For quite some time there have been rumors that Delta Air Lines would order the Airbus A350-1000. This has finally become a reality!
In this post:
Delta will take delivery of A350-1000s as of 2026
Delta has placed a firm order for 20 Airbus A350-1000 aircraft, with a further 20 options for Airbus wide body aircraft (with no specific aircraft type mentioned beyond that, so presumably it could be A350-1000s, A350-900s, or A330-900neos). The first of these A350-1000s is expected to join the Atlanta-based carrier’s fleet as of 2026. That’s pretty soon, so I’m curious if Airbus has been holding some slots for Delta.
Delta states that these new planes will offer improved fuel efficiency, and will add higher gauge, including more premium seating and greater cargo capabilities, to Delta’s international wide body fleet.
This is the first time that Delta (or any US airline, for that matter) has placed an order for the A350-1000. However, Delta is already very much committed to the A350-900 — the company has 28 of these in its fleet, with an additional 16 on order. This includes the secondhand A350s that Delta has acquired from partner LATAM. So this is a logical addition for Delta, as there’s fleet commonality, while still offering more capacity.
It’s interesting that this announcement didn’t include firm orders for other Airbus wide body jets. After all, Delta has quite an outdated wide body fleet, given the number of old Boeing 767s that the airline operates. It’s not a small fleet either, as Delta has 65 of those jets. I have to imagine that we’ll eventually see an additional A330-900neo order. Or who knows, we’re talking about Delta, so those 767s probably still have a lot of life left in them.
How will Delta use its Airbus A350-1000s?
The Airbus A350 is an awesome plane, and there’s merit to both the -900 and -1000 variant. I’m curious to see in what markets Delta ends up using the Airbus A350-1000. Delta’s long haul strategy is very much about feeding into the networks of joint venture partners, so my guess is that these planes will primarily fly to London (LHR), Paris (CDG), Amsterdam (AMS), and Seoul (ICN).
However, the A350-1000 is also an incredibly capable plane that can operate some very long missions, so could we see Delta use these planes to add service to new destinations, like Australia, India, etc.? I’m a little more skeptical of that, and think it’s more likely that the A350-900s might be flown to those destinations, while A350-1000s replace the smaller variant on some key routes.
Delta is a very conservative airline when it comes to international expansion. Aside from some summer seasonal routes, Delta is much more like American than United when it comes to long haul flying, as the airline doesn’t seem to be too interested in a large ultra long haul network.
Bottom line
As expected, Delta has placed an order for 20 Airbus A350-1000s, which will join Delta’s fleet as of 2026. The plane offers great economics and passenger experience, and I can’t wait to see a US airline finally flying this plane. I’m curious to see what Delta has planned with these aircraft.
What do you make of Delta ordering the Airbus A350-1000?
All airlines should order Airbus. Boeing cannot be trusted to make planes that do not crash or fall apart while flying
Clowndancer
Awesome! The A350 is the most comfortable aircraft and this order (instead of the plastic-ky cheap and narrower 787s) solidifies Delta's position as the premium US carrier.
With airspace becoming more crowded, somewhat of a pilot shortage and much higher crew costs, I wonder if the big three might start flying more wide bodies on domestic routes.
Doesn't do the airlines any good if they then have to block gates in their own terminals, or remotely position the aircraft into C.U.T.E. areas, in order to park them. LAX is "the" destination in the country for domestic widebodies, yet this poses quite the problem for even it for much of the day.
I agree LAX is wide body hell, but my thought is if you replace two or three narrow body flights with one wide body you will have less demand for gates giving you more room to build domestic wide body gates.
That will neverrrrr in a trillion years happen in the USA, especially at an airport like LAX whose gates are numerically-restricted by ordinance.
CB, you misunderstood what I wrote. The idea is to replace, say, three narrow body flights with one widebody flight, resulting in the need for fewer gates, not more. Two pilots instead of six. Less fuel, less noise. LAX would be all over this. Get outside the box, think of the possibilities.
I understood what you were saying the first time.
Speaking of "first time," in case it wasn't clear then: there was no way in the Devil's red hell, that LAX would *ever* agree to that, so long as the current Clutter-era gate restriction ordinates remain in place.
correct.
and LAX will see the A350-1000 for international longhaul routes and a few rotations to other hubs just as the A350-900 currently does.
The 35K and 359 will do some European flights for aircraft utilization because a flight from the east coast to Asia has "left over time" between a round trip which uses 2 aircraft. It is possible to "squeeze in" a flight to Europe between Asia flights and still use 2 aircraft.
You’re entitled to your opinion, but that’s all it is. THINK, big picture!
It's not my opinion, fool. It's a binding agreement between the cities of Los Angeles and El Segundo.
Maybe you should research the new Terminal 9 coming to LAX featuring 12 NEW widebody gates or Concourse 0 adding a net increase of 9 gates. Of course, I’m making the assumption that you know how to read.
Let’s also put to bed once and for all that Delta will fly the A321 across the Atlantic. None of the big Euro carriers see a need to fly narrow bodies. AA and UA alone think they can make long haul narrow body flights work. Global airlines fly widebodies.
lol what
This doesn't make any sense. Yes most routes don't need narrowbodies. That being said throughout the UA route map especially there are long and skinny city pairs in Europe that would make no sense to fly with a widebody. They're flying to places like Faro in Portugal or Ponta Delgada where however many years down the line the Delta A339 strategy just wouldn't work....
It is interesting to note that none of the major Euro connectors (yes, I'm aware of EI, TP, etc) have opted for the -XLR either...
...but it's also somewhat jumping-the-gun to assume that that's strictly or even primarily a factor of cost:
BA and KL have to deal with slot unavailability and artificial government caps, respectively.
Germany presents a question of distance, as early A321XLRs will fall far short of promised range (BNA...
It is interesting to note that none of the major Euro connectors (yes, I'm aware of EI, TP, etc) have opted for the -XLR either...
...but it's also somewhat jumping-the-gun to assume that that's strictly or even primarily a factor of cost:
BA and KL have to deal with slot unavailability and artificial government caps, respectively.
Germany presents a question of distance, as early A321XLRs will fall far short of promised range (BNA airport unwittingly confirmed this in their leaked presentation regarding Aer Lingus), and we know the problems that CO/UA had with their 752 service to Germany during winters.
The one that doesn't seem to have much reason (other than cost/benefit) to avoid them would be AF. Seems they could really use those aircraft to increase their service options to the French Caribbean, without significantly expanding the overall number of seats, particularly as their COI-configured 777-300ERs begin to retire.
Would also give them the option of expanding into smaller Canadian airports, New Orleans, West Africa, etc should they choose to enter but not to devote a widebody.
European carriers only have one (maybe two) international hubs to route their international customers through. US carriers have many more than that.
That’s why you saw European carriers order A380s while US carriers didn’t. It’s also why you see the A321XLR being more popular in the US versus in Europe.
Apples and oranges.
I could see 321xlr work in ORY without further EIR connectivity : slots were liberated from domestic short haul interdiction , the airport will be 30 min by metro to the city center next year with line 14 extension.
Could work for AA from non congested hubs I think of PHL or CLT to ferry tourists and Midwest business traffick to the destination. Same with GVA or LYS or BRU.
321Xlr is designed...
I could see 321xlr work in ORY without further EIR connectivity : slots were liberated from domestic short haul interdiction , the airport will be 30 min by metro to the city center next year with line 14 extension.
Could work for AA from non congested hubs I think of PHL or CLT to ferry tourists and Midwest business traffick to the destination. Same with GVA or LYS or BRU.
321Xlr is designed to work from non congested to non congested airport. Of course we won't see it on ewr-lhr...
But it could have a value in improving yield an connectivity of some domestic focused east Coast hubs.
Tim - I am more worried that Delta will keep downgrading Delta One domestic flights to just First Class with A321. For example, they already fly a number of former Delta One flights with the A321 - I am thinking JFK to LAS, BOS to SFO, and JFK to SEA, with these flights having been downgraded to First Class from Delta One.
The article incorrectly stated that Delta is the first US airline to order the A350-1000 it was actually United in a switch from the -900 and then switched back as they keep pushing the order back. https://simpleflying.com/united-airlines-airbus-a350-order-update/
ordering a plane and then deferring it for a decade doesn't gain anything.
UA will be at a significant performance and economics disadvantage to airlines with the A350-1000 which is simply a more capable and efficient aircraft than anything in AA or UA's fleet
DL will be limited on where they can fly the A350-1000s, as they’ll need to be in markets where they won’t have to trash yields to fill all those extra seats.
That’s why they only ordered 20, versus the hundreds of 787s ordered by UA.
The Delta A350-1000 is comparable in terms of aircraft size to AA and UA's 777-300ERs although DL will configure the 35K with around 350 seats - similar to UA's 77Ws while AA's 77Ws have less than 310 seats.
The A350-1000 is much, much more efficient and has greater range.
Anyone want to guess how many millions of SkyPesos a business class seat on one of these babies will cost?
Delta has proven that it's higher ROI to spend on product than frequent flyer program. If you care about redemption rates, fly Spirit or maybe AA.
Well that's disappointing. What happened to the dozens of aircraft? the A330neos?!
Maybe Tim Dunn can help here - aren’t the 767-300 supposed to be retired in a couple of years (2026 or so)? Doesn’t Delta need to order the replacements now or risk having to fly the 767s for a few more years? They have been slow to really detail what they are going to do on the transcons..:
Not really. If it came down to it, they could just as easily internally rotate extant aircraft to fit the desired role, while contemplating the remaining fate of the fleet. The idea that a single aircraft model and order is going to replace the residual 763ERs is more of an AvGeek concoction, than anything that's come from DL itself.
They've already made it clear that some will be replaced on the lower end by A321N,...
Not really. If it came down to it, they could just as easily internally rotate extant aircraft to fit the desired role, while contemplating the remaining fate of the fleet. The idea that a single aircraft model and order is going to replace the residual 763ERs is more of an AvGeek concoction, than anything that's come from DL itself.
They've already made it clear that some will be replaced on the lower end by A321N, and on the higher end by A339.
They could also rotate some of the 764ERs (which are on a completely different operational/retirement schedule plan) into some of the 763ER's current missions, as well as the A332.
So they've got plenty of time to decide what works best, despite preliminary claims that they'll retire the fleet by 2025 or so.
Delta is getting the A350-1000s in 2 years. Airbus is expanding A350 capacity and has given a number of airlines 2026 and 2027 delivery timeframes.
They still have 20 options for some Airbus widebodies and I believe there are other used A350 deals out there.
Virgin Atlantic were due to take delivery of a further 2 A351 this year (VNVR and VELJ) however they are now parked up in TLS unpainted. It’s possible DL could take these and VS defer deliveries for a further few years while they take more A339 deliveries while retiring their A333 with (G-VNYC and G-VGBR ) leaving the fleet this year and Thai Airways taking on the leases.
The A350-1000 is simply an outstanding airplane.
It will be primarily an Asia/Africa/Pacific airplane including building the ICN JV hub. The new A350-900s that are coming this year will allow LAX-SIN and JFK to BOM nonstop, something no US airline can do, if Delta chooses to start those routes. The A350-1000s have even greater range.
It will seat around 350 passengers and still easily be able to do 18 hour flights – by...
The A350-1000 is simply an outstanding airplane.
It will be primarily an Asia/Africa/Pacific airplane including building the ICN JV hub. The new A350-900s that are coming this year will allow LAX-SIN and JFK to BOM nonstop, something no US airline can do, if Delta chooses to start those routes. The A350-1000s have even greater range.
It will seat around 350 passengers and still easily be able to do 18 hour flights – by far the longest range aircraft in the US airline fleet and also the most fuel efficient.
Deliveries begin in 2026 so Airbus clearly has been holding delivery slots for DL while this order was negotiated.
A whole new era of efficient longhaul international growth is coming for Delta - and very soon.
Winning the engine maintenance contract was precisely why Delta waited a year to keep negotiating this order. No other airline currently has these rights.
as I have said repeatedly, Delta is not ordering the 767 replacement in this order. The A330-900 is still possible down the road and I believe that GE will put the GEnx engine on it and Delta will order a boatload of them.
and Boeing can still hold out hope for a 787 order w/ GE engines if Airbus doesn't re-engine the A330 or add the GE option.
There will be potential used A350 aircraft so the options could serve as a backup if any of those deals don't happen.
Didn't UA do LAX-SIN for a little while?
yes... on the 787-9 which can't do it w/o substantial seat blocks. The newer, more capable 787s will probably be able to do it but they aren't arriving any time soon
Singapore is flying the route w/ 253 seats on a 280 max take off weight version.
Delta is getting 283 tonne A350-900 versions w/ 275 seats and even more capable A3350-1000s
These A350-1000 that DL its getting are not the project sunrise longer range versions?
As of now, no. But then again, we still don't have public confirmation on what the "Sunrise" A35Ks will even be. Long speculation was that they'd be 320tonnes+ with an ACT (belly tank).
But Airbus just officially raised the "standard" A35K's MTOW to 322tonnes (up from 319T, and originally 316T).
Airbus also has a habit of eventually just rolling the specifications...
As of now, no. But then again, we still don't have public confirmation on what the "Sunrise" A35Ks will even be. Long speculation was that they'd be 320tonnes+ with an ACT (belly tank).
But Airbus just officially raised the "standard" A35K's MTOW to 322tonnes (up from 319T, and originally 316T).
Airbus also has a habit of eventually just rolling the specifications of high-performance models into its standard production builds:
E.g. we've recently seen all standard A321Ns gain the A321LR's weights and abilities; and all standard A359s now possess not only the built-in capabilities of the A350-900ULRs, but an additional 3tonnes MTOW and the option of using the forward cargo bay, which SQ's factory aircraft do not have.
So the point of all of this is to say:
Considering Airbus's historical build philosophy-- by the time DL gets these birds, the only difference between standard A35Ks and "Sunrise" A35Ks may be whether or not the client selects to add an optional ACT.
This was an expected order. Likely to see this on the Atlanta to Seoul route and Amsterdam (pending slot constraints). Could these be coming to NYC? Delta has yet to operate the a350 out of Nyc.
Unclear what will the seating arrangement be? Virgin seats 335 on their lower gauge a 350’s so possibly we will somewhere around that number.
Will delta be retrofitting the LATAM a350?
I flew UA LAX-SIN when it was as going and it was a 100% full flight on the 787-9. I was in the isle seat and the guy in the middle never got up the entire flight. It was like 16.5'ish hours.
Yes they did, I was on the first flight from SIN-LAX.
So the A350-900s Delta will take delivery of this year will be able to operate LAX-SIN without a weight restriction? How is that possible if you don't mind explaining to those of us who don't know the difference between their current A350-900 and the ones they will start taking delivery of starting this year.
@lovetofly
The latest A350s have a significantly higher MTOW than the earliest variants. SQ is flying LAX-SIN with the non-ULR variant. Entirely possible that DL can fly LAX-SIN with the 280T A350, albeit with some blocked seats since it has a higher density configuration than SQ. I’d expect DL to choose SEA over LAX if it ever chooses to start SIN.
I'd have my doubts. Why would they choose a much smaller market, that already has SQ on the route?
Here's a summary between the two airlines, if you'd like:
Singapore has three groups of A350-900s: its regional fleet, its longhaul fleet, and it's ultra-longhaul fleet.
The regional aircraft are certified at 250tonne MTOWs for Asia/Pacific routes.
The longhaul aircraft are at 275 and 280tonne groups, for European and west coast N.American routes.
The ultra-longhaul fleet are at...
Here's a summary between the two airlines, if you'd like:
Singapore has three groups of A350-900s: its regional fleet, its longhaul fleet, and it's ultra-longhaul fleet.
The regional aircraft are certified at 250tonne MTOWs for Asia/Pacific routes.
The longhaul aircraft are at 275 and 280tonne groups, for European and west coast N.American routes.
The ultra-longhaul fleet are at 280tonnes for NYC and some west coast N.American routes, and have modified fuel systems and super low-density high-premium cabin configurations.
_____________________
Delta currently has two groups of A350-900s.
Its factory-ordered aircraft have 275tonne MTOWs (early models, without the modified wing twist and sharklets, that were originally at 268T; though I believe at least one of them might be at 277T), newer models with 280tonnes, and their newest deliveries will be at 283tonnes.
They also have acquired used A359s from LATAM that are in a much more dense premium-cabin configuration than their factory-fresh aircraft.
tim. The press release didn’t say a thing about “winning” the engine maintenance contract but rather an obscure reference that they can service the engine.
“ Delta also entered into agreement with engine manufacturer Rolls Royce to service”
If anything, the obscure mention makes it sound like delta didn’t get what they wanted in terms of any kind of engine exclusivity which would make sense since delta needed the planes more than rolls Royce...
tim. The press release didn’t say a thing about “winning” the engine maintenance contract but rather an obscure reference that they can service the engine.
“ Delta also entered into agreement with engine manufacturer Rolls Royce to service”
If anything, the obscure mention makes it sound like delta didn’t get what they wanted in terms of any kind of engine exclusivity which would make sense since delta needed the planes more than rolls Royce needed delta to work on their engines. But again. I’m simply pointing out that you stick to facts. Not your wildest fantasies.
Stick to facts.
And 20 a350 don’t herald a new era of Delta international growth when delta has such an ancient fleet of current widebodies that need to be replaced with no current replacement.
It’s a cool order and great for delta. Chill with your normal fantastical world
Max,
you are running from one site to another trying to argue and deny that Delta won the MRO rights but that is what they got.
UA's widebody fleet is not only older and less fuel efficient.
There is nothing ancient about Delta's fleet.
And if Delta's fleet is ancient, United will be spending ALL of its order to replace widebodies. You do realize that they have 140 777s and 767s that...
Max,
you are running from one site to another trying to argue and deny that Delta won the MRO rights but that is what they got.
UA's widebody fleet is not only older and less fuel efficient.
There is nothing ancient about Delta's fleet.
And if Delta's fleet is ancient, United will be spending ALL of its order to replace widebodies. You do realize that they have 140 777s and 767s that are as old or older than DL's existing widebodies?
Of course you don't want to fact that reality but reality it is
I’m jumping around? Lol. That’s rich coming from you :)
As it pertains to MRO, I’m Simply suggesting you stick to what you know, not what you hope. We all know you live in a delta fantasy. But stick to facts. Not conjecture. If you have more detail about the rolls Royce engine detail, post a link to it. Otherwise, don’t make stuff up.
United has 150 firm orders of the 787 plus...
I’m jumping around? Lol. That’s rich coming from you :)
As it pertains to MRO, I’m Simply suggesting you stick to what you know, not what you hope. We all know you live in a delta fantasy. But stick to facts. Not conjecture. If you have more detail about the rolls Royce engine detail, post a link to it. Otherwise, don’t make stuff up.
United has 150 firm orders of the 787 plus the 50 a321xlr and 45 a350 on order
So yeah… I think they’ll have a newer fleet since they’re already planning to replace their 767s, unlike delta since their order book alone to replace is larger than their 767
Seriously, tim. Try harder
UA's already done LAX-SIN previously. They blocked considerable seats in the winter, but that's also before Boeing gave their current aircraft the software modifications for decreased fuel use and better load distribution/configurations that would've allowed for their proposed SFO-BLR. Also keep in mind that their incoming 789s will be more capable. They could do LAX-SIN again just fine in the future, should...
UA's already done LAX-SIN previously. They blocked considerable seats in the winter, but that's also before Boeing gave their current aircraft the software modifications for decreased fuel use and better load distribution/configurations that would've allowed for their proposed SFO-BLR. Also keep in mind that their incoming 789s will be more capable. They could do LAX-SIN again just fine in the future, should they choose.
Also, even 772ERs could do NYC-BOM when Russian airspace was open. So that remains more of a deciding factor as to when/if another stateside aircraft would challenge, than fleet type.
they aren't doing it now.
If it worked they would be doing it.
Configuring a 787 with 240 seats in order to get the range the A350 has with 275 seats will destroy the economics of the 787. BUt UA will learn that just as it will learn that the A321XLR won't work at the labor rates that the big 3 play
Lots of airplanes could do NYC BOM w/ Russian airspace but that isn't reality now, is it?
Quite the poor conclusion, as it fails to take into account opportunity cost.
Based on what? We see carriers (e.g. QF, BA, EY, etc) operate theirs with far fewer total seats, and similar number of premium...
Quite the poor conclusion, as it fails to take into account opportunity cost.
Based on what? We see carriers (e.g. QF, BA, EY, etc) operate theirs with far fewer total seats, and similar number of premium seats, on the longest flights in their network, just fine.
See if you can find the key word in that statement...
Widebody average fleet age:
United - 17.3 years (both 767s ands and 777s are old at 25.8 and 20.1 years, 787s are 5.9 years)
American - 12.2 years (some older 772s, avg 18.9 years, but lots of new 787s avg 5.6 years)
Delta - 13.9 years (767s avg 26 years old but A330s are only 10 and A350s are 5)
thank you!
It destroys the narrative pushed by the UA fankid crew about Delta's "old" widebody fleet.
Add in fuel efficiency and Delta is already far more fuel efficient than AA or UA because the A330-300 alone burns 12% less fuel than the 767-300ER.
And Delta IS actively retiring 767-300ERs with new A330-900 deliveries.
Unless you actually read what I wrote which you never do lol
Then what I said not only makes sense, but is factual unlike your hopes and dreams for delta
I read and understood everything. It is you that cannot comprehend that United does not have a fleet advantage or more orders when you factor in THEIR necessary retirements. Delta has plenty of orders for growth and replacement.
Replacing their fleet would only make their widebody age all that much younger than delta
Do you think before you type?
Tim, based on the info in *this* post (20 orders, 20 options) and UA’s confirmed orders, it appears Max is correct re: fleet age. Now everyone expects Delta to order more widebodies to replace 764s, but until they do its all just a guess.
As Max said very early on - great order by Delta. But why the need for hyperbole re: age and MRO when the facts are not clear cut?
You AND max don’t get it. United cannot get its fleet age down without vastly more retirements than Delta. If United uses its massive orders just for growth it cannot reduce fleet age. There is no combination of retirements and growth in which United will pass Delta in fleet age.
Delta has about 59 firm order widebodies on order plus 20 options and still hasn’t place the order for full 767 replacement
I...
You AND max don’t get it. United cannot get its fleet age down without vastly more retirements than Delta. If United uses its massive orders just for growth it cannot reduce fleet age. There is no combination of retirements and growth in which United will pass Delta in fleet age.
Delta has about 59 firm order widebodies on order plus 20 options and still hasn’t place the order for full 767 replacement
I am sorry both of you don’t get it even though others confirm the data I state