US legacy carrier, Delta Air Lines has placed an order for 20 Airbus A350-1000 passenger jets. The type will be the largest aircraft the airline operates when it enters service, although delivery dates have not been announced.
This adds to Delta’s order of 44 Airbus A350-900 aircraft, the smaller variant of the type, which are currently in the delivery phase with 28 aircraft having been delivered at the time of writing.
Except for an outstanding order for 100 Boeing 737 Max 10 aircraft (the aircraft is yet to be certified for entry to service by regulators), Delta Air Lines is slowly moving towards an almost all-Airbus fleet, with current orders taking the total to more than 650 Airbus aircraft. This is as its Boeing 717, 737NG, 757 and 767 fleets continue to age and approach retirement. The carrier retired its former long-haul flagship, the Boeing 777 during the Covid19 pandemic in 2020, due to low passenger numbers.
Delta’s Airbus catalogue consists of both variants of the Airbus A220, all three of the A320ceo family, A321neo, A330-200, -300 and -900neo aircraft.
Matt is a Berlin-based writer and reporter for International Flight Network. Originally from London, he has been involved in aviation from a very young age and has a particular focus on aircraft safety, accidents and technical details.
