Delta Air Lines planes at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York.
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Delta Air Lines is buying 100 Boeing 737 Max 10s, the first major order for new planes from the US manufacturer in more than a decade.
The deal has options for another 30 of the planes. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in 2025.
The new order is good news for Boeing, as Airbus has recently won big sales, including to several of China’s state-owned airlines. Boeing lamented trade tensions when that order was announced.
Delta said on Monday that the order will modernize its narrowbody fleet as the carrier seeks to capitalize on the recovery in travel following a record decline caused by the Covid pandemic. He said the Max planes will be 20%-30% more fuel efficient than the jets they will replace.
Atlanta-based Delta is the only one of the four largest U.S. carriers not to have ordered new Boeing jets in recent years, preferring Airbus as it has increased its fleet of both narrow-body and longer-haul aircraft. Delta retired older Boeing 777s during the pandemic and is taking more deliveries of twin-aisle Airbus A350s.
The 737 Max was grounded for at least 18 months after the second of two fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019 combined to kill 346 people. The US lifted the ban in November 2020. Delta’s competitors during this period faced capacity constraints as deliveries of new Maxes were halted.
The Max 10 model is the largest of the narrow-body Max family and has yet to receive government approval. Boeing hopes to receive approval for the planes before the end of the year. The regulation, adopted after the two crashes, will require new planes to be equipped with a cockpit warning system.
Delta CEO Ed Bastian previously hinted at ordering Max planes. When asked at a recent investor conference about a potential order for the narrow-body jets, Bastian said: “We’re trying to get a deal done with Boeing on that … hopefully we’ll be able to figure that out.”
Delta will configure the aircraft with 182 seats: 129 in standard economy, 33 in Comfort+ with extra legroom and 20 in first class.
Boeing shares rose 4% in premarket trading, while Delta shares rose more than 2%.
Most of Delta’s new orders in recent years have come from Europe’s Airbus.
In 2017, Delta was at the center of a trade dispute between Boeing and Canada’s Bombardier, then the maker of the C Series narrowbody jets that Delta ordered. Boeing claimed Bombardier was selling the planes below cost, a case it ultimately lost. Airbus later took over the program, renaming the aircraft the A220.
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