What’s Going On With Delta Air Lines’ Fleet Strategy?

The Delta Air Lines fleet strategy looks extremely messy at first glance. Airbus and Boeing models are both featured in the fleet, and a broad range of brand-new jets and 25-year-old workhorses. Aircraft have multiple cabin standards, and the airline operates a massive in-house maintenance division. The throughline, however, is fairly consistent. Delta Air Lines is trying to grow internationally and in a premium-heavy capacity while lowering overall unit costs and emissions, without betting the company on any single aircraft program. The airline continues to refresh its long-haul backbone with premium-heavy Airbus A350s while keeping a flexible mid-size widebody mix through the Airbus A330 family and existing Airbus A350-900s. The airline is now going to be adding the larger Airbus A350-1000 to the mix as well.