Delta hasn't begun a campaign to fill the gap between its 76-seat regional jets and 142-seat MD-80s, but its business plan calls for 25 small-gauge narrowbodies by 2010.
The carrier is taking on 15 124-seat Boeing 737-700s, but Chief Operating Officer Jim Whitehurst recently said those aircraft are targeted for very specific performance-limited airports, citing Vail, Mexico City and some islands in the Caribbean, where the carrier currently has to fly 757s and would like to have fewer seats or operate additional frequencies.
The 737-700s slated for the targeted markets aren't viewed as small-gauge, narrowbody aircraft. Whitehurst explained that for markets such as Atlanta-Knoxville or -Buffalo, Delta does have a gap between 76-seats and 142-seats, and "we will look at all the alternatives out there to close that gap."
Delta will also likely need to make a widebody replacement decision within 12 months. Whitehurst pointed out the airline probably won't need new aircraft until 2011 or 2012 -- the point Delta where will have exhausted its move of widebody aircraft from domestic to international service. At that time, Delta will need replacement of some of its older 767s, as well as additional growth.
Delta is stretching the 767s "as far as we can," Whitehurst said, explaining the carrier is putting a horizontal crew rest on a subfleet of the 767s, so they are capable of flying them longer than 12 hours. That capability allowed Delta to announce its Atlanta-Lagos and JFK-Tel Aviv routes. Whitehurst said the 767's mission is about 13 hours, and the 787 would supply an additional mission capability that Delta does not have today, and that's something the carrier would be interested in, assuming it selects the 787.
