The Airbus A350-900 is Delta Air Lines’ flagship subfleet, at least until its -1000s are delivered. According to ch-aviation.com, it has 37 A350-900s, not all active. They have three very different configurations, with five examples—all ex-LATAM—having 339 seats. For now, at least, no other aircraft in Delta’s fleet has that many seats.
Delta’s 37 A350s average 5.2 years old, making them its second-youngest widebody equipment, after its 2.9-year-old A330-900s. The average is dragged down by its five ex-LATAM aircraft, which are 7.2 to 9.5 years old. The oldest example, the 9.5-year-old N569DZ, was the 27th A350 built. It is currently the 18th oldest active A350 flown by an airline.
The SkyTeam member’s ex-LATAM machines have 30 Delta One suites, 63 Comfort+ seats, and 246 seats in main cabin. Unsurprisingly, no other type or variant in Delta’s fleet has as many Comfort+ or main cabin seats. As it has lower seat-mile costs than alternative layouts, it helps to improve economics in popular but lower-yielding markets that revolve around leisure or visiting friends and relatives demand.
Examining the 339-seater’s June network shows the following five routes. All are operated from Atlanta, Delta’s busiest airport and the world’s busiest airport for passengers and seats for sale, although not for aircraft movements. The destinations remain more or less the same in the coming months.
| Route | June flights on 339-seat A350s | Only on this type in June? |
|---|---|---|
| Atlanta to Amsterdam | Six weekly (not on Tuesdays) | No. Also, the A330-300, A330-900, and 275-seat A350-900 |
| Atlanta to Barcelona | Daily until June 12 | No. Also, the A330-300, A330-900, and 767-300ER |
| Atlanta to Lima | Six weekly (not on Wednesdays) | No. The 275-seat A350-900 will operate on Wednesdays |
| Atlanta to Rome | Daily | No. Also, the A330-900 |
| Atlanta to Santiago de Chile | Tuesdays, plus Saturday, June 14, and Monday, June 16 | No. The 275-seat A350-900 primarily operates |
They are summarized below. Each configuration is necessarily suited to specific markets based on the nature of the demand and, in terms of the 275-seater, distance and takeoff performance. According to ch-aviation, Delta currently has 12 aircraft in the 275-seat layout. They are the carrier’s highest-premium A350s, helping to achieve higher yields from premium passengers, compensating for having seats.
Fewer seats will also mean they’re lighter aircraft, reducing fuel burn and increasing range. Moreover, they are Delta’s 283-ton MTOW aircraft, helping with takeoff performance. Part of the 275-seater’s role is to overcome payload restrictions when leaving hot and high Johannesburg, with previous aircraft having reduced payloads, impacting economic performance. Among its wider network, it continues to be flown between Atlanta and Johannesburg, Delta’s longest route, and Atlanta to Cape Town, its second-longest link.
Analyzing the carrier’s June schedule shows that the aircraft with the highest-premium layout, the one with 275 seats, will operate flights from three hubs: Atlanta, Detroit, and Salt Lake City. Eight in 10 departures will be from Atlanta, with nine routes (Amsterdam, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Lima, Orlando, Salt Lake City, Santiago de Chile, Seoul Incheon, and Tokyo Haneda).
The 306-seat version had just one departure from Atlanta this month. At 16:28 on June 1, Flightradar24 shows that N503DN operated DL8784, arriving in Los Angeles at 17:31 local time. In June, the configuration will operate four routes from Detroit (Amsterdam, Minneapolis, Shanghai Pudong, and Tokyo Haneda), four from Los Angeles (Paris CDG, Shanghai Pudong, Sydney, and Tokyo Haneda), and four from Minneapolis (Amsterdam, Detroit, Seoul Incheon, and Tokyo Haneda). Finally, it has three Seattle routes (Seoul Incheon, Taipei, and Tokyo Haneda).
