New York, Dec 14 (AFP) Delta Air Lines announced todaythat it has ordered 100 Airbus planes with an option to buy100 more, in a blow to Airbus' American rival Boeing.
Delta said it was buying the A321neo aircraft to renewits narrow-body fleet, which have 197 seats and are used fordomestic or short international flights.
The Airbus order comes amid public friction between Deltaand US giant Boeing over a trade dispute involving a separateDelta deal to buy planes from Canadian company Bombardier.
Airbus deliveries to Delta will begin in 2020 and gothrough 2023 under the order, worth an estimated $12.7 billionbased on the aircraft catalogue price.
Delta said in an investor presentation that the newplanes would result in 40 percent fuel savings compared withthe jet they are replacing.
"This is the right transaction at the right time for ourcustomers, our employees and our shareholders," Delta CEO EdBastian said in a statement.
Airbus in 2015 opened a manufacturing plant in Mobile,Alabama to build single-aisle planes with an eye towardscompeting more aggressively in the US market.
Toulouse, France-based Airbus highlighted its growingconnection to the US in the announcement, saying most of thenew planes would be delivered from Mobile.
"This purchase furthers our commitment to US aviation --a commitment that has never been stronger," said John Leahy,chief operating officer for customers at Airbus CommercialAircraft.
"Today, there is more US content in Airbus aircraft thanfrom any other country, with more than 40 percent of ouraircraft-related procurement coming from the United States."Delta also announced that it picked United Technologies'Pratt & Whitney as the engine provider, and for enginemaintenance. Delta also selected Pratt engines for theBombardier order, which is at the heart of the Boeing tradedispute.
Boeing has argued Delta's planes were underpriced due toillegal Canadian government subsidies to Bombardier.
"Delta remains a valued customer, and we'll continueexploring ways to best meet their needs in the future," aBoeing spokesman said.
"We competed with a strong but disciplined offer in theDelta campaign. While Delta has chosen to go with Airbus andBombardier in recent single aisle campaigns, we are proud ofthe 737 MAX family's superior value and performance."Canada-based Bombardier in October unveiled a productionalliance with Airbus that granted the European company a stakein the Bombardier C-Series program. Delta has said it will notpay for any punitive tariffs sought by the US government inresponse to Boeing complaints.
Boeing's actions in the trade dispute has done"significant has done significant damage to its relationshipwith Delta for sure," said Jim Corridore, an analyst at CFRAResearch.
"Obviously today's news is a direct blowback to Boeing'sprotectionist stance in getting the US government to add thosetaxes to the Bombardier jets."Corridore noted that Boeing also lost a major deal withthe Canadian government, which dropped a deal to buy F-18fighters from the US company following the trade dispute.
Boeing's stance "makes no sense" and has "cost them twomajor deals," he said, adding that Boeing's outlook isotherwise bright because of strong demand in both commercialairplane and defense businesses. (AFP)UZM.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.