In a Form 8-K filing, Delta Air Lines has revealed some updated timelines for aircraft retirements. Interestingly these aren’t immediate, but rather retirements we can expect in the next three to five years.
Continue reading: Delta Retiring CRJ-200 By 2023, 717 & 767-300 By 2025
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Delta said a couple of years ago that the CRJ 200s were being phased out. It never happened.
And going from a 767 to a 757 on European flights is a downgrade since business-class is 1x2x1 on the 767 and 2x2 on the 757. I suspect Delta will drop some European routes and instead lean more on Air France and KLM.
Not surprised to see this announcement as these aircraft have had no cabin retrofits with aged airframes. I've heard the CRJ200 has been very unpopular for both passengers and crew (underpowered and cabin easily gets too hot in the summer). Depending on contractual requirements they may need to follow United's lead to reconfigure some CRJ700s with 50 seats as a CRJ550. As for the 763, my guess is that Delta will looking to replace part of the fleet by acquiring some available A332 aircraft and perhaps even order the A338 NEO (speculative of course). I wouldn't be surprised if they place an order at some point for the A321LR or XLR for the longer thinner routes as the 752 fleet is getting up there in age too. Ultimately, Delta was hoping for the Boeing NMA to come to fruition, which doesn't look likely to happen in the next 5+ years, which will require a different fleet plan by expanding on their existing long-term common aircraft types (Airbus). The 764 will be an interesting one to watch as it will be considered to be a sub-fleet with the 763 gone- although at least shares the common type rating with the 752/753 aircraft.
The 767-300ER fleet at DL was significantly overhauled starting around 2008-2009 and into the early part of the last decade. They all sport though a dated premium cabin, and are likely coming up on their next heavy maintenance checks. There is a bit of a backlog of A330s but this all points to DL likely axing permanently a lot of the long and thin routes that the 763 was perfect for.
My suspicion is that DL, which we know loves buying used airplanes on the cheap, expects the market to be flooded with frames over the next five years. It wouldn't surprise me if they bought some additional 330s on the cheap to operate those long, thin routes.
It’ll be very interesting to see where those 717s end up. My understanding is that they are quite popular on the second hand market, and Delta has sunk a lot of money into keeping them in tip-top condition.
All this is good news EXCEPT for the 717 retirements. Those are the best narrow bodies in the Delta fleet.
I hope Hawaiian does not pick up those 717s... they will be 20+ years old if they do... please get the a220 for the interisland fleet...
@Greg - I was wondering the same thing, if HA would pick up the 717s. I wonder if the A220 would perform comparably? The inter-island market is challenging because of the short segments, is my understanding.
Ugh, PLEASE do not keep that tired Delta One on JFK to LAX. We deserve better. With the price wars going on and Delta still not serving hot meals, I will be booking the other carriers Transcon for now.
Don't retire the 717s...the last of the mainline t-tails - super quiet up front, nice handling, great 2x3 layout in economy class
Will Delta eventually retire the remaining Boeing 737, 757 and 767 and go all Airbus?
Perhaps swapping some of the B737's with Alaska's ex-VX A320/321?
767 retirement is bad news for Eastern Europe and hopes for restoration of SVO flights...
Curious if JFK LAX will go small to 757 or the nicely refurbished 764, or something else. What do you think?
Even with the older Delta One seats on the 767-300, I still found them to be incredibly comfortable. I have flown on Delta One on 767-300's perhaps a dozen times. The longest flight was SEA-ICN, and it was splendid. I will miss them.
I love the B717 (or MD95 as I prefer to think of them). It flies like a VERY quiet fighter jet. I will miss them. I don't care that they have no seat back entertainment. It forced me to look out the window at the truly best show!
I detest the CRJ200, and have from the get go, however the time I was "sentenced" to flying on them from Birmingham to Sacramento with stops in Houston and Salt Lake City is something I still have nightmares about. Good riddance.
If only they'd get rid of those domestically configured 757s... So awful in every class!
Most of the 717's are on a lease and rumor is going around that Delta could make a trade for some Max10's in 2025 for the 757's replacements. The a320's need to go also most of them are getting close to 30 years old.
DL 757 to Europe is a horrible inflight experience, once had them jfk-cdg just feels so cramped on long flight without space to stretch out
The co-timing on the 717 and 767 seems suspicious to me, perhaps there is a deal in place for a large NMA order in the works and this is an indication that delta is serious about the next generation of widebodies
No, not the 717! I used to like these airplanes a lot and sometimes would fly a bit earlier or later just to be on one 🙁
First ever flight in the DL 767 Delta One - couldn't find the Ent. screen remote (and touchscreen was shotty). Can't say I will miss them, but they are what I have flown most of my DL One trips to Europe on.
717's - agree with most of those on here. Stubby MD80/90, never sure the age would keep it in the air, but extremely pleasant to fly in and handled the bumps REALLY well.
200's - Retire them NOW. I would purposely set myself up with a 5 hour layover in Detroit just so I could ride in the 700 or 900 for the 1hr-10 min flight and avoid that tin-can!
I’ve flown to Honolulu before the pandemic on a 747 wide body in coach! And enjoyed the room to stretch. Recently we took Delta First class on a 737 and 757 to Honolulu and it was horrible, I can’t even think what it would be like to fly coach on those horrible sardine airplanes! Couldn’t use the Sky club at LAX even though we had first class tickets to Honolulu! What!
I just found that delta initially planned to retire the 717 by December 2025, but they should keep these 'til the 2030s
But since delta planned to retire their 717s by December 2025, maybe they could've given these aircrafts to some smaller airlines I guess