In the long term, 5 to 10 years, will the new Delta Air Lines park the Airbuses and the B747-400s? If so, what NW planes is DL most likely to keep?
There are a lot of factors that come into play - owned versus leased aricraft, lease rates on those aircraft not owned and age.
Delta has issued an RFP to suppliers for portable IFE players for the 747s, so that could mean they will remain in the short term. And Delta is doing some ineresting cross-fleeting between the two carriers.
They've indicated they're not going to be placing an aicraft order anytime soon, so it's likely both aicraft types will remain around for some time, given the lead times necessary in revamping a widebody fleet.
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Delta outlines new positioning of combined Northwest fleet Lori Ranson, Washington DC (03Apr09, 21:26 GMT, 290 words)
Continuing to work through the finer points of its merger with Northwest Airlines, Delta Air Lines this week completed the first flight after a cross-fleeting exercise was completed.
The two carriers officially closed on their merger in October 2008, with Northwest becoming a subsidiary of Delta. The larger company is retaining the Delta name.
In his weekly update to employees Delta CEO Richard Anderson explained flights from Minneapolis to Paris have switched from a Northwest Airbus A330 to a Delta Boeing 767-300ER. Flights from Atlanta to both London Gatwick and Rome are now operated with A330s instead of the 767s.
Anderson explains the larger-gauge 298-seat A330-300s "fit well in our larger hub in Atlanta".
Taking advantage of the different sized aircraft allows the combined Delta to match customer demand by market, says Anderson. Stressing the new fleet flexibility is an important element of the merger, he explains Delta needed the larger-gauge aircraft while Northwest required smaller planes.
"You'll continue to see us move airplanes," Anderson tells staff, based on the season, day of week and local economy. "We can do all that without purchasing airplanes."