Delta Airlines flight 4336 with Airbus A350-900 (DAL4336/DL4336)
Delta Air Lines is one of the major airlines of the United States and a legacy carrier headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.The United States' oldest operating airline and the seventh-oldest operating worldwide, Delta along with its subsidiaries and regional affiliates, including Delta Connection, operates over 5,400 flights daily and serves 325 destinations in 52 countries on six continents. Delta is a founding member of the SkyTeam airline alliance. As of the end of 2023, it had 100,000 employees.
Delta has nine hubs, with Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport being its largest in terms of total passengers and number of departures. It is ranked second among the world's largest airlines by number of passengers carried, passenger-miles flown, and fleet size. It is ranked first by revenue for commercially owned airline companies as well as in brand value, and 113th on the Fortune 500.
As of June 2024, the Delta Air Lines fleet consists of 991 mainline aircraft, making it the largest commercial airline fleet in the world. Delta Air Lines operates a fleet manufactured by Airbus and Boeing.
Delta operates the world's largest fleets of the Airbus A220, Boeing 717, and Boeing 757, the largest passenger fleet of the Boeing 767, and the largest Airbus A330 fleet of any US airline.
Delta has historically preferred purchasing or leasing used aircraft or using older-generation models to keep initial acquisition costs down. To support this business model, Delta has also invested in an extensive MRO (maintenance, repair, and overhaul) organization called TechOps. However, Delta has acquired lower-priced newer aircraft via discounts on slower-selling models and as aircraft manufacturers transition to newer designs. As a result, as of 2023, Delta flies the second-oldest fleet among the legacy carriers, and the average fleet age has been reduced to 15.3 years.
Before its 2008 merger with Northwest Airlines, Delta's fleet was made up of solely American manufacturers aircraft (except Airbus A310, which was acquired by collapsed Pan American World Airways). Overseas manufacturers aircraft like Airbus from Northwest joined the fleet after the merger, and more have since been added.