Delta is doing some considerable reworking of its air fleet these days, with deals all over the place to purchase planes. They’ve already bought 20 used E-190 jets from Boeing and 45 Airbus A321 jets. There’s also a rumor going around that they’re planning to buy another 37 A321 jets from Airbus.
Airbus, a European plane manufacturer, has been gaining ground in the American market over the last few years. Their planes are big and relatively comfortable, and they have been favored by European airlines such as the Ireland-based Aer Lingus. Until relatively recently, though, you had to be flying to or from Europe, on a European airline, in other to fly on one. But their planes, the A3321 in particular, have been beating various Boeing jets in the same classifications in a number of metrics, and so Delta is interested in obtaining them.
Delta is getting ready to unveil the first of their recently purchased A3321s, and if sources are correct, they seem to be pretty happy with them. Neither Delta nor Airbus have confirmed the purchase of 37 more planes, but Bloomberg News has reported that they’ll be buying at least 30.
Word has it that Delta is also in talks with Bombardier to buy 75 CSeries jets from them, further updating their fleet. They’ve been tight-lipped about that deal as well, though they have a “fleet showcase” planned for April 28-29, during which they plan to make several announcements.
What does any of this mean for passengers or other businesses? That remains to be seen, although it does stand to reason that, at least in the case of the Airbus jets, passengers should expect a slightly more comfortable experience. These jets tend to have slightly more room than American designs, leading to a more comfortable flight.