The Wall Street Journal
By Jon Ostrower
Updated Nov. 19, 2014 6:53 p.m. ET
Airbus Group NV won a
deal from Delta Air Lines Inc. for 50 twin-aisle jetliners, according to
a person familiar with the agreement, a big victory for the European
company in its battle with Boeing Co. to sell long-range passenger
aircraft.
The No. 3 U.S. airline by
traffic is ordering 25 long-range A350-900s and 25 A330-900neo jets,
the person said. The deal would be valued around $14.3 billion at list
prices, not including steep discounts the manufacturers regularly give
to airlines.
The deal gives
significant market traction to the A330-900neo, a new version of
Airbus’s A330 jet with new-generation Rolls Royce Holdings PLC engines.
The jet was launched with its first orders in July, aimed at extending
the production life of the twin-aisle A330, which has been in service
since 1994. The jet touts up to 14% improvement in fuel efficiency over
today’s A330.
Delta set off the
fiercely-contested sales campaign in April when it announced that it was
seeking 50 long-range jets to replace its aging fleet of Boeing
767-300ER and jumbo 747-400s jetliners. The fight pitted the A350 and
A330 against Boeing’s 777 and 787-9 Dreamliner. The Atlanta-based
airline still holds orders for 18 787s purchased in 2005 by Northwest
Airlines before its merger with Delta, but deferred that commitment to
2020 after delays hit the program.
In October, Delta
executives said they were working diligently to evaluate Boeing and
Airbus options and engine selections from General Electric Co. and
Rolls-Royce. A Delta spokeswoman on Wednesday said the company doesn’t
have anything to announce related to its request for proposals.
Delta already operates 11
A330-200s and 21 A330-300s. It is in the process of retiring its
largest plane, the 747-400s, having already parked 4 of the 13 and
intending to put down the rest by 2017. It currently uses the 747s on
the Pacific routes. But as it builds up a new hub and Asia gateway in
Seattle, Delta is moving some smaller twin-aisled planes to that city
for service to Asia.
The Delta order from Airbus was reported earlier on Wednesday by industry blog Leeham News and Comment
—Susan Carey contributed to this article.
- Source: http://online.wsj.com
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