August 26, 2011 |
Despite media speculation about the future of Delta’s MD-88 and MD-90 fleet, the airline has no plans to retire the domestic aircraft.
“MD-88s and MD-90s are the workhorses of our domestic fleet,” said Nat Pieper, v.p.-Fleet Strategy. “They are flexible, cost-efficient aircraft, and we will be flying them for many years to come.”
On Thursday, Delta announced plans to purchase 100 new Boeing 737-900ER aircraft between 2013 and 2018, to replace domestic Boeing 757s, 767s and Airbus A320s that retire during the seven-year delivery period.
A story published by Dow Jones Newswire suggested that the new aircraft could also replace MD-88s and MD-90s. But Nat stressed that there are no plans to phase out those aircraft, which have been upgraded with new roomier interiors, extended overhead bins, in-flight Wi-Fi, additional first class seats, and other customer amenities.
Delta has 117 MD-88s in service, as well as 28 MD-90s. Delta has an additional 30 used MD-90s in the process of being upgraded or under contract, all of which are projected to join the fleet by 2013.
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