Back in May, Delta Air Lines announced that it will retire its 18 Boeing 777-200. In June, the airline decommissioned its remaining McDonnell Douglas MD-88 and MD-90. And in July it announced that it would also retire its fleet of Boeing 737-700 by the end of the year.
Now, Delta has announced plans to pull its 91 Boeing 717 from service. They will disappear by the end of 2025. Over the same time period, the 54 Boeing 767-300 ER will also be decommissioned. But that is not all: The Bombardier CRJ 200 regional jets will retire by the end of 2023.
High depreciation on aircraft
However, the regional jet is not operated by Delta itself, but under the branding Delta Connection by the partners Endeavor Air and Skywest. Together, they have almost 120 CRJ 200 in operation. Further decommissionings could follow. «In an effort to modernize and simplify its fleet, Delta may consider other options for early retirement of aircraft», the company writes in a new report on its financial situation.
Fleet reductions have financial consequences. The airline has to write off 2.0 to 2.5 billion US dollars on the Boeing 717, 767 and Bombardier CRJ 200. According to Delta, the revenues in the remaining service life would no longer justify the current values in the balance sheet.
Only Airbus orders
Delta Air Lines no longer has a single order open with Boeing across all models. The situation at Airbus is completely different. As of the end of August, the airline still expects to receive 14 Airbus A220-100, 50 A220-300, 25 A321 Ceo, 100 A321 Neo, 30 A330-900 Neo and 12 A350-900.
