Delta inks deal for twenty EMB-190s, twenty B737-900s

Delta Air Lines (DL, Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson) has announced plans to acquire twenty EMB-190s and twenty B737-900(ER)s as part of a new deal reached with Boeing (BOE, Chicago O'Hare). The Atlanta-based carrier says the added B737s will help improve its overall fleet efficiency while the 100-seater EMB190 jets will help replace smaller 50-seater CRJ-200s used on domestic US services.

“Delta continues to look for opportunities to deploy larger aircraft, which bring customer experience enhancements and improved economics, across its fleet,” Greg May, Delta’s Senior Vice President – Supply Chain Management, said. “This aircraft order is another example of Delta’s unique fleet strategy to deploy a mix of new and used aircraft, maintain low capital costs, and leverage significant capacity flexibility to produce superior returns for our shareholders.”

The ex-Air Canada (AC, Montréal Trudeau) Embraer regional jets, which are expected to enter revenue service in 2017, replace a previous cancelled order that included these Boeing-held EMB-190s. The latter order was dropped in July after Delta pilots rejected a tentative agreement concerning their compensation.

ch-aviation.com