Delta to Retire Boeing 737-700 Fleet in 2020

Delta aircraft at JFK

Delta Air Lines said it would retire its Boeing 737-700 fleet as well as “portions” of its Boeing 767-300ER and Airbus A320 fleets this year.

The Atlanta-based carrier said that the move is intended to make Delta “a smaller, more efficient airline over the next several years by accelerating fleet simplification.”

The carrier currently has ten 737-700s in its fleet. It also has 77 737-800s and 130 737-900ERs in its fleet, although those types are not slated for retirement. It has 56 767-300ERS and 62 A320s as well.

Delta announced the retirement of its McDonnell Douglas MD-88 and MD-90 aircraft in April of this year.

Delta was the launch customer for the McDonnell Douglas MD-90, which was introduced in 1995 and replaced some of the Douglas Commercial DC-90s in its fleet. The earlier MD-88 was the final variant of the MD-80, and it went into service with Delta in 1986. Both planes were mainstays of the airline’s narrow-body fleet, which was used almost exclusively for short- and mid-haul domestic flights.

(Photo: Accura Media Group)