Delta To Expand Fleet With Order Of 100 Boeing Jets

Delta Airlines will add 100 Boeing jets to its fleet in the coming years, a more than $8 billion investment that will replace less efficient planes with new extended range 737-900s. That's on top of the 60 new 737-800s and 18 new Dreamliner planes that Delta has already ordered from the Seattle aircraft manufacturer, The Wall Street Journal reported today.

The new single-aisle 737-900, which seat around 200 people, won't come into service until at least 2013, Bloomberg reports. When they do start flying, they'll replace decades-old MD-88 and 757 jets that are some of Delta's least fuel efficient.

The move deals a blow to the European firm Airbus, which competes with Boeing in the passenger jet market with its own series of single-aisle aircraft. Delta added some Airbus models when it acquired Northwest in 2008 but most of its planes we built by Boeing, a trend that will continue at least through the end of this decade.

Photo: Flickr/Benson