Delta Air Lines is planning to buy as many as 50 wide-body jets from Airbus and Boeing, and is seeking bids from the two aircraft makers.
Delta is considering Airbus A350-900, A350-1000, A330-200 and A330-300, and the current-generation Boeing 777-300ER, along with all variants of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
The aircraft that are being evaluated by Delta can accommodate between 250 and 380 passengers, and are aimed at replacing the carrier’ ageing jets such as twin-engine Boeing 767-300ERs and four-engine jumbo 747-400 jets.
Delta spokesman Michael Thomas was quoted by Bloomberg as saying that Airbus and Boeing are set to respond by the mid-summer of 2014.
The American airline is expected to decide on a potential order during the second half of this year.
Delta currently operates a fleet of both Airbus and Boeing aircraft.
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By GlobalDataDelta Air Lines already has 18 of the 787s on order with Boeing, the order that Northwest Airlines had placed before the carriers’ merger in 2008.
In 2011, the carrier ordered 100 current-generation single-aisle 737-900ERs to replace its single-aisle fleet with more fuel-efficient aircraft; the first of the aircraft on order was delivered in October 2013.
Last year, the airline placed order for ten of the A330 jets and 30 of the single-aisle A321 aircraft, scheduled for delivery between 2015 and 2017.
Image: Artist rendering of the Next-Generation 737-900ER in Delta livery. Photo: courtesy of Boeing.
