Carrier Continues its Post-Bankruptcy Rebuild

Apparently making up for lost time while in bankruptcy, Delta Air Lines is flexing its financial muscle by contemplating an order of as many as 125 Boeing 787 Dreamliners by the end of 2007.

Such an order would be valued at an estimated $20 billion at current list prices. The carrier has not decided just how many aircraft it will need to fulfill its international ambitions, but should soon as it weighs issues such as maintenance and operational costs, according to the Wall Street Journal. The number of planes the company decides upon will likely include firm orders as well as options to buy.

Jim Whitehurst, Delta's chief operating officer, said the Atlanta-based carrier is considering, "a massive order over a long period of time" and carrier executives are expecting the 787 to replace 104 of the Boeing 767s in the current Delta fleet.

An order as large as Delta is contemplating would be the largest order yet for the 787 from a US airline. Boeing says its strong seller is sold out till nearly 2015 for new customers, but those such as Delta that have options from previous years should be able to get a few much earlier, said the Journal.

But, Boeing shouldn't count its chickens just yet. The carrier is also in talks with Airbus about its huge order, according to a spokesperson, although Airbus is not currently part of its fleet.

"Delta will be looking at options to modernize our fleet over the long term -- including both Boeing and Airbus -- but have made no firm plans at this time," she said.

Whitehurst said the carrier must "make significant expenditures on systems that we frankly starved for the last several years" while the company was reorganizing under bankruptcy.

Delta has plans to also spend about $1.2 billion a year through 2010 on such things as aircraft refurbishments, new baggage-handling equipment, updated computer systems and airport improvements in addition to new aircraft.

As part of its improvement track, the carrier announced Tuesday it was installing blended winglets on more than 60 Boeing 737-NG, 757-200 and 767-300ER aircraft types to provide greater flexibility to serve more markets with existing aircraft.

"Blended Winglets create an opportunity for us to improve both our operating and fuel efficiency simultaneously," said Whitehurst. "We expect to see a minimum of 3.5 percent improvements in our fuel consumption and a minimum of 5 percent in our range thanks to this added technology. Our customers will benefit from Delta's ability to offer more destinations, and Delta benefits from new efficiencies that will improve our operations and better the environment."

The project is expected to cost about $50 million.

FMI: www.delta.com, www.boeing.com