Delta sees charge of up to $2.5b on jet retirements

Delta warned it would take a pretax accounting charge of $2 to $2.5b after deciding to remove three aircraft types from its fleet amid an unprecedented collapse in air travel. The noncash impairment will be recorded in Q3 results, which are due next month, Delta said in a regulatory filing Friday. The company will retire its Boeing Co. 717-200 jets and remaining 767-300ER planes by December 2025. Before that, by December 2023, Delta will remove its Bombardier Inc. CRJ-200 regional jets. The aircraft retirements are “intended to streamline and modernize Delta’s fleet,” the company said in the filing. With travel demand upended by the coronavirus pandemic, airlines around the world have parked jets and hastened aircraft retirements as they hunker down for an uncertain recovery.<br/>