Delta Airlines has come to an agreement with Boeing on deferring its order for (18) 787 aircraft until the year 2020 or about 10 years from now.  Delta inherited the order when it merged with Northwest Airlines and there has been talk of this happening for over a year now.   It has also arranged to sell (4) 737-800 to third parties upon delivery from Boeing. 

Delta has new(ish) aircraft and it has really old aircraft.  What it doesn’t have is worn out aircraft that require replacement.  Not in the 787 category anyways. 

What’s going on?  Well, operating airliners is a funny thing.  You can buy new, operate new and sell relatively new.  Your costs to do that are generally worth it because you’re also getting a lot of efficiency and since the aircraft is new, maintenance is far cheaper.  Ryanair does this.  You can also hold on to old aircraft, refurbish them from time to time and while they aren’t very efficient with fuel, the capital costs to operate the aircraft are dirt cheap.   Northwest was in the habit of doing this with 40 year old DC-9 aircraft. 

Delta has been buying up used aircraft that fit its model such as the MD-90 and it is going to hold on to other aircraft that have lots of life in it.  Their 767 fleet will hold up for quite some time yet and there is some evidence that the 767 may be no more costly to operate on routes of about 5000nm or less than the 787 is.   In addition, they have a pretty young A330 fleet that was inherited from Northwest and it definitely won’t require replacement anytime soon either. 

Delta is clearly going to preserve its capital and work towards distributing profits from its revenue streams.  This hasn’t worked for airlines very well in the past but it is the stated intention of Delta CEO Richard Anderson.   Even it becomes necessary to change courses, they can.  Delta is a huge airline now and if it decides it wants to move up deliveries on aircraft or even just order more aircraft for timely delivery, Boeing and/or Airbus will happily accomodate them.  They have some flexibility here.

Is this the right move for every airline?  No, it isn’t.  Delta’s 767 fleet is pretty young with a considerable number of its 767 fleet having been delivered in the late 1990s and very early 2000s.  The A330 aircraft have all been delivered to the airline starting in 2003.  They don’t need to elbow their way to the front of the line to get their hands on aircraft. 

Is this the move for every airline?  No, it isn’t.  Other airlines have the bulk of their fleets being delivered in the 1980’s and early 1990’s and that means they are wearing out and do require replacement.   Each airline has to manage its money and its fleet and it can be a delicate dance.  In today’s airline world, flexibility is the key.

Filed under: Airline Fleets by ajax
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