For the second time in two days, Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) has watched from the sidelines as competitors walked away with large orders for single-aisle, narrow-body passenger planes. The buyer, Delta Air Lines Co. (NYSE: DAL), already counts 141 Boeing 737 planes in its fleet, but that number does not appear to be in danger of growing.
Delta placed an order for 37 A321 narrow-body planes with Airbus on Friday. The airline has just two of the 185-seat planes. Delta also flies 69 of the smaller A320s, but these planes have an average age of more than 21 years and seat around 145 passengers.
On Thursday, Bombardier announced an order from Delta for 75 of its 110-seat CS100 jet, along with options on another 50. Delta seems intent on replacing its narrow-body fleet while the airline is raking in profits due to low fuel prices.
In addition to Delta’s 737 fleet, it also has 16 Boeing 757-200s in its fleet. Those largest of these narrow-body planes, the 757-300, seat around 225 passengers and have an average age of 13.3 years. The airline also flies 113 Boeing 757-200s, a smaller version of the same plane that seats around 185 passengers. The average age on those planes is nearly 20 years.
But the planes Friday’s order are targeted to replace are Boeing’s MD-88s, of which the airline has 116, with an average age of nearly 26 years. The plane seats around 150 passengers.
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