Originally Posted by
PotomacApproach
DL's great, but they still have the oldest fleet and actively buy airplanes at the end of production runs (738/9ERs) or that couldn't sell previously (A220s when Bombardier), or keep them forever, like the current MD-88s and MD-90s. But DL does make an effort to address the customer impact I don't see elsewhere. The ancient A319/A320s look brand new with the refurbs, which were done thoughtfully and make 20 year old planes look like they just rolled off the line.
There is no doubt that Delta has traditionally been an airline that (a) did not like to buy lots of new planes, and (b) was not so hot into being the launch customer. While I think (b) still applies, I think that (a) had a lot more to do with the life cycle of planes. Delta's fleet and network (A330s/B763) did not need a plane of the size of the 787, with its high costs, other than as a nitch aircraft. The A359 is a better fit, and Delta bought it as it needed that type of Aircraft, and did so over buying last-gen 773ERs. Delta was able to aguire a fleet of 717s, which fit their network really well, and have very low operating costs. Likewise the MD90s had lower costs than getting new A320ceo/737ngs, and so Delta worked hard to acquire and refurbish them. But when that fleet got old - as did the 757 fleet, so that the operational and reliability costs begin to grow, Delta bought first a large number of 739ERs, then a large number (nearly 200) A321ceo/neos, and then the A220-200/300s.
Delta actually had a lot in common with AA, which did not see any real advantage in buying lots of last gen AC, and so kept an older and older fleet until the neo/MAX/787 came out, then bought a lot of AC at one time. Delta was just about 5 years behind AA in its fleet needs, because it was able to aquire the 717s and a lot of md90s with lower cycles on them.