Delta Air Lines has come to terms with Airbus for a firm order of 100 new A321NEO aircraft, plus options for up to an additional 100 airplanes. Deliveries are set to begin in 2020, and will be used to replace older, less fuel efficient aircraft. Delta will outfit the new aircraft with a total of 197 seats, including 20 in First Class, 30 in Delta Comfort+, and 147 in economy. The new Airbus aircraft will be powered by fuel efficient Pratt & Whitney geared-turbofan engines. The customer experience will feature on-demand inflight entertainment, Wi-Fi, and power ports at each seat. The cabin will feature full spectrum LED cabin lighting, and new bookshelf-style overhead bins that are 25% bigger than the previous Airbus bins. Deliveries are scheduled to start in the first quarter of 2020, and run through 2023.
Delta also announced that its Delta TechOps Center will become a major maintenance, repair, and overhaul center for the Pratt & Whitney Pure Power PW1100G and PW1500G engines. Pratt & Whitney engines will power both the A321NEO and Bombardier CSeries aircraft that Delta has on order. Deliveries of the new A320NEO family have been severly disrupted this year due to the availability of these latest generation engines from the factory. Airbus had previously announced that its earnings took a hit due to delays in receiving the engines for the A320NEO aircraft type. Airbus has since increased the pressure on engine supplier Pratt & Whitney, which is a unit of United Technologies.
Boeing, which lost out on this order with an offering of its latest generation 737-MAX aircraft, may have been hampered by its decision to object to a sale of Bombardier CSeries aircraft to Delta. Following the Boeing claim that the CSeries received unfair state aid from Canada, the U.S. government levied a 300% tariff on those airplanes. Delta has since vowed not to pay the tariff, and has held talks with its partner Aeromexico about taking delivery of those aircraft. Since that airline is based in Mexico, transferring the order to Aeromexico would circumvent the government tariffs.
