dunn’s initial comments and defense responses amply demonstrate that he believes that his beloved Delta is the world’s only PERFECT airline. LOL
To the point of the post, and regardless of Delta being perfect or merely excellent, the strategy to diversify aircraft suppliers makes a lot of sense for large carriers that have many different kinds of service. But CASM isn’t the be-all-and-end-all. If it was, Delta would be routinely scheduling A350s between Atlanta and Augusta, Georgia. As Mark Twain wryly observed, “There are three kinds of lies – lies, damned lies, and statistics.”