Delta Air Lines has reached an agreement with Airbus to push back deliveries of 10 of the 25 A350-900s the carrier has on order. Delta still plans to take delivery of its first 5 A350-900s this year. Delta’s first A350 will enter service in Q4 2017, and will be the first aircraft in its fleet to feature the airline’s new all-suite business-class product. The 10 deferred aircraft had been scheduled to be delivered in 2019 and 2020, but will now be delayed by “2 to 3 years with additional delivery flexibility,” Delta said. Delta’s A350 deferrals come 2 weeks after American Airlines deferred all 22 A350-900s it has on order for the second time in less than a year. The A350 deferrals also come on the same day Delta added firm orders for 30 A321-200s to 82 of the type it had already ordered. <br/>
sky
Delta Air Lines has placed an incremental order for 30 firm Airbus A321ceo aircraft. This order follows 3 previous Delta orders for the type. The carrier took delivery of its first A321 in March 2016. Delta now has ordered a total of 112 A321s, each powered by CFM56 engines from CFM International. Delta SVP and COO Gil West said the A321’s “comfort, performance and economics make it a very compelling aircraft for Delta in our domestic route network.” Many of Delta’s A321s are being delivered from the Airbus US manufacturing facility in Mobile, Alabama. The airline received its first US-manufactured A321 in Dec 2016. According to Airbus, by the end of 2017, the Mobile facility is expected to produce 4 aircraft per month, most going to Airbus’ US customers. <br/>
Garuda Indonesia is targeting a 6-7% increase in passenger numbers this year, its new CE said Wednesday. Garuda plans to launch flights servicing its fourth Chinese city of Chengdu in June, Pahala Mansury said. The airline carried a total of 35m passengers last year. Garuda last month posted a Q1 net loss of US$98.5m, from a $1m net profit a year earlier, mainly because of higher fuel costs and increased competition. “The competition in the airline industry is tremendous,” Mansury said. “The future of growth for Garuda is to optimise domestic routes, where we have to compete in the low-cost segment, as well as international routes.” Garuda expects fuel costs to remain relatively flat around $292min Q2, with a one-off tax amnesty hit of $137m to its bottom line, Mansury said. <br/>