{"id":15487,"date":"2020-05-16T14:17:55","date_gmt":"2020-05-16T14:17:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/saj.pachecostudios.com?p=15487"},"modified":"2020-05-16T14:20:13","modified_gmt":"2020-05-16T14:20:13","slug":"deltas-777-aircraft-to-retire-by-end-of-2020-simplifying-widebody-fleet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/international-news\/deltas-777-aircraft-to-retire-by-end-of-2020-simplifying-widebody-fleet\/%20","title":{"rendered":"Delta\u2019s 777 Aircraft to Retire by End of 2020, Simplifying Widebody Fleet"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Delta plans to retire its 18 widebody Boeing 777s by the end\nof 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The retirement will accelerate\nthe airline\u2019s strategy to simplify and modernize its fleet, while continuing to\noperate newer, more cost-efficient aircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re making strategic, cost-effective changes to our fleet\nto respond to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic while also ensuring Delta is\nwell-positioned for the recovery on the backside of the crisis,\u201d said Gil West,\nDelta\u2019s Chief Operating Officer. \u201cThe 777 has been a reliable part of Delta\u2019s\nsuccess since it joined the fleet in 1999 and because of its unique operating\ncharacteristics, opened new non-stop, ultra-long-haul markets that only it\ncould fly at that time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Last month, Delta announced plans to accelerate the\nretirement of the MD-88 and MD-90 fleets to June. Since the onset of the\nCOVID-19 situation, Delta has reacted quickly by parking aircraft and\nconsidering early aircraft retirements to reduce operational complexity and\ncost. To date, the airline has parked more than 650 mainline and regional\naircraft to adjust capacity to match reduced customer demand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Boeing 777-200 first entered the fleet in 1999 and grew\nto 18 aircraft, including 10 of the long-range 777-200LR variant, which arrived\nin 2008. At the time, aircraft was uniquely positioned to fly non-stop between\nAtlanta and Johannesburg, South Africa, Los Angeles to Sydney and other distant\ndestinations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Delta will continue flying its fleet of long-haul next\ngeneration Airbus A350-900s, which burn 21% less fuel per seat than the 777s\nthey will replace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Despite a reduction in international passenger travel, the\n777 fleet has been the workhorse of Delta\u2019s cargo, mail and U.S. citizen\nrepatriation operations amid the pandemic. Since late April, the widebody jet\nhas flown dozens of trips from Chicago and Los Angeles to Frankfurt to deliver\nmail to U.S. military troops abroad; operated between the U.S. and Asia to\ndeliver thousands of pounds of critical, life-saving supplies to aid in the\nCOVID-19 response; and carried thousands of U.S. citizens back to the U.S. from\nSydney, Mumbai, Manila and other cities around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More specific details of the timing of the 777\u2019s exit from\nthe fleet will be disclosed at a later date.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Delta plans to retire its 18 widebody Boeing 777s by the end of 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The retirement will accelerate the airline\u2019s strategy to simplify and modernize its fleet, while continuing to operate newer, more cost-efficient aircraft. \u201cWe\u2019re making strategic, cost-effective changes to our fleet to respond to the impact […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":15491,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[116,114],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-front-page-slider","category-international-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/20140924_777ext-0569-v2_gedit.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15487","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15487"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15487\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15492,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15487\/revisions\/15492"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}