In early 2024, Delta Air Lines placed an order for the Airbus A350-1000, after years of rumors. While there has been a delay in these deliveries, we’re potentially just over a year from the first of these planes being delivered. In light of all the developments that we’ve seen since then (both at Delta and at competitors), I’d like to take an updated look at what we can expect.
Delta has 20 Airbus A350-1000s on order
In January 2024, Delta announced a firm order for 20 Airbus A350-1000 aircraft, with additional options. While the initial plan was for these planes to be delivered to the Atlanta-based airline as of 2026, that timeline got pushed back, and the first delivery is now expected in 2027. The deliveries are supposed to happen pretty quickly, with all 20 A350-1000s joining the fleet by 2028 (or realistically early 2029, given how common delivery delays are).
The A350-1000 is an incredibly capable plane with great unit costs and impressive range, and it’s among my favorite planes to fly. So this plane will allow Delta to fly just about anywhere it could want to serve.
Delta’s A350-1000 order is the first time that any US airline committed to the A350-1000. Of course Delta was already a huge A350-900 customer, as the airline has dozens of those jets. So the A350-1000 offers some incremental capacity, which Delta plans on using for a premium layout (which further helps boost range).
For context on Delta’s orders for “next generation” aircraft, here’s how things currently stand:
- Delta has 39 Airbus A330-900neos, with 16 more on order, to be delivered as of 2029
- Delta has 40 Airbus A350-900s, with 19 more on order, and deliveries of those are ongoing
- Delta has 20 Airbus A350-1000s on order, to be delivered in 2027 and 2028, plus options for 20 more
- Delta has 30 Boeing 787-10s on order, to be delivered as of 2031, plus options for 30 more
So Delta has quite the pipeline of wide body jets, which is way bigger than American’s order book, but not nearly as big as United’s order book.
How Delta plans to configure its Airbus A350-1000s
Delta hasn’t formally unveiled the details of its new Airbus A350-1000s. We know that the planes are expected to be in a premium configuration, but that’s just the standard in the US airline industry nowadays, so that’s hardly noteworthy.
For that matter, I wouldn’t expect the layout to be quite as premium as United’s new Boeing 787-9s, which feature only 222 seats, and a staggering 64 business class seats (including a new Polaris product).
We do know that Delta plans to introduce a new product standard on its A350-1000s, including rolling out new Delta One Suites. JonNYC has shared for quite some time that Delta plans to be the launch customer for the new Thompson Aero VantageNOVA product, with A350-1000s expected to get somewhere around 53 business class seats.
This is a product that can either be in a herringbone or reverse herringbone layout. I’m sure it’ll be perfectly nice, but I wouldn’t get too excited in terms of expecting this to be cutting edge, as it’s a pretty space efficient product. We’ve reached the point where the innovation with business class seats comes in the form of tech upgrades and other gadgets, rather than actual space.
Where Delta plans to fly its Airbus A350-1000s
It’s interesting to see how Delta’s long haul strategy is evolving over time. For so many years, Delta’s long haul strategy has been so heavily focused on serving joint venture hubs, with most flights to places like London (LHR), Paris (CDG), Amsterdam (AMS), and Seoul (ICN).
Of course that’s in addition to seasonal summer Europe flying (where it’s easy enough to make money), plus chasing subsidies, to destinations like Brisbane (BNE) and Riyadh (RUH). Now, Delta claims to be turning a bit of a corner with its strategy, and increasingly wants to serve more long haul destinations nonstop, and we’ll see how that goes.
As mentioned above, of course there’s the Riyadh service, but it’s hard to take that too seriously in the context of a commercial strategy, since it’s basically funded by the government of Saudi Arabia (though Delta CEO Ed Bastian has quite the narrative).
However, we are seeing Delta expand long haul beyond that. For example, this summer the airline will be launching flights to Hong Kong (HKG), and on top of that, we know Delta plans to launch flights to Delhi (DEL), Singapore (SIN), and beyond.
I have to imagine that a key part of this ultra long haul service involves the A350-1000, and that this is the plane that will be used to expand to these kinds of markets.
Now, it’s going to be fascinating to see how the economics of these routes work, as this kind of ultra long haul flying is outside of Delta’s typical wheelhouse. United is of course the dominant “big three” carrier when it comes to its international route network, so Delta is playing catch up there. It’s anyone’s guess how much success Delta will find in markets like Delhi, Hong Kong, Singapore, etc.
So we’ll see how this all works out, but it does seem to me like the A350-1000s are intended for ultra long haul growth to new markets, rather than these planes simply replacing planes on existing routes. Admittedly I expect we’ll also see some A350-1000s flying to places like Seoul Incheon.
Bottom line
In early 2024, Delta placed an order for 20 Airbus A350-1000s, which will join Delta’s fleet as of early 2027. The plane offers great economics and passenger experience, and I can’t wait to see a US airline finally flying this plane.
While there are still a lot more questions than answers, the expectation is that Delta will use these A350-1000s for ultra long haul flights, to new markets like Delhi, Singapore, and beyond. The planes are also expected to be in a premium configuration, and will boast new Delta One Suites.
With the first plane potentially in service in just over a year, we should learn more pretty soon!
What do you make of Delta’s Airbus A350-1000 plans?
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