Delta orders 37 Airbus A321 for $4.2 billion

Delta ordered on Friday 37 of Airbus' medium-haul A321 aircraft with a catalogue price $4.2 billion (3.7 billion euros) as the US airline seeks to quickly retire older planes. "The order for the A321s is an opportunistic fleet move that enables us to produce strong returns and cost-effectively accelerate the retirement of Delta's 116 MD-88s in a capital efficient manner," Delta's incoming chief executive Ed Bastian was quoted as saying in an Airbus statement, referring to its McDonnell Douglas aircraft which date from the late 1980s to early 1990s.
The order is for A321s equipped with standard engines as opposed to newer more fuel-efficient version for which Airbus has a huge backlog of orders, and follows previous orders in 2013 and 2014. Including the order announced on Friday, Delta is awaiting a total of 82 A321s, Airbus said, and currently has 127 A320 family aircraft in operation. The single-aisle, twin-engine A320 family of aircraft is along with Boeing's 737 the workhorse of most airline fleets, serving medium-range flights.