cmd320

In the premium transcon market out of JFK, DL is the only one still flying wide bodies. AA is all A321T and only has direct aisle access in F. B6 is all A321 as well and has direct aisle access only from Mint Suite seats. The all 767 service on DL was a relatively new addition. As recently as 2019 JFK-LAX was a mix of 757, 763, 764, and A330.

jimrpa

I thought I read someplace that it was possible to board A32X through 2L (when equipped) but most airlines didn’t like to do it because of potential issues between the jetway and the engine cowling?

VFR

I believe that is only true for the A321, and there is still less clearance than, for example, the 757 boarding through 2L.

cmd320

Yes, that's correct. A321 technically can, but no one actually does because of the close proximity to the engine.

SEAUAKID

Perhaps history suggests DL will buy some second-hand Airbus aircraft to have fleet commonality versus purchasing brand new aircraft from Boeing. They’ve already decided to retire the 777s which were freshly refurbished and had years of service ahead of them. This suggests it didn’t make sense to keep training pilots for a small sub fleet, and maintaining all the spare parts.

ethernal

What do you fault in Delta's response over the past 6 months? I see people gripe about the less-than-desirable catering, but as a passenger I'd prefer minimum eating and drinking on flights to the extent that it is reasonable - so even that is up for debate. I think they slipped up a but on customer service in the first 1-2 months with long hold times and the like (but this was hardly unique to Delta, although I do feel Delta was the worst).

What else are the criticisms?

In terms of the fleet reduction - there really aren't a lot of surprises here. The 763 retirement dates were probably pulled in by a few years at most - most pegged the retirement date more like 2026-2028 rather than 2025. Arguably the lack of utilization during COVID could have extended that depending on heavy maintenance schedules but still. Delta has been signalling that the CR2s are on their way out for a long time - it's good to have a firm date (although for all the folks that hate CR2s - presumably that means you ride them a lot.. which means you are flying to/from small airports... and losing the 50-seater does definitely mean that some airports will lose service).

The biggest piece of this announcement is really the 717. It's interesting because (1) 2025 is past the 2022 AD directive on the seats and (2) before the end of most of the leases. One has to wonder that they must have struck a deal with both the FAA and Boeing and met in the middle. Otherwise I can't see them doing the refurb costs of new seats and then immediately retiring them 3 years later.

Perhaps most interesting on the 717 is that it is a clear signal/bet Delta is making on the business traveler market. The number of "small narrowbodies" in Delta's fleet was all about enabling frequency to markets - something business travelers care about. This is clearly Delta making a bet that business travel is going to forever downshift - meaning frequency/RASM is less important, and CASM is more important. It will be interesting to see if this bet is correct.

SFTNYC

For A321 CEO (current engine option) that's right. A new door config on most A321neos (including the XLR) will no longer have door 2

There are (and will continue to be) plenty of decent quality used aircraft available - A330 values on the secondhand market in particular have been very weak, even pre-COVID. Opportunistically acquiring used aircraft also allows for closer-in capacity decisions (pending market recovery) versus locking in an order years in advance. My guess is a lot of the secondary transatlantic markets (and off-peak frequencies in larger markets) that saw the 763s will take a while to come back. That said, 2025 is a long time away (though the draw-down is likely to begin some years in advance of that).

As others have mentioned, it will be interesting to see what happens to cities that have been CR2 only (there were more than a few of these), especially as DL is already at cap for maximum number of 69-76 seat RJ's.

KDCAflyer

I think all three airlines are going to push hard to have the local/state/federal government expand subsidies for small airports even further. I can see dozens of cities being told "your airport will lose service unless you cover the increased cost of operating CRJ7/E170s on this former 50-seater route."

Since a good portion of these airports are borderline to begin with (otherwise they would warrant something more than a 50-seater), I think the airlines would have a pretty strong negotiating position. The other option would be frequency reductions, but even then lots of small airports can't be reduced by all that much.

UnevenGray

Not following FlyerTalk's exact advice, of course!

ekozie

Can anyone else see Delta announcing a sizable CRJ-550 order closer to the -200 retirement date and if they can get the right price from Mitsubishi?

DLASflyer

No. The line is shutting down after current orders have been fulfilled. If Delta wanted to do the 550 thing, it would have converted some -700s already.

ryw

Sure, but AA is the only other domestic carrier at JFK that flies widebodies, so it wasn't like there was that much widebody competition to begin with. Looking at the NYC market more broadly, United is still flying widebodies on some of its premium transcons for EWR-LAX/SFO, using 767, 777, and 787s. (And some 757s too it looks like)

cmd320

Domestic F product incl. premium transcon, phone/customer service wait times, scheduling problems (earlier on, but much more pronounced than competitors), refund processing delays. Topics for a different thread though.

Right, which is unfortunate to say the least.

Even UA though was a recent addition to this once intercontinental traffic fell off a cliff. UA prior had been pretty much 100% 757 to LAX and had maybe one daily 77W to SFO but otherwise was largely 757.

I'd go with very unlikely. I believe UA only did this because of pilot scope problems.

SJC ORD LDR

Why would they be buying any airplanes right now?

ethernal

Commit to buy is very different than actually buying them. If the first delivery is 3+ years out then it could make sense. There is an advantage of buying when no one else is buying (or, even better said, when there is negative buying given all the cancelled orders). That said, the MAX is unique given that the production line stopped.. cancellations are actually helping Boeing in a way since they are catching up on the backlog).