SEATTLE – “Things have never been better in Delta’s history,” said Ed Bastian, new CEO of Delta Air Lines.
He points to the airlines’ high reliability and customer service rankings to name a few. As he sits down for an interview, the mega-carrier continues to market and grow its Seattle international hub. He talks to KING 5 about what’s in Seattle’s backyard and Boeing commercial airplanes that have lost out on significant Delta orders in recent years.
“Any concerns on recent fleet orders aside, long term I feel very good about where we stand with Boeing,” said Bastian, citing that 80 percent of the carrier’s mainline fleet consists of Boeing jets.
One of the largest classes of planes inside Delta’s fleet is the Boeing 757, which Delta is upgrading with new seats, large overhead bins, seat back entertainment systems, and other electronic upgrades. The problem for Delta is that the 757s won’t be around forever, and Boeing hasn’t made them since 2004.
For several years, Boeing has been talking to airlines about a replacement for the 757, often referred to as the MOM, or Middle of the Market airplane. It’s larger than a 737-900, which Delta also flies, but smaller than a 787-8. That’s about a 30 seat hole in Boeing’s offerings, making it vulnerable to Airbus.
The question for Bastian is could a new aircraft start sending orders back in Boeing’s direction?
“We have a lot of interest in that middle of the market airplane. Absolutely,” said Bastian.
Mind you, nobody knows what the plane will look like.
“Customers are telling us they want an airplane that would be slightly larger than the current 757 and flies farther,” Boeing spokesman Doug Alder said.
Better fuel efficiency also another consideration for carriers.
“We want a larger gauge domestic narrow body,” said Bastian. “The aircraft doesn’t exist today. We need to see where the engineering comes out, the specs. Long term we’re confident Boeing will develop a proposal. And when they’re ready, we’ll have those decisions to take.”
