Delta Air Lines will retire its 18 Boeing 777s by the end of the year as it accelerates a plan to simplify and modernize its fleet as part of wider Covid-19-related changes to its business strategy, the company announced Thursday.
Last month, Delta announced plans to speed the retirement of the MD-88 and MD-90 fleets to June. Since the onset of the Covid-19 crisis, Delta has parked aircraft and is considering early aircraft retirements to reduce what it calls operational complexity and cost. So far, the airline has parked more than 650 mainline and regional aircraft to adjust capacity to match reduced customer demand. Delta has managed to cut its cost base by some 50 percent during the second quarter, largely as a result of 37,000 employees—or more than one-third of the airline’s workforce—agreeing to take voluntary unpaid leave, some until the end of the year.
“We’re making strategic, cost-effective changes to our fleet to respond to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic while also ensuring Delta is well-positioned for the recovery on the backside of the crisis,” said Delta COO Gil West. “The 777 has been a reliable part of Delta’s success since it joined the fleet in 1999 and because of its unique operating characteristics, opened new non-stop, ultra-long-haul markets that only it could fly at that time.”
The Boeing 777-200 first entered the fleet in 1999. Eventually growing to 18 aircraft, the fleet includes 10 of the long-range 777-200LR variant, which arrived in 2008, when the airline laid plans to fly non-stop between Atlanta and Johannesburg, South Africa; Los Angeles to Sydney and other long-haul destinations.
Delta said it will continue flying its fleet of Airbus A350-900s, which it estimates burns 21 percent less fuel per seat than the 777s they will replace.
Delta has recently used its 777 fleet for its cargo, mail, and U.S. citizen repatriation operations amid the pandemic. Since late April, the widebody jet has flown dozens of trips from Chicago and Los Angeles, to Frankfurt to deliver mail to U.S. military troops abroad; operated between the U.S. and Asia to deliver supplies to aid in the Covid-19 response; and carried thousands of U.S. citizens back to the U.S. from Sydney, Mumbai, Manila and other cities around the world.