Originally Posted by
ChamplinAl
The light just turned on in my mind / head.....pertaining to Deltas' deferment / and-or / converting of their last 10 A359 aircraft delivery dates to 2025 or ??
.....My thoughts are Delta will still take delivery of the last 10 A359's.........for the replacing of their current 8 B777-200ER aircraft.
Will the last 10 A359 deliveries be Airbus's ULR versions?
.....My thoughts are "YES" - then Delta's fleet of these aircraft "CAN" be used on their current longest route - ATL-JNB.....making way "eventually" for the 77L's (B777-200LR) retirement.
Sorry, my next statement is a bit off subject but a related note:
.....After all is said and done, Delta will still have some 76E's that have no replacement aircraft in site or ordered (359's are too big an aircraft and 339's are also)
Again, sorry about the last statement.
The 777s will be around for a quite a while yet. By that time, the 777X will be an option open to DL also. No way to know yet how that will turn out.
Boeing has been working for years on a 767 replacement, tho they have not officially committed to launching it. DL has openly talked about being a launch partner if/when that happens. DL has nothing on order currently to fill this hole because nothing exists; there is no small widebody currently on the market, other than the smallest 787s which have not done well.
Despite some people who believe there is a DL-Boeing war (which I think is nonsense), I could definitely see a DL order for a bunch of MOMs and a handful of 777Xs