100 YEARS OF DELTA AIR LINES
AIRBUS A321 ( 2016-PRESENT )
ROBERTO LEIRO
In September 2013 , Delta ordered 30 Airbus A321ceos . Through its merger with Northwest Airlines , Delta had already been operating an Airbus fleet of 126 A320- family aircraft . DL followed with a second order for 15 of the type in June 2014 , and a third for 37 in April 2016 . On March 16 , 2016 , Delta took delivery of its first A321 ( N301DN , Ship 3001 ), which entered into scheduled service on May 3 , 2016 . The first flight was from Atlanta to Orlando . The success of the A321 led Delta to order the A321neo . In 2022 , Delta began welcoming 69 A321neos into its fleet , committing to a total of 155 purchases through 2027 . Delta flew its inaugural A321neo flight on May 20 , 2022 , from Boston to San Francisco .
AIRBUS A350-900 ( 2017-PRESENT )
On July 13 , 2017 , Delta became the first North American airline to take delivery of the A350 . The carrier made the plane its new flagship aircraft , replacing the Boeing 747 and primarily flying trans- Pacific routes . DL initially based the A350 in Detroit , putting it in service to Tokyo-Narita on October 30 , 2017 , and then to Seoul , Beijing , and Shanghai .
MICHAEL RODEBACK
AIRBUS A220 ( 2018-PRESENT )
In April 2016 , Delta became the US launch customer for the Bombardier CSeries , ordering 100 of the type . After acquiring a new majority stake in the product line , Airbus rebranded the CSeries as A220 . On February 7 , 2019 , Delta started its A220-100 service from its hub at New York-LaGuardia to Boston . Delta ’ s A220-300 first revenue flight took place on November 17 , 2020 , from Salt Lake City to Houston .
MICHAEL RODEBACK
26 AIRWAYS MAGAZINE APRIL 2025 www . airwaysmag . com