Delta Keeping 717s Until 2030
Other airlines love to brag about how new their fleet is, though Delta takes a different approach. They have no problem keeping planes for a lot longer than other airlines, but they maintain them well.
For example, while American just retired their last MD-80, Delta still has 93 MD-88/90 aircraft. They do plan on retiring these in the coming years, though.
Delta’s fleet also consists of 91 Boeing 717s, which are basically updated and smaller versions of the MD-80s. They got virtually all of these 717s from AirTran. While the airline was taken over by Southwest, the planes weren’t, so Delta saw an opportunity there.
Well, Delta may keep their 717s all the way through 2030. AirTran initially started taking delivery of the 717s around the late 90s, so by the time these planes retire they would partly be 30+ years old.
Delta Installing Personal Televisions On 717s
As mentioned above, while Delta may have some old planes, they know how to maintain them. When flying Delta I constantly see passengers walk on 20+ year old planes and comment on how nice they are, while you’ll never see anyone say that about one of American’s new narrow body planes.
Delta has a big focus on offering personal televisions at every seat. As part of their plans to keep 717s through 2030, Delta may install personal televisions on these planes, which would be a $70 million investment.
Talk about an airline going for product consistency. If they complete this project and retire their MD-88/90 aircraft, all of Delta’s mainline planes would have personal televisions.
https://onemileatatime.com/delta-717/