This article is about the mainline Delta Air Lines Fleet. For information about the fleet of Delta's regional operations, see Delta Connection § Fleet.
Delta has historically preferred purchasing or leasing used aircraft or using older-generation models to keep initial acquisition costs down. 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 newer aircraft via discounts on slower-selling models and as aircraft manufacturers transition to newer designs. As a result, as of 2023,[update] Delta flies the second-oldest fleet among the legacy carriers, and the average fleet age has been reduced to 15.3 years.[5][6]
Before its 2008 merger with Northwest Airlines, Delta's fleet was made up solely of American manufacturers' aircraft (except the Airbus A310, which was acquired from the collapsed Pan American World Airways). Aircraft from overseas manufacturers like Airbus joined the fleet after the merger with Northwest, and more have since been added.
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.[7] Its Airbus A220, Airbus A320, Boeing 737, and Boeing 757 aircraft are used for short-haul flights and medium-haul transcontinental flights.[citation needed]
Delta primarily uses its wide-body aircraft on long-haul flights to Africa, Asia, Europe, Oceania, and South America. Its Airbus A330s and Boeing 767s mainly operate on flights to Europe,[8] while the Airbus A350-900 mainly operates on flights to Asia and Oceania.[citation needed]
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.[citation needed] 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).[citation needed] At the time, Delta had over 200 DC-9, MD-88, and MD-90 aircraft from McDonnell Douglas in its fleet.[citation needed] Replacing these older aircraft was a top priority for Delta.[citation needed]
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.[9] This order would later be incrementally increased to 127 aircraft with 15 more added to the order in 2014,[10] an additional 37 in 2016,[11] and 40 more in 2017.[12][13] 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,[14] followed by a purchase of 55 more in 2021.[15][16] Delta placed its first order for 75 A220 aircraft in April 2016, when the program was still run under Bombardier Aerospace.[citation needed] 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.[citation needed] Delta would later increase its order to a total of 145 A220 aircraft.[citation needed]
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[citation needed] and by leasing 7 used aircraft in July 2021.[17]
Delta has also acquired some aircraft from Boeing. The airline purchased 29 used Boeing 737-900ER aircraft in July 2021[17] and also agreed to purchase 100 Boeing 737 MAX 10 aircraft in 2022.[citation needed]
As a result of the fleet renewal, Delta was able to retire its McDonnell Douglas MD-88/MD-90,[18] Boeing 777,[19] and Boeing 737-700 fleets in 2020.[20]
On January 12, 2024, Delta placed an order for 20 Airbus A350-1000 with options to buy 20 more.[21]
Current fleet
As of January 2025[update], Delta Air Lines operates the following mainline aircraft:[citation needed]
Originally decided to buy Martin 2-0-2s but in 1951 ordered ten CV-340s instead. Eight CV-440s were delivered from 1956 and Delta modified retrospectively its 340s to 440s.[63]
Operated the world's first scheduled DC-8 service (from New York to Atlanta) on September 18, 1959. DC-8-11s were converted to -12s then further converted to -51s.[69] One crashed at Flight 9877. Two hijacked as Flight 841 and Flight 821.
Early retirement accelerated due to the COVID-19 pandemic. First and final MD-90 operator.
Notes
^Delta originally had DC-9-30s from 1967 to 1993. Delta sold some of its DC-9-30s back to McDonnell Douglas, which sold them to ValuJet, forming ValuJet's initial fleet. ValuJet would eventually become Delta's main Atlanta-based rival, AirTran Airways. However, Delta inherited a fleet of -30s in 2008 when it merged with Northwest Airlines. Two of these had been delivered to Delta in 1967.
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