Delta Air Lines does not anticipate paying tariffs on any Airbus aircraft scheduled to be delivered in 2025.
That is according to chief executive Ed Bastian, who said during the company’s 9 April earnings call that Delta is “working very closely” with the French airframer during an increasingly volatile international trade situation.
“We’ll do our very best to see what we have to do to minimise tariffs,” he says. “But the one thing that you need to know we’re very clear on is that we will not be paying tariffs on any aircraft deliveries we take.”
Bastian says that a 20% hike on the price of commercial aircraft would be prohibitive. “It gets very difficult to make that math work,” he says.
Notably, Bastian’s comments were delivered prior to US President Donald Trump’s decision to rescind steep tariffs on most of the world’s countries less than 24h after they were imposed. Europe has since paused planned countermeasures, while the USA has increased tariffs on China.
A blanket 10% tariff on most of the USA’s trading partners remains in effect.
Asked by an analyst to clarify whether Delta is negotiating with Airbus, or whether it has taken a hard stance against paying higher prices related to tariffs, Bastian says, “I don’t think I need to elaborate on that in any great depth”.
“We hope that this issue will be resolved through the trade discussions, as compared to actions either Delta or Airbus have to take,” he says.
Later in the call, Bastian told an analyst that Delta will “defer any deliveries that have a tariff on it” – meaning the airline would push back aircraft delivery dates rather than pay higher-than-contracted prices.
Bastian emphasises that the US aerospace industry exports more goods than it imports.
“When you think about our business in terms of export-import imbalance between the US and Europe for the aerospace industry, the US exports six times to Europe the amount of trade that Europe imports into the US,” he adds. “That’s a really important fact to know and I hope our leaders in Washington are paying attention to that.”
Delta does not anticipate receiving any Boeing jets this year, as it holds orders for 100 still-not-certificated 737 Max 10s.
One of Airbus’ most important customers, Delta holds purchase commitments for 69 A220s, 82 A321neos, six A330-900neos, eight A350-900s and 20 A350-1000s, according to a recent 10-Q filing.
The Atlanta-headquartered carrier does not specify how many new aircraft it expects to receive this year, though it expects its overall fleet growth will be under 1% for 2025 – or fewer than 10 aircraft – as the company responds to signals of an economic slowdown by accelerating retirements of older jets.
