Ultimately, (Delta) decided to extend the leases and upgrade the aircraft. I'm guessing JAL's decision to dump their 35 744's had something to do with it (that's a lot of 744's to dump on the market, and the lessors probably gave DL a rock bottom deal to extend the leases).
Correct.
UA has 8 of their 744s stored right now, BA has 12, JAL has a ton, there are a lot of 744's that still have a lot of lifetime left that are being laid up right now so I'm sure that DL was able to secure good terms to maintain the inherited 744 fleet.