Delta orders 25 additional Airbus A321neo jetliners, options for 25 more

Delta Thursday said it agreed to buy 25 more Airbus A321 planes, the latest carrier to order new jetliners after a historic slump in air travel. Delta exercised purchase rights for the jets; its total firm orders for the narrow-body planes stand at 125. It also added options for an additional 25 of them. “Adding these new efficient narrowbody jets to our fleet means more career opportunities for our pilots and more capacity to grow our network during the recovery, solidifying our leadership position as more customers return to fly with Delta,” John Laughter, Delta’s senior VP and chief of operations, wrote in a memo to pilots. Other carriers have also been adding to their fleets this year as travel demand starts to perk up. US carriers alone lost more than $35b last year. Delta and other airlines over the past week have noted a rebound in bookings, though it’s been led by domestic leisure travel, not business and international travel. <br/>