Delta Airlines considers ordering up to 200 planes

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Delta Air Lines considers ordering up to 200 planes to replace aging fleet

Delta Air Lines Inc. is considering an order for as many as 200 jets — possibly with options for 200 more — to replace the aging fleet it uses for domestic flying.

Delta said it asked "several major aircraft manufacturers" for proposals for firm orders for 100 to 200 planes, with options for 200 more, with deliveries to begin in early 2013.

No decisions about an order have been made yet, said Nat Pieper, Delta's vice-president for fleet strategy and transactions. The request went to manufacturers in late December.

The new planes would replace Delta workhorses such as the DC-9-50s and Airbus A320s that it got when it bought Northwest Airlines in 2008, as well as Boeing 757-200s, which both airlines have operated.

CEO Richard Anderson said in a message to employees that Delta pilots will fly the new planes, not feeder carriers. Delta has shifted flying away from feeder carriers, and has got rid of more than 70 of its 50-seat regional jets and 25 Saab 340 turboprops.

A jet order will give Delta the size of planes it needs "to be able to replace retiring airplanes and have modest growth when the economy and fuel prices support it," Anderson said.

He said Delta is looking for small, medium, and large planes in the "narrowbody" category, meaning planes with a single aisle for passengers.

Boeing Co. and Airbus, a unit of EADS, are the main manufacturers who could meet such an order, although Chinese and Brazilian manufacturers also plan new planes of the size Delta is looking for.

Earlier this week Airbus said an Indian airline made the biggest commercial jet order ever, for 180 of its A320s. A Delta order would have the potential to eclipse that, although Delta could also break the order up among multiple manufacturers. In December 2009, United Airlines said it would order 50 new planes, split between Boeing and Airbus