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On its Q1 earnings call, Delta’s CEO (Ed Bastian) said that the airline will not be taking any any aircraft deliveries that are subject to tariffs. This means that the 185+ aircraft that Delta has ordered from Airbus could be held up until the dust settles.
While these aircraft are expected to be delivered over the next several years, Delta is pumping the brakes while the threat of 20% tariffs is a reality. The Atlanta-based carrier has 285 total aircraft on order with 185 of those coming from Airbus. These include:
- Airbus A220-300 (69)
- Airbus A321neo (82)
- Airbus A330-900 (6)
- Airbus A350-900 (8)
- Airbus A350-1000 (20)
100 Boeing 737-10 aircraft are also on order and not impacted by the tariffs, but they are not yet certified and also not expected to be delivered until 2027.
Bastian pulled no punches when asked about delaying aircraft deliveries and simply said: “We will not be paying tariffs on any aircraft deliveries.” After the earnings call yesterday, tariffs were put on a 90-day pause (whereas the 20% tariff that was scheduled to be placed on all products from the EU) would be held off. Airbus and Boeing have both struggled to meet demand for aircraft over the past few years. If Delta rejects any deliveries based on tariffs, there will likely be plenty of other foreign carriers ready to take them on.
Bastian added:
Obviously, in this environment, we are going to work, and we are working very closely with Airbus, which is the only…[manufacturer] we’ve got deliveries coming from for the balance of this year. They’ve been a great partner, they are a great partner, and we’ll do our very best to see what we have to do to minimize tariffs, but the one thing that you need to know we are very clear on is that we won’t be paying tariffs on any aircraft deliveries we take. These times are pretty uncertain, and if you start to put a 20% incremental cost on top of an aircraft, it gets very difficult to make that math work. We’ve been very clear with Airbus on that.”
Delta was planning to retire many of its dated Boeing 757, Boeing 767, Airbus A319, and Airbus A320 aircraft. If it pauses deliveries for too long, this plan will be pushed further out. Delta’s Q1 earnings came in lower than anticipated at the beginning of the year with only marginally higher pre-tax income of $382 million (versus $380 million last year). Tariffs are causing a lot of uncertainty with Delta’s Q2 and further financials as well.
Anthony’s Take: Trump’s tariffs have spooked Delta and made its CEO say that the carrier will be holding off on accepting new aircraft from Airbus. Delta is usually the head of the class when it comes to finances and if it’s feeling uncertain than other airlines have to be concerned as well.
(Image Credits: Delta Air Lines.)
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Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links above This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
