Flight Friday: Delta Mainline Utilization January 2024-March 2025

Delta Air Lines turns 100 in 2025, and with the wrap up of MRO Americas in Atlanta, Delta’s home, this week’s Flight Friday breaks down the airline’s mainline flights by aircraft manufacturer and their aircraft class.

It’s no surprise that the narrowbody fleets contribute the bulk of Delta’s monthly flight cycles, which averages over 96,000 per month during 2024, and account for almost 92% of the fleet’s movements in the 2025 first quarter. The narrowbody fleet comprises over 750 aircraft, with a 47% Airbus, 53% Boeing make up. By quantity, the 737-900ER is Delta’s largest type in service with 160 aircraft, followed by its A321-200s with almost 125 in service.

The widebody fleet of almost 160 aircraft contribute about 8% of the flights, however they account for almost a quarter of all flight hours, due to the nature of operations with widebodies doing longer stage lengths. The manufacturer widebody split is in favor of Airbus, with almost two-thirds of the fleet made in Toulouse.

Delta still employs a feeder network, but it has begun to shrink that in recent years as the airline shifts passengers onto mainline services predominantly flown by the A220 and B717.

With recent economic uncertainty, this has added a level of complexity for Delta, as they are the only U.S. legacy carrier using Airbus aircraft to transport passengers round the globe.

This data was put together using Aviation Week’s Tracked Aircraft Utilization database.