Delta is planning for a premium-heavy Airbus A350-1000 widebody, with the first plane being delivered next year or (more likely) delayed into 2027, according to aviation watchdog JonNYC.
He says to expect “20 aircraft being delivered in a 28-month time frame.” The most exciting thing is that these planes will feature a new Delta One Suite in business class, as well as new economy seats.
this is what that original delivery schedule looked like:
2026
3Q: 12026
4Q: 32027:
1Q: 1
2Q: 32028
1Q: 3
2Q: 5
3Q: 2
4Q: 2— JonNYC (@xjonnyc.bsky.social) July 2, 2025 at 5:19 PM
and, yes, I confidently predict that there will be a new DeltaOne suite introduced (as well as new seats in Comfort and Main.)
— JonNYC (@xjonnyc.bsky.social) July 2, 2025 at 6:50 PM
These planes come from the order Delta placed 18 months ago with 20 aircraft firm and options for 20 more.
Airbus A350-900, Credit: Delta
Airbus A350-900, Credit: Delta
Delta was the first U.S. airline, and second airline in the world behind Qatar Airways, to put doors on direct aisle access long haul business class seats. However their long haul fleet still doesn’t have these fully installed. And the seat has definitely been surpassed by competitors. Delta’s basic seat is the Thompson Vantage XL, which isn’t close to top of market for current business class.
Current Delta Suite
American Airlines now has business class suites on their new Boeing 787-9P, using Adient Ascent seats which are excellent (though in a dense configuration). United has announced that their new delivery 787s will have a similar seat as well. So Delta needs to avoid falling into last place (a spot currently held amongst the three by United, though Delta’s 767 seats are the worst flying long haul for a U.S. or European flag carrier).
American Airlines Boeing 787-9P
Delta has upped its game on the ground with Delta One lounges, and is improving its soft product (with better wines, though a step behind United, and better bedding). New seats on new planes helps, but as of now there’s no plan to retrofit existing aircraft with the new seat that they unveil with A350-1000 aircraft.
Delta 767-300…the worst long haul business class seat in the sky
If Delta hasn’t improved the narrow footwell, it really won’t be much better.
Delta also announced that it will only require 1.75 million Sky-Pesos to book a one way ticket from JFK to LHR.
That AA pic looked similar to the BA seat we just flew on. Not terrible- and very private and small -but certainly doesn’t hold a candle to the new DL seats
I have said for years that DL will put new D1 Suites on its A350-1000s and I would strongly bet that seat will be the platform for the A330CEOs which will be reconfigured.
It is highly unlikely that DL will take 12 of its 20 35K orders in 2028 and I wouldn’t be surprised if the 2026 deliveries are pushed to early 2027
they are reportedly opting for all the fuel tank options and the highest gross takeoff weight (322 tonnes) so it will be an 18 hour plane w/ little effort.
The DL 35K will be the flagship and most capable and cost efficient aircraft in the entire US airline fleet.
Geez tim
sometimes you can’t control your rage about JonNyc leaking something.
when it’s about DL? You seem ok despite anything that shows it’s groundbreaking. But I’m sure we all hope it is. What do you think is groundbreaking about it?
You seemed to jump, as usual, on to anything painting Delta in a positive light but have no idea what it is. Which does just show your usual ignorance to anything delta groundbreaking…
Tim,
you’re too predictable and sad.
“What do you think is groundbreaking about it?”
just to preempt our Tim’s usual nonsense
let’s skip ahead. What is it about JonNYC’s announcement that caused you to be so for it?
You seem infatuated with his advanced notice, but furious he had it (per past posts)
focus on the question before you rant, per usual.
I’m with @Tim Dunn and am genuinely excited for this. Thank you for posting about it, Gary. If it means phasing out older 767s, that’ll please @Gene. Now, where’s @Matt when you need him, amirite, @L737? “For a premium experience in a new a35K, please consider Delta (in the coming years.)” Keep climbing! 100 more years!
PLEASE go with Safran Unity. I am begging DL. Thompson is old and dated, and the suite doors are short, bed length too close to the ground.
I choose to be optimistic — the fact that DL has gone with Safran Vue for their a321neo narrobody Delta One product (unconfirmed but I heard it somewhere) gives me hope that DL is sticking with Safran for their a350-1000 Delta One product. It is, by far, the superior “bare bones” business class product on the market today.
We’re all excited.
But
1. what is it? Should we be excited? What’s new?
2. Is Tim finally thrilled with JonNYC that he has better sources than Tim (Tim was fired from DL so not a surprise)
One more thing — I just hope DL doesn’t go with the standard reverse herringbone pattern that UA and AA have chosen. I wish they’d be original and keep reinventing like they did with the doors concept back in 2016. They can’t claim to be “industry-leading” in the U.S. and have the same hard product as their two primary competitors
Delta, you SOB – I’m in!
@1990 – More exciting news. I wonder what it’ll take to bring @Matt back from his retirement!
Look nice. Excited to see them. Would rather Delta focus on harmonizing the D1 hard product and do something with those crappy 76s and 332/3s.
max has clearly lost it. to precisely no one’s surprise. and because he can’t come up w/ actual sources, he trashes someone that does.
You, max, have never explained why I would have been fired from DL and be one of their biggest advocates.
Like everything else you say, there is zero logic for what Max says and a whole lot of evidence that Max is just talking out of his backside.
I simply said that I have said for years that DL would introduce a 2nd generation Delta One suite on the 35K and I believe it will be the platform on which the 330CEO D1 seats will be built.
It isn’t breaking news no matter who tries to say it is.
If someone comes up w/ the seat on which it is built, THAT would be breaking news.
and the DL 35K will be by far the most capable and efficient aircraft in the entire US carrier fleet.
and Parker,
DL IS retiring the 767s and will reconfigure the 330s… the latter was just confirmed by a DL exec.
it’s funny that people talk about harmonizing the DL fleet when DL will have 80 aircraft w/ Suite products by the end of this year while AA will have less than a dozen – which will grow to several dozen in a couple years – and UA will have far less and have made no commitments to retrofit any existing aircraft
and UA has also not committed to retiring any widebody aircraft.
DL has the MOST aircraft w/ the highest quality product and that number will be growing faster than either AA or UA…
Like Doug said, the footwells are way too small. I like the older apex business class seats on Korean Air. Biggest footwell for business class seat. Wider seats with wider footwells are more important that doors.
It’s rather obvious that someone who’s participated in this thread firmly believes that his beloved Delta is the world’s only PERFECT airline.
What’s with the obsession with have doors on the business class seats? What might one be doing in there in which that kind of privacy is needed?
They need a much better soft product (and more.service), not hard product.
The doors are mostly a gimmick, and on a 787 (not the case here) really restrict the space.
DL will have the best seats simply because they chose the wider, more spacious A350 instead of the cr@ppy small 787 (which also seems to crash for no reason, a Boeing special).
Hopefully they will keep the spaciousness of the high ceilings in J (like Qatar, Emirates, Singapore, etc.) and will not install the space squashing and very pedestrian center overhead bins like some low quality carriers have. It makes a huge difference.
@Joe United Nobody makes you close the door. In my case, nothing is going on behind a closed suite door that wouldn’t go in if there wasn’t a door. Sorry, to smash your teenage-boy fantasies. I find the extra separation psychologically soothing. He’ll, back in the days I flew trans-Pacific in Y, I’d sometimes use the lav just to temporarily have a space separated from others.
Delta’s premium cabins are a hodge podge of mediocrity. Yes, the 359s and 339s have the newest but the majority of DL’s routes that feature D1 are on aging A333s/A332s and 767s (-300/400). It will take Delta years to reconfigure the A333/332 fleet. Delta plusses up the ground experience because it can’t quite get there once on board and it knows it. Delta isn’t a premium airline. It is a Pepsi can in a champagne bucket.
To be specific, the Delta 767-300 business class seats are far inferior to other business class seats. The 767-400 seats are slightly narrower for seat and overall space, but still good.
@LadyOlives — How dare you bring up Pepsi in this hallowed ground. We’re discussing Delta, an Atlanta institution, like Coca-Cola, which it proudly serves on-board. I may be based in NYC (shout-out Long Island City, home of Pepsi), but even I prefer Coke, and know better than to defame Delta or its hometown beverage. Shame! (Couldn’t resist; I like a good riff!)
Delta has less than 40 remaining 767-300ERs and half of them fly domestic (transcon plus Hawaii) flights so it is incorrect to say that the majority of DL flights w/ DL One are on those aircraft.
DL has ~40 A330CEOs and 20 767-400s so about half of its widebody fleet has Delta One Suites on the 339 and 359 right now. A half dozen or so more 767-300ERs are expected to retire this year, DL has another 5 or so new deliveries so the percentage will be 55% plus by the end of the year – even before the 330CEO conversions happen beginning in 2026.
let’s keep in mind that DL’s 767-300ERs to Hawaii largely compete with United’s 777-200As and UA uses 757s on routes where DL uses widebodies which have direct aisle access and the internet notion that DL has a product mix that is inferior to UA is a myth. AA has a more diverse fleet from a product standpoint but the smallest widebody fleet of the big 3.
and I expect that DL will exercise options for more 359s and 35Ks and fill in some of the delivery dates in 2026 and beyond.
Most of UA’s 772As fly hub to hub with only a few flying on high demand Hawaii routes. Sorry to hear TD thinks the DL 350-1000s won’t show until 2027. UA starts getting their 787-9s with the studios and enhanced Polaris this year and are projected to have 25 of them by the end of 2026. UA’s High-J configurations all so provide significantly more premium international seats than the competition and is a far more consistent product offering.
https://runwaygirlnetwork.com/2025/05/united-airlines-elevates/
At the end of the day Delta still SUX.
FF miles are virtually useless on Delta, unless you enjoy a Premium Rip-Off.
Most of UA’s 772As fly hub to hub with only a few flying on high demand Hawaii routes. Sorry to hear you think the DL 350-1000s won’t show until 2027. UA starts getting their 787-9s with the studios and enhanced Polaris this year and are projected to have 25 of them by the end of 2026. UA’s High-J configurations all so provide significantly more premium international seats than the competition and is a far more consistent offering.
“You, max, have never explained why I would have been fired from DL and be one of their biggest advocates.”
I’ve never once suggested your mental derangement regarding Delta is normal, rational, or explainable. It is not considering you were fired. I can’t explain but don’t pretend you don’t have a well-documented past from your a.net days before you were banned. You do and it’s well known.
But again, to the topic. Tim, I’m glad you’re as excited with JonNYC’s breaking news as the rest of us. I’m just noting that there isn’t anything about what the new product is.
no, JL, UA will not provide a more consistent offering when they have a mixture of 757s, Polaris on a majority of their aircraft that have a seat that is inferior to DL’s existing Delta One product on the 339s and 359s and a small handful of new Polaris aircraft.
and the new even more premium J aircraft will be substantially smaller than DL’s 35Ks and probably still have an inferior product once DL rolls out its 2nd generation D1 seat.
Purely on economics and range, a DL 35K will clean AA and UA’s clock any day of the week and twice on Sunday.
@JL — I’m looking forward to UA’s new 789s with the studios. Likewise, I’m excited for AA’s new 789s with their suites, too. While I prefer Delta, generally, I still get pumped for new premium products, and phasing out dated stuff (like, I can’t believe DL still has 717s; time to ditch those for more a220s). And everyone should ditch the CRJs for Embraer E variants. Basically, anything with the engines in the back (ugh, as with the ole 727s, MD-88/90s), time to go! It’s 2025, c’mon!
“no, JL, UA will not provide a more consistent offering when they have a mixture of 757s, Polaris on a majority of their aircraft that have a seat that is inferior to DL’s existing Delta One product on the 339s and 359s and a small handful of new Polaris aircraft.”
If only Delta’s own fleet was in any way consistent. It isn’t and far worse than United’s consistent Polaris widebody seat. Hell, Delta is still flying around A350s without all aisle access or working wifi.
More vapor ware from DELTA
max,
DL has TWO ex-Latam A350s still in service. The rest are in mods or are already out.
DL ALWAYS intended to reconfigure the ex-Latam 350s and they are doing that.
but you and others look for the tiniest of exceptions for DL while ignoring that UA will not put its new polaris product on its entire 767 or 777-200/ER fleet and, unlike DL, is not retiring those fleets.
No, max, UA already has a lower class and less consistent product than DL which has Delta one SUITES on half of its fleet already, United has no suites in service, and DL, like AA, does not fly narrowbodies with 2X2 seating to the UK or beyond.
the only vaporware is the myth that UA has a more consistent or better business class product. Polaris was a space-saving strategy that produces less space than AA or DL’s business class products and UA will be the furthest behind in adding suite products to its aircraft.
and it is a lie that UA doesn’t use its 777As to Hawaii where DL and AA use direct aisle access widebodies.
JL says: Most of UA’s 772As fly hub to hub with only a few flying on high demand Hawaii routes.
Tim Dunn says: and it is a lie that UA doesn’t use its 777As to Hawaii…
Yikes. Poor TD. Try taking a few deep breaths. 😉
1990 says: @JL — I’m looking forward to UA’s new 789s with the studios. Likewise, I’m excited for AA’s new 789s with their suites, too.
You will get to see the AA Flagship Suites in just a few days and the UA Studios and upgraded Polaris this year. Sounds like it will be a couple of years wait on Delta’s A350-1000’s. Hopefully, they’ll get all the approvals before taking delivery unlike those market A321 Neos with their engines missing. Yikes!
as usual, facts are the casualty in the incessant UA rah-rah campaign.
The 777A is UA’s primary aircraft to Hawaii. The fact that they fly more flights between hubs on it is irrelevant to the fact that AA and DL use only international configured widebodies to Hawaii with their direct aisle business class product.
It is not a badge of honor but rather of shame that UA has to use 365 seat domestic configured widebodies on its domestic network and yet AA and DL both have larger hubs than UA.
It is a pain in the backside to be on a plane that large that has no more space than a narrowbody and often much less.
and DL is about to release its SECOND GENERATION Delta One Suite while AA and UA are rolling out their FIRST suite products. DL will have 80 aircraft with Suites by the time AA and UA have a handful.
If DL’s 321NEO transcons lag AA and UA’s XLRs that will be similarly configured, there will be news. but not based on any reality today
and DL’s 35Ks will be by far the most economical and capable aircraft in the US carrier fleet and will fly well beyond anything in AA and UA’s fleet. having anywhere from 60 to 80 more seats and being able to fly another hour or more makes all the difference in global reach and competition
Delta “d”one is more like it. Last with premium lounges(AA started them and going into a second generation now); last with premium economy( again started by AA in the US and again going into their second generation); food is not fit for UA economy passengers and scheduling is a joke, they are first ontime only because the have 30 minutes buffers that AA and UA don’t put into their schedules just to fake the numbers. Give me NWA or TWA again, but for now AA is rising, UA is climbing and Delta is about to land hard in the top 3.
No tim
You brought up consistency and delta doesn’t even try for consistency on their wide bodies
United does have consistency.
AA has all aisle access just like United
Delta does not due to a purposeful choice. 14 hour flights with no WiFi and no all aisle access
Delta has No WiFi due to poor choices on many international routes
God awful J seats on the MAJORITY of their fleet but, of course, you talk about the exception.
Try again, buddy
Again, feel free to disprove what your own delta coworkers say about you — fired from delta
You say tim Dunn is your real name. It clearly isn’t but if you aren’t lying about everything (which you are), it shouldn’t be tough to prove
Tim Dunn says: as usual, facts are the casualty
They sure are and your propensity for projection is impressive.
UA dwarfs DL & AA to Hawaii and as it is a low-yield market UA uses 737s, 753s, 772s, 773s, 787-10s depending on the city pair and time of day so as to match supply and demand. Hawaii is more important as somewhere for frequent flier to burn miles.
If you are going to pretend to be an airline ‘analyst’ you do a little homework.
@ JL — Yes, DLs 5 aircraft with suites and 50 POS 763s make them far superior to UAs consistent product. NOT.
@ Lil Tim — Give it a rest. We know you are still recovering from your stroke over UA being first in line to snag B6 and surging further ahead of DL as the world’s #1 airline. It’ll be OK.
Wow, so @MaxPower and @JL are two different people. I think @Tim Dunn doesn’t mind the two-against-one going on above. I’d say, he may ‘enjoy it.’ I know I sure do. Keep it going, fellas!
@MaxPower — None of the ‘big three’ are ‘consistent’ by those standards. I wish. But no.
@JL — Aren’t we all ‘projecting’ a little here? As for Hawaii, it really depends where you’re originating from. Sure, plenty of options from the West Coast, but from elsewhere, American is mostly Dallas, sure, United has ORD, IAH, and EWR, so yeah, they’ve got options, and Delta’s ATL, JFK ain’t bad for 10+ hour flights, practically longer than to many European destinations.
@Gene — No… no… you’re missing out on the fun, sir. Tell @Tim Dunn to come back, faster, harder, better than before. It’s the ‘passion’ we all need and deserve at VFTW. C’mon!
1990 says: @JL As for Hawaii, it really depends where you’re originating from.
Exactly. UA has six SFO-HNL and five LAX-HNL daily flights and like you said direct HNL flights from DEN (2), IAH, ORD, & EWR not to mention extensive service to the other islands. The UA Hawaii operation dwarfs AA & DL primarily due to its superior coastal hubs and far more numerous wide body aircraft with a variety of configurations with which UA takes full advantage.
Someone doesn’t seem to understand you want to put your premium product in premium markets. Airline analyst? I think not.
@JL — I’ll let you and @Tim Dunn debate the financials for those companies, but as premium passenger, I like more options, more lie-flat, and competitive prices. It’s been about 11 years since I’ve been to Hawaii, so maybe I’m due for a return. Hawaiian also flies from JFK-HNL on their 789, so three carriers operating nonstops, for my market, daily, depending on the season. Not bad. I guess AA wouldn’t dare try that from JFK T8, too. Oh well.
@ 1990 — Skip Hawaii. The hotels suck, and it has been ruined by overtourism (like most other places). If they had great hotels, I wouldn’t mind going there frequently. Give me a lie-flat and a Park Hyatt, and I am game.
@1990
United and AA have all aisle access on their wide bodies and never sacrificed that like delta did.
There’s actually not a debate here. Delta chose poor consistency and product.
Delta has little international WiFi due to corporate choices while United and AA do worldwide
Once a crop duster, always a crop duster.
@Gene — Well, the lie-flat can be arranged, but the Park Hyatt may have to wait. I’ve been to the main four, Oahu, Maui, Kauai, and the Big Island, but haven’t made it to Lanai, yet, and they do have those Four Seasons there, so it’s an aspiration for another visit. No rush though.
@MaxPower — Woah there, partner. I gotta bone to pick with AA and UA’s WiFis as they often not complimentary; whereas, Delta has high-quality at least North American coverage included for SkyMiles members, so I’d say they’re doing better on ‘price.’ For WiFi and US carriers, I’ve actually been most impressed by jetBlue, including their transatlantic flights; included, never had any service issues between JFK-LHR, JFK-AMS.
@ MaxPower — Plus, UA flies to way more places than DL and are part of a vastly superior alliance. Why doesn’t Lil Tim ever extoll the virtues of the glorious SkyTeam?
@ Mary — Compared to Qatar, Emirates, and Singapore, Delta is a low quality airline.
I have a friend in Chicago who was a loyal AA customer. I told her UA finally has its act together and would eventually get her business. She defended AA’s product and even their app when I told her UA’s app was industry-leading by far. She and her whole team eventually requested and got their AA status matched by UA. Now that she flies UA and admits she was wrong about the product and especially the app. She even bought her own Polaris gel pillow for home and has become UA’s biggest cheerleader.
The point is people tend to like what they know even if it is less than optimal. UA has turned it around and will only get better as they continue to take delivery of the almost 700 mainline aircraft they have on order.