DTWflyer

In the immediate and aburpt downturn starting in March, DL rapidly parked over 1/3 of its fleet.
Aircraft were put into storage in SBD, MZJ, VCV, MWH, ILN, MCI, and BHM

SBD, MZJ, VCV are more traditional desert storage facilities
MWH is also to an extent, and also a facility where Boeing has been storing many of the grounded MAX aircraft
MCI, BHM, and ILN have third party vendors that primarily due airframe overhaul work but also have the ability to do short and longer storage and maintenance plans.

I'm going to oversimply this here but there are 3 types of storage:
"Rolling" Storage - aircraft remain in active condition, but have to be flown at least every 7-14 days, and certain systems have have to be cycled more frequently. This is typically just by parking aircraft at the hubs/airports. Not uncommon for aircraft to be flown a few days, then sit idle for a few days. Typically at unused gates at hubs or on hardstands.

Short-term storage - aircraft are parked and a storage location, and have some prep work done as they aren't going to be flying, but engines, APU, flight controls, hydraulics, and tires are all cycled/rotated on a set weekly schedule. The aircraft can relatively be quickly be reactivated. This is when an aircraft may need to be idled for months at a time.

Long-term storage - aircraft are parked at a storage and go through a relatively intensive storage / pickeling process to store and peserve the aircraft. This includes peservation fluids, removal of some equipment, shrink wrap of window/landing gear/flight control surfaces, and other stuff. Typically this is for when aircraft may be stored for upwards of 2 years or more.

DTWflyer

DL has been reactivating aircraft from storage really since June.
The end of April / early May was at the peak of when the most aircraft were in storage.

A big chunk of aircraft were reactivated in June - August as capacity was restored. There have been additional reactivations in subsequent months as other fleet types have been retired, and aircraft that were in short-term storage have been reactivated and rotated for maintenance.

A220 - originally none were put into storage, however 9 A221s were put into storage in SBD in October since they didn't have enough pilots retrained to fly the full fleet
B717 - only 47 of 91 are active. DL has actually removed 26 perementaly from service. They have not reactivated any 717s that were parked this past spring
A319 - about 40 / 57 currently in-serive
A320 - originally all of the A320 were temporarily parked in April, about 40 of 52 (10 were retired) have been reactivated
A321 - almost all A321s have returned to service

B738 - about a dozen remain in storage
B739 - about 115 / 130 are in service and

B752 - about 75 of 110 are in service, a good chunk was reactivated over the summer
B753 - most are in service, a few are in for heavy maintenance

B763 - slowly reactivating the ones that aren't permenatily retired
B764 - slowly reactivating, and send a few over to CAN for mods that were previously scheduled

A332 - slowly reactivating
A333 - all but 6 are back in service, they have recently pulled a number out to indirectly replace when the B777s were just retired
A339 - all are back in service

A359 - all are active, 4 were temp parked last winter initially when China service was suspended

Jon_R

The mouse has been open since July. I am sure if the media could tie an outbreak to then they would. Apparently disney around the globe can operate but to dangerous in CA.

GagaPilot

For the past week at my airline I have been on "Reserve" rather than flying, and almost daily I have been called in for some maintenance runs in which they need a flight crew. With the uncertainty of which planes will be flying, and when, they have decided to keep things "running" as the longer a plane sits idle, the more anomalies happen.

fly747first

Kinda sad how these planes are spending more time on the ground and yet airlines across the board continue to have a lot of mechanical problems

FlyDeltaMD88

At my airline at the start of the pandemic a bunch of CR2's, all CR7's, and a few CR9's were parked. Most were outfitted for long term storage with covers over the engines/all sensors. Starting from May-June they started putting them back into service and they needed tests and new parts that either deteriorated, needed updating, or were cannibalized for use on planes that were in service. It was no easy or cheap feat.

RoyalFlush

I thought DL had parked some of the fleet at Moses Lake?

(upon Google search, I found out there are 250 MAX frames there)

james318

Dumb question. Not long ago, it seemed like Delta was trying to buy every 717 they could. Not too long later, they are removing them. Is this because of the A220 introduction, or just now they've outlived their lifespan?

readywhenyouare

They should have plenty of life left in them. I'm sure Hawaiian will buy them up. The 717 is the only aircraft suitable for short segments at high frequency.

cmd320

I kinda doubt HA will be buying many more 717s. Delta’s aren’t really any newer than the ones they have and I don’t see there being much increased inter-Hawaii demand, well, ever probably.

I’d guess they’ll eventually get replaced with E-Jets or A220s.

readywhenyouare

No they won't be expanding their operations but they will still need replacements for the current fleet. With Delta retiring 100+ 717's Hawaiian can use them like tissues until they all hit their cycle limit. The engines on the 175 and A220 just can't take the abuse. Notice how Southwest is not able to maintain the same fleet utilization on their inter-island flights as Hawaiian. The engines on the 737 (and A320, A220, E175) require a longer sit on the ground for the engines to cool since they don't have enough time at cruise altitude.

ethernal

I wouldn't be so sure. Hawaiian will probably pick up a few for spares but I don't see a wholesale acquisition. If Delta moves forward with their 2025 retirement, sadly Hawaiian's time flying the 717 also hits a time limit. Delta's fleet of 100 717s (plus 50 more total from HA, QantasLink, and Volotea) was barely enough to keep the parts supply chain reasonably sustained (+ there was some consumables commonality with the MD-88s and MD-90s which are also out). Now? It's going to get tougher to justify batches for parts. And unfortunately many parts can't just be stored forever - seals and other things decay with time even in storage.

The 717 is a perfect plane for HA's ops but I don't see a scenario where they fly it past 2030 if Delta goes through with retirements in 2025. HA just doesn't have the scale to successfully operate an orphan fleet for long. They can make other planes work - either downgauging to a turboprop or moving to a 737/A320 family model and slowing ground turns.

DTWflyer

DL did part a portion of their 737 fleet up in Moses Lake (MWH) but has returned most to service. There is a handful of 738 and 739 still up there but not many left.

DTWflyer

DL had 91 717s at its peak. The majority were leased through a three-way transaction between Southwest (who inherited them from AirTran) and with Boeing Capital. About a dozen frames were owned.

The COVID downturn changed the fate of the 717s. DL simply needs far fewer aircraft in the near to medium term with drastically reduced demand. The 717s are relatively high cost with their smaller seat count. Plus the majority are leased with leases maturing over the next few years.

They are candidates to remove for this reason, due to relatively high cost, low seat count, and lack of commonality with other types.

DL has said they will fly 30-45 frames for the next two years and full retirement by 2025.

Dawgfan6291

Delta has slowly but surely been bringing back some of the parked fleets. Namely the 739/321/757.
won't happen. Just like Delta ran into the MD90, parts and services will end up so costly that Hawaiian will have to do something other than the 717. Either lower utilization on a different aircraft type, or working with engine OEMs to find a solution to the cool down time issues on the higher bypass motors. Delta and Rolls are the only two BR715 engine overhaul providers left and Delta will certainly be out of the business when they finish parking the 717. They need all the space they can get for the GTF as it is.