Delta Air Lines Quietly Moving Forward With Major Change

Delta Air Lines is making a major change - four years before it was slated to begin.

The airline previously announced its plans to retire the Boeing 717s in its fleet, with more than 80 aircraft eventually being retired by 2030.

Those retirements appear to have started early, with reports indicating that six aircraft aged more than 26 years will leave the fleet nearly four years earlier than expected.

Six Aircraft Being Retired, More to Come

These aircraft have been identified by travel insider JonNYC as consecutive registrations from N943AT through to N948AT

The abrupt retirement of these six aircraft doesn't necessarily mean the rest of its 717 fleet will be meeting the same fate any time soon.

"It suggests that these particular aircraft may have reached points where major maintenance work was becoming economically difficult to justify," Simple Flying suggested. "Airlines frequently retire aircraft when expensive inspections or structural work are due, particularly if replacement aircraft are entering the fleet."

View From the Wing offered more insight, revealing the immense cost of maintaining the 717 with major reliability checks incoming.

"A major structural check for aging aircraft is going to be more along the lines of six to twelve years, though I'm not familiar with Delta's specific program for the 717 but would cost several million dollars per aircraft for non-routine structural work, corrosion, landing gear, engines and cabin work," it said. "But the real cost is work identified as needed during the check itself. And these are planes worth very little on the resale market."

What's Next for Delta?

According to View From the Wing Delta's currently has 258 firm commitments in its order book:

• 100 Boeing 737 MAX 10s and 30 options (replacement and growth)
• 62 Airbus A220-300s (717/A319 replacement, upgauge regional jets, growth)
• 96 Airbus A321neos and 36 options (older narrowbody replacement)

It cited the Airbus A220 as the most likely successor to the Boeing 717s being retired by Delta.

"Replacing 717s would probably mean some larger A220-300s, some reassignment of comparable A220-100s and Airbus A319s, and fewer frequencies in some markets," it said.

New planes appear to be on the horizon.

Related: Southwest Airlines Moving Forward With Another Change

This story was originally published by Men's Journal on Jun 23, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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This story was originally published June 22, 2026 at 9:53 PM.