Summary
- Delta Air Lines operates one in all the oldest fleets on this planet, with several Boeing 757 aircraft having joined the airline within the Nineteen Eighties.
- Despite the relatively old age in comparison with many carriers, its aircraft proceed to be utilized in mainline passenger operations across Delta Air Lines’ domestic and international network.
- Delta’s oldest aircraft in passenger operations is a Boeing 757-200, N658DL, and it just isn’t expected to be retired for one more 4 years.
Although recent deliveries of contemporary next-generation aircraft and the retirement of its McDonnell Douglas MD-88 and MD-90 fleet have pushed Delta Air Lines’ average fleet age right down to just 15.2, the US legacy carrier continues to operate one in all the oldest fleets on this planet.
With its oldest aircraft starting from Boeing 757-200s delivered back before the autumn of the Berlin Wall to pre-Millenium Airbus A320s, Delta Air Lines’ eclectic and somewhat geriatric fleet has proven that older models can remain profitable in mainline operations and proceed to get travelers from A to B over three a long time after delivery.
Boeing 757-200 – N649DL / N658DL
Closing in on its thirty fifth birthday, N649DL is currently the oldest aircraft in Delta Air Lines fleet. The only-aisle twinjet was delivered to Delta Air Lines on May 25, 1989, during an unusual period in world history because the Eastern Bloc’s Iron Curtain began to crumble.
Paula Abdul’s Without end Your Girl was topping the charts, Miami Vice had just wrapped its fifth and final season, and Delta Air Lines was taking delivery of its forty eighth Boeing 757-200, N649DL. The airline had been operating the kind since 1984, serving as a alternative for its aging and dear Boeing 727 fleet.
While lots of its contemporaries have been relegated to the massive aircraft storage facility within the sky, N649DL has been since requisitioned as a charter for the NBA and NHL in a premium 72-seat configuration, though it stays in frequent service all year long.
Unfortunately, unless you’re knowledgeable athlete, you’re unlikely to fly on this jet. Delta Air Line’s oldest 757-200 in passenger operations is N658DL, delivered to the carrier almost a 12 months so far from N649DL. The 33-year-old passenger aircraft continues as a workhorse for Delta Air Lines, totaling 97,665 flight hours as of August 2023 – the equivalent of spending over 11 years within the skies. N658DL is about to be retired in late 2027, being phased out in favor of Airbus A321neo middle-of-the-market offering.
Boeing 767-300ER – N171DN
Delivered three weeks after N658DL, Delta Air Line’s 33-year-old Boeing 767-300ER, N171DN, is its oldest operational widebody. The aircraft underwent a refit as a part of its 767 and Airbus A330 cabin overhaul in 2021, offering 226 seats across three classes, including Delta One, the carrier’s premium travel product.
Although the jet enjoys the occasional infrequent transatlantic jaunt to Europe, more recently, N171DN has been incessantly spotted on coast-to-coast domestic flights, in addition to on services to Honolulu’s Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL). In response to Delta Air Lines, N171DN will probably be retired in 2025 alongside its 767-300ER and Boeing 717 fleet.
N312US was not originally a part of Delta Air Lines’ fleet; it was actually acquired by the carrier as a part of its merger with Northwest Airlines in 2008, quickly filling a significant role inside its domestic and short-haul network. Despite a temporary period of storage at Kansas City International Airport (MCI) between April and July 2020, N312US and other Airbus A320-200s have continued to function a backbone for Delta Air Lines’ North American operations; nonetheless, deliveries of Airbus’ next-generation A220 and A321neo are set to switch the kind over the subsequent five years.
As a result of its advanced age, N312US just isn’t expected to stay in service for much longer. The jet is earmarked for retirement in December 2023 with other 1991 and 1992 A320 entrants: N317US, N319US, N320US, and N321US. Upon their retirement, the 32-year-old N323US will change into the oldest A320-200 at Delta Air Lines.
Have you ever flown on any of Delta Air Lines’ older aircraft? What was your experience? Tell us within the comments.