Delta airlines cancels order for 18 Boeing 787-8 planes

In a crucial move, Delta Airlines confirmed choosing new Airbus A350-900 instead of the earlier order for 18 Boeing 787-8 planes. Greg May, the senior vice president of Delta told that this move is necessary as they are preferring wide body aircrafts to address growing needs of business. Delta is going to take 25 units of Airbus A350-900 in the first step by 2017, replacing its Boeing 747-400 fleet which is getting older. The new aircrafts are assigned to fly Asian routes initially.

Airbus A350 is a 280 ton MTOW metal bird, with a capacity of 325 passengers and a maximum range of 8100 miles (15,000 kms). It is a wide body long range airliner and offers 30% more efficient than Boeing 777s, as per the claims of Airbus Industries.

Delta airlines, as of now maintains the prior orders for B737-900ER and is expanding the fleet to 120 units by 2019.