Delta to Snatch Up AirTran’s Entire Boeing 717 Fleet

[Ari707]

http://news.delta.com/index.php?s=43&item=1624

I guess this means no 717's in SW colors.

[NYCA News]

NYCAviation:

Delta Air Lines to Snatch Up AirTran’s Entire Boeing 717 Fleet

Delta Air Lines announced on Tuesday that it had reached a deal with Southwest Airlines to take delivery of all 88 Boeing 717 aircraft in the AirTran fleet should Delta's pilots ratify a new collective bargaining agreement.
[Click to Read Full Article]

[MarkLawrence]

Darn - and - also - for those that haven't got all the special schemes, they are going to disappear too :(

[yankees368]

You are all now on notice. You have 7 months, maximum, to catch any special AirTran.

[Runway1R]

Delta's fleet is too large. I must make a competitor airline based on a greek letter called "Alpha" and base it out of the polar opposite city of Atlanta.

[Matt Molnar]

Darn - and - also - for those that haven't got all the special schemes, they are going to disappear too :(

We might also see the end of Comair, with the end of CRJs and likely addition of E-jets to mainline. Of course, no one will miss Comair.

What I don't understand is how Southwest is going to make up for losing almost 2/3 of the AirTran fleet.

[lijk604]

What I don't understand is how Southwest is going to make up for losing almost 2/3 of the AirTran fleet.

1) Consolidation
2) Elimination of unprofitable routes
3) 737-800's replacing some 700's on heavy routes.

[MarkLawrence]

3) 737-800's replacing some 700's on heavy routes.

Interesting John - that they have just deferred 20+ deliveries in 2013/2014 - I think the first two are going to come more into play...

[NickPeterman]

If I remember correctly, those 20 deferrals are on top of like 50 other deliveries in those two years. They are inheriting a lot of new capacity even with the push back. Combined with De-hubbing ATL and PHF, along with paring the fat from the TRS network, SW will probably not lose too much capacity. The swap wont be completed til 2015 it looks like.

As sad as I am to see Air Tran die (I loved that airline for years!) I'm glad the 717's will be going somewhere to be appreciated, not viewed as the ugly stepchild. As the proud son of a McDonnell Douglas employee, I'm thrilled to see the MD-95 live on!

[JetBlueAirwaysFan]

Southwest has cut off a huge chunk of AirTran's route network. IIRC they are also closing the ATL hub and are just going to keep it as a regular sized WN destination. This is good for Delta though. With the delivery of AirTran's 717s they can start to retire the D95s without having to surge their RJ service again. Taking on the D95s allowed many cities to see Delta Mainline again which is always something I like to see.

[yankees368]

Southwest has cut off a huge chunk of AirTran's route network. IIRC they are also closing the ATL hub and are just going to keep it as a regular sized WN destination. This is good for Delta though. With the delivery of AirTran's 717s they can start to retire the D95s without having to surge their RJ service again. Taking on the D95s allowed many cities to see Delta Mainline again which is always something I like to see.

It's funny, the opposite happened to me in Michigan. When Delta & NWA merged, Lansing, MI only had service from NWA on DC9-300s. After the merger, Delta reverted back to CRJ100s. Big change.

[threeholerglory]

Maybe we'll get lucky and they'll paint a couple 717s in the REAL widgets....couldn't hurt to dream, right?

[JetBlueAirwaysFan]

It's funny, the opposite happened to me in Michigan. When Delta & NWA merged, Lansing, MI only had service from NWA on DC9-300s. After the merger, Delta reverted back to CRJ100s. Big change.

True. Some cities did revert to all Delta Connection, but other cities such as SYR, ALB, PWM, FNT, etc. have seen a return of mainline service and other cities (DAB, MLB, etc) have gone back to mainline only.

[Delta777LR]

way to go DL!! I look back at the time when the 717s was still in production, it surprised me more that NW or DL never placed any orders, The 717 would have been a perfect fit for NW replacing the DC9s and DL replacing the 732/733s.. But great move on DL getting those ex MD95s!!

[yankees368]

My father just booked his first, and probably last ever trip on AirTran on their 717s. I'm jealous I don't get to go.
Check out this page:
http://www.airtran.com/aircraft/new_717_jets.aspx