Two weeks ago, Delta Air Lines placed an order for 30 Boeing 787-10 widebody aircraft with options for 30 more. Aviation watchdog JonNYC, who had previously leaked Delta’s plan for this order, told us at Delta wasn’t done aircraft shopping and to an expect an order of Airbus widebodies also.
I acknowledged that the A330-900 was the most likely purchase but suggested that they could place an order for Airbus A350-900s also. I did not expect the order to come this quickly, but Delta has now announced:
- 16 Airbus A330-900s
- 15 Airbus A350-900s
On January 27, 2026, Delta Air Lines, Inc. (“Delta”) entered into a definitive agreement with Airbus S.A.S. to purchase 16 Airbus A330-900 aircraft and 15 Airbus A350-900 aircraft, with an option to purchase up to an additional 20 widebody aircraft. Deliveries of the aircraft will begin in 2029. The A330-900 aircraft will be powered by the Trent 7000 engine and the A350-900 aircraft will utilize the Trent XWB-84 EP engine, both manufactured by Rolls-Royce.
Airbus A350-900, Credit: Delta
Delta A350-900
Boeing 787-10s are largely a 767 replacement. These deliveries don’t start until 2031. Delta needs planes earlier than that and the Airbus A330-900 plugs that gap, and adds to an existing fleet. And they needed a plan to replace Airbus A330-200s and -300s as well.
Meanwhile, the Airbus A350-900 gives Delta greater range than the 787-10s they’ve ordered and gets about 1,000 nautical miles more range than the A330-900 so it’s a good workhorse for long Asia and Africa routes. They already have 41 Airbus A350-900s.
Delta exercised options it already held, added to that, and gained additional options, exactly what I said would be the case.
DL also gained more engine overhaul rights from Rolls Royce, exactly as some of us predicted.
DL’s confirmed orders will take its widebody fleet to over 200 and even higher when the options for the 787-10s and the remaining widebody options are exercised.
and note that the latest engines for both the 339 and 359 have improved engines which will increase range and reduce fuel burn while improving reliability.
and to think that some – we know who – were convinced that DL would not have enough widebody orders to meet growth.
While UA fights with AA over Chicago, DL will be growing its presence throughout Asia with the most capable and efficient aircraft in the US carrier fleet.
@Tim – United is fighting for Chicago right now, Delta gets just enough widebodies to replace its current crumbling fleet in 2029…. I always appreciate your strongly held but loosely informed insight.
Andy,
DL has well more than enough widebodies just on firm order to replace all of the widebodies it needs to retire in the next 10 years.
and they still have scores or Airbus and Boeing widebody options.
For someone that claims to be insightful, you are woefully ignorant of actual facts and data.
And, “crumbling fleet” is far more appropriate for UA’s fleet – they can’t get engines or parts to support their Pratt powered 777s.
and UA’s fleet of 767s isn’t any newer than DL’s.
UA needs to replace well over 100 widebodies in the next 5-7 years.
Unless UA finally adds the A350, they have no more international growth capacity than UA.
You and the UA fans have never been able to admit that DL runs a better business including being able to get the widebody orders DL needs without ordering widebodies in blocks of 100 years in advance as UA has done. But AA doesn’t do it either.
DL is growing to Asia – East, South and the Middle East – and will have far more capable and efficient aircraft to do it than UA
Of course DL used options as that is the only way to get wide body aircraft in less than 4-5 years. Feeling the heat? 359s? Great! 339s with Trent 7000s? No thanks. This makes the 78Xs look a bit political and begs the question if 30 of them are worth having another fleet. DL could always delay their deliveries like UA did with the 359s.
TD, any word on those on those Riyadh 787 delivery positions? Too funny.
Of course, DL exercised options… but they also ordered additional aircraft ABOVE those options and got more options.
DL has 30 787 options and 30 or more Airbus widebody options.
I know facts are not your friend but DL has never been in a position of not being able to get the aircraft it needs.
and DL is significantly growing the size and capability of its widebody fleet – which is not exactly great news for UA which has committed to a multi-year slugfest with AA.
There will be a whole lot more DL A350s all over Asia and larger and more capable 339s across the Atlantic – which incidentally carry about twice what AA and UA’s XLRs will carry.
not a great day in Chicago.
UA thought it would troll AA’s earnings announcement and DL just let UA know it is targeting the international markets that are UA’s identity.
I said years ago and will say it again that DL has a far higher likelihood of succeeding in the international markets it will add than UA will have going after every domestic carrier not named DL, which UA fears for good reason
and to think that Scott Kirby actually said not long ago that UA needed to order all the 787s it ordered so no one else could get any orders.
DL has ordered 787s, 330s and 350s over the past 2 weeks – obviously proving Kirby wrong ON YET ANOTHER POINT
787s in 2031 and some options starting in three years just like everyone who knows how aircraft orders/backlogs work. Nice try though.
Riyadh delivery positions? Hilarious.
@Tim Dunn
UA has:
– 37 B767-300s: avg. age of 30 (these range in age: 5 of these are <25, 13 <27)
– 16 B767-400s: avg. age of 24
– 74 B777-200s: avg. age of 27 (these range in age: 16 of these are <25, 38 <27)
UA is planning to maximize utilization of these widebodies and delay retirements – both them and DL are using B757 and B767 frames until ~35+ (some even ~37 years old). UA will be helped by the Pratt engine groundings and COVID as it has acquired engines for those B777-200s that are grounded for parts – they are not retiring those planes.
It is very likely UA can get away with ~60-70 widebody retirements by 2033 – it will almost certainly be below 100. UA is committed to 138 B787 deliveries between 2026-2033 (not including options in addition) and 50 XLRs.
DL had 4 remaining A350-900s on its first order, 20 A350-1000s (which will start delivery in early 2027), and 30 B787-10s (which will start delivery in 2031). This adds 16 Airbus A330-900s and
15 Airbus A350-900s with rumors that the A330-900s will start deliveries first in 2029 with the A350-900s later ~2030/31. That is a total of 85 widebodies that will be delivered until 2033 not including options.
In the meantime DL has:
– 34 B767-300s: avg. age of 29 (0 <25; 6 <27 (all between 26-27))
– 21 B767-400s: avg. age of 25 (6<25; all 27
2. DL: 85 widebody deliveries – 28 widebody deliveries are >27
That’s a net +78 for UA and +57 for DL – all this does is bring DL closer to UA, but UA is still almost certainly going to grow more than DL in long-haul.
Jeremy,
to no surprise, you underestimate what UA has to retire and don’t include DL’s options.
when even your math comes out to a difference of 20 aircraft, DL and UA will be neck in neck in international growth.
the big difference is that DL is not fighting w/ everyone in the domestic market and generating almost $2 billion less in profits despite flying 10% more ASMs.
I know you will never agree but I am being proven right more and more every day that DL will succeed more in growing its international network than UA will in gaining domestic share.
Why are any US airlines ordering widebodies for transocean travel east/west? Does anyone use these airlines? The Middle Eastern and Asian airlines are so much better, right?
I didn’t include UA’s options either which are more than DLs (50 B789s + 45 A350s). Regardless your claim is simply wrong and not bearing out in the data. UA’s capacity domestically is growing far more than DL’s internationally. Want to bet on that for 2026 and 2027?
Nothing you were claiming has been proven right whether it comes to DL likely overtaking UA in NYC or that DL will grow more successfully in the Pacific than UA will domestically (DL has taken bigger hits to yield and PRASM in FY25 than UA has domestically).
Wall Street expects UA to further bridge the gap in profitability with DL despite the Battle of Chicago – DL is only adding 4 widebodies in 2026 and TBD on 2027, but it will likely be no more than 8. The routes they’re going to add are already well-known (LAX-HKG, ATL-RUH, ATL-DEL). Perhaps the rumors of LAX-SIN, ICN, and MNL likely materialize with a JFK-ICN, but that’s basically all the net long-haul growth for DL until 2028.
UA is going to grow far more than that with 25+ B789s and 15+ XLRs in that timeframe.
I asked Google Deep Mind what or who a Tim Dunn is. It returned a 67 page response that consisted of numbers, symbols, nomenclature, abbreviations and theories that made absolutely no sense. Where have we seen this before?
Jeremy,
what UA actually reported says far more than what UA execs think they will accomplish – which was BEFORE they announced their orders today.
and UA has no choice but to retire widebodies or let another Pratt engine failure ground the
You can argue all you want but DL will succeed more in growing into UA’s territory of international more than UA will succeed in growing its domestic share.
yes, what I have said for years is EXACTLY what is playing out.
$1.7 billion more in profits and a growing international network says DL’s strategy is working far better than UA’s “fight with everyone we can find – other than DL” strategy
@ Jeremy, “That’s a net +78 for UA and +57 for DL – all this does is bring DL closer to UA, but UA is still almost certainly going to grow more than DL in long-haul.”
And as you say UA’s WBs are coming sooner, faster and in greater numbers after starting with 50 more WBs. UA is also heading to a far simpler and more versatile fleet.
Current fleet figures.
UA: 1,061 aircraft, (230 WB), 185 WB/483 NB on order (15.5 average fleet age)
AA: 1,013 aircraft, (137 WB), 19 WB/268 NB on order (14.1 average fleet age)
DL: 988 aircraft, (180 WB), 85 WB/232 NB on order (14.9 average fleet age)
The only numbers that you should be focused on is $1.7 billion and 10%.
you can tout how much larger UA is but it is clear that UA cannot generate the profits that DL is generating and also isn’t stopping DL from growing into the markets that are core to UA.
as for fleet versatility for UA, you might wait until UA decides the future of the A350 order = Jeremy wants to count them in his numbers.
The difference between DL and UA is that DL can operate a complicated fleet by making money fixing other airline’s planes.
UA can take on the A350 if it wants but it will cost it while UA will make money.
And of course either version of the A350 carries more passengers and cargo further so UA’s “simple” little fleet will miss out on all kinds of revenue opportunities.
the next five years will be really fun to watch in the US airline industry.
The first passenger to fly on a 40 year old Delta 767 (N171DN was delivered 36 years ago in 1990) will receive a complimentary upgrade to J, unless it’s sold for cash before the doors close…
@ TD, “UA can take on the A350 if it wants but it will cost it while UA will make money.”
Well said TD.
Tim
Delta is great for international if yonu wat to pay 450K Skypesos for flying Saudia. It has a great international network covering .. well, covering Africa, although even then it can’t match United + Ethiopian and AAs coverage with QA and EY.
Europe, India, the ME, the far East? Who cares about them?
so, it is DL that gives its network away to its JV partners but you count Ethiopian – with which UA doesn’t even have a JV – to boost UA’s presence in Africa?
I believe UA just shut down a destination in Africa. Can you remind me which one it was.
And I also believe that DL still has a larger African network than UA.
and, more significantly, DL makes $1.7 billion more than UA.
Go ahead and mock the focus on financials but if you think that UA is going to be in the same position to compete with DL in growing each’s international network while making less and fighting it out with everyone else not named DL.
and UA does care about the Middle and Far East. DL apparently does too because they are growing there.
Yeah, rebel, UA will make money. DL will just make more and still grow in UA’s marquee markets.
THAT is what you are really afraid of.
and DL clearly has no problem getting all of the widebodies it needs without having tens of billions of airplanes on order.
but, yeah, UA is going to get far more airplanes in 2026 so it can go to battle with AA at ORD.
I still find it interesting that DL will have no widebody with less than 275 seats (in the high-premium 359s). The smaller 339s are 281. What do they fly TATL to replace the 332s and 767s used on those routes that will be retired? I love their policy of not using narrowbodies to Europe (except KEF). But, what replaces the 763s and 332s they fly to places like DUB and EDN? Yes, the new planes have lower costs per pax kg when full. But, they now have 20-25% more seats on each plane. Of course this may just highlight the lack of a “modern 767.” AA and UA both fly the 788, but they both are willing to fly the 757 or 321 TATL long and narrow.
@ Tim — Traveling on SAA yesterday, it was noted that Star Alliance flies to 195 countries, using almost entirely great airlines. SkyTeam is very weak compared to Star Alliance and yet one more reason that UA will eventually leave DL in the dust.
@This comes to mind — You must have never tried lie-flat business class on jetBlue’s newer Mint a321neo, La Compagnie’s, TAP, or any other airline’s narrow-body aircraft TATL. It’s actually superior for reaching smaller airports, not having to connect. I’d much rather fly directly to OPO, than have to stop in LIS first, for instance. Could you imagine a nonstop from CMH to Europe in lie-flat? It would be thanks to aircraft like an XLR.
@Gene. — SAA? As in, South African Airways? If so, cool! Safari? Enjoy!
Gene
and yet UA doesn’t have joint ventures with most Star carriers; I am not sure why you think it is great for an airline to give away flying to its alliance partners.
In fact, UA puts its code on proportionately more alliance partner flights including JV partners than DL does. The myth about DL giving away its international flights to JV partners while UA flies its own metal is, as usual, backwards from the truth.
comes to mind,
DL is committed to increasing the average aircraft size on its international fleet just as it led the industry in doing on its domestic fleet.
There is no one that thinks that adding a bunch of 321XLRs is a superior solution to flying widebodies with one’s one metal
and UA has 788s because it was the first 787 but hasn’t ordered them since. AA is one of the few airlines that has ordered the 788 after the 789 became available – and AA is hardly the epitome of a well-run company; the 788 simply has the highest unit costs of all new generation aircraft with substantially less revenue generating capacity – which explains why there are virtually none of them being sold.
@Tim
You seem to forget that most of us don’t have unrequited adolescent crushes on UA or other airlines the way you do on Delta.
My point was that Delta has a lousy international network. Africa is the only place where Delta can be said to have a better network, and Africa hardly accounts for a large share of worldwide aviation.
And UA may not have a formal JV with ET, but they have codeshare, excellent award availability.
UA allows booking Lufthansa, ANA, Singapore. Even Emirates. AA gives us Etihad, Qatar, JAL, Cathay, BA. Alaska has one world and now a great pacific network.
I understand you might prefer spending 450K miles on Delta for the privilege of visiting Jeddah in the summer. But most of us don’t fly on miles earned by our mother the way you do, so we would rather book with airlines that have decent networks, great international partners.
first, you love to talk about UA’s superior international network but can’t stand hearing that they are #4 out of the big 4 in the US domestic market.
and DL carries more passengers whose tickets are paid for by others than AA or UA or WN; those of you that fixate on DL’s SM prices not only fail to highlight the reality that other airlines are cheapening their loyalty programs but they also cannot match DL’s ability to attract corporate contract revenue and thus DL has far more DL passengers that see their SM accounts as personal bonuses for their company-paid travel – which is an entirely different dynamic than people that buy their travel on their own
and Ben has highlighted how low the redemption rate for travel related credits compared to cash back and other options.
your anecdotal experiences do not align with the way most of the world sees loyalty programs and their successes.
@Tim
what you don’t realize is that we’re not infatuated with UA or AA the way you are with Delta. I don’t care about UA”s position in the domestic market. I do care that UA has great international redemptions and AA has fantastic redemptions.
When you start preparing for the SAT math exams, you’ll realize that 450K redemptions to visit Jeddah in the summer is a terrible deal mathematically.
Jon F
it is actually rebel and Jeremy that demonstrate an adolescent crush on a company with an adult-sized inability to hear the truth even as they continue to trumpet every fact they can throw out to avoid dealing w/ the actual reality which is that UA is a less successful business and airline.
That is not subjective and it has nothing to do with partnerships or loyalty program redemption rates. You simply validate with your comments that you are cut out of the same cloth as those two.
UA is a business and it is an airline. It does neither of those two things as good as DL by all kinds of objective measures.
Let’s be clear that you, Jeremy and rebel are incapable of that hearing that reality so you bloviate that I am the one that I am excessively engaged with a company.
DL proved during the past month that it is taken active steps to growing its international network esp. in the regions of the world where UA has had strength. on the same day as AA’s pitiful earnings announcement and just after DL outperformed UA in 2025 earnings by $1.7 billion (50%), UA decided to focus on picking a fight and DL committed to growing its business.
UA’s strategies are clearly not best-in-class and simply highlight that UA’s earnings re mid-tier between bottom performing AA and top performing DL even when adjusted for the labor cost advantage UA has because its employees are more interested in drinking the Kirby Koolaid than getting industry leading compensation – which ironically AA employees are much closer to achieving than UA employees
It is not subjective but quite objective and fact based that UA is a business and it is an airline. It does neither of those two things as good as DL by all kinds of objective measures. Let’s be clear that you, Jeremy and rebel are incapable of that hearing that reality so you bloviate that I am the one that I am excessively engaged with a company. DL proved during the past month that it is taken active steps to growing its international network esp. in the regions of the world where UA has had strength. on the same day as AA’s very low earnings announcement and just after DL outperformed UA in 2025 earnings by $1.7 billion (50%), UA decided to focus on picking a fight and DL committed to growing its business. UA’s strategies are clearly not best-in-class and simply highlight that UA’s earnings re mid-tier between bottom performing AA and top performing DL even when adjusted for the labor cost advantage that UA has because its employees are more interested in listening to corporate rah rah sessions than getting industry leading compensation – which ironically AA employees are much closer to achieving than UA employees
@Tim
I can’t speak for others, but to be clear — I’m a consumer. I don’t care about UA or AA;s cost structure or finances vis-a-vis delta except in that they impact my consumer experience.
I will say that anyone who thinks one should pay 450K for a flight on delta international biz class is mathematically challenged (probably a basement dweller too), and probably thinks Saudia is superior to Emirates, Qatar and Etihad, that Singapore, ANA, JAL and Cathay are inferior to Vietnam airlines
It’s increasingly feeling like the big battle is going to end up being Delta vs United while American will be eating leftovers. That may turn out to mean that the AA loyalty program will be the best of the big 3 in terms of the value of the rebate currency in the form of AA miles.
Delta is still by far the worst of the bunch in terms of the value of the rebate currency that are the airline program miles. And yet I’m going to end up hitting another million miler status with Delta anyway despite it not being any more preferred by me than American and United.
@Jon F gets it. There’s a bit too much inside baseball on here as soon as ‘load factor’ and other industry terms become the ‘data’ that we highlight. No, it’s consumers experiences, in-booking and on-board, and the workers who actually make these flights happen that matters far more than shareholders. Yet, some folks, *cough*, try to hype up faux-turf-wars at ORD, as if it matters. Wake me up when fares actually drop. Nudge me when our points aren’t incredibly devalued. Shout when there’s a deal to fly TATL J for 80K points like the good ole days of last decade….
wow… just reading the Tim Dunn meltdowns from yesterday. yikes. Talk about mental issues
How is one person so creepily obsessed with an airline as though their entire life is built upon a public company? She don’t love you back, hon!!!
Do you even have any real delta employee friends left? Or do they consider you a weird too?
@Julie — Is your whole vibe just anti-Tim/Delta? I get it; he’s laser focused on DAL, and occasionally lets some right-wing talking-points slip-in. But, Julie, what else you got? You a UAL fan-girl? You like to travel? Give us some substance. Please. Anything, other than just Tim-bashing. Same goes to the rest of y’all. Put on a better show. C’mon.
@1990
back at ya, 1990
do you do anything besides make stupid remarks to fill your boring day?
I’ll post what I want just like you post hundreds of nothing all day to attempt human interaction.
If you’d like to go through my post history, be my guest, hon. “c’mon”
@Julie — Clearly, I was getting jealous that Tim gets all the hate on here. Thank you for finally showering me with some. I needed that. *moans* As for topics of interest, yeah, I got plenty. Would you like my white-paper on why the US should have an EU-261 equivalent? How about my theories on why Delta’s flight attendants, maintenance technicians, and baggage handlers should join their pilots (since 1934!) and dispatchers in forming a union? I’ve also got ‘hot takes’ and memes on all sorts of things, ready to go. What flavors do you enjoy? I’d like a taste of what you’re having, too.
Really don’t care about your opinions 1990 but, as ever, post away. You seem to have an endless supply of one off remarks that don’t add to a conversation coupled with “pay them more” comments about unions that is never based on any sort of rationale whatsoever.
Please, post away. You often fill about 50% of every comment section throughout the day with nothing statements and incongruent sentence structure and made up words.
Post away on unionization but keep your nose in your own business and topics vs trying desperately for attention as is your norm.
Tim Dunn is an unabashed Delta fangirl. You’re just a troll with lots of time on their hands.