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Though there are other Delta hubs too.  Cincinnati, Salt Lake City, and even now New York’s JFK Airport are apart of Delta’s network.  In recent months however, Cincinnati has been scaled back.  Operations at JFK have been ramped up though.  Some see this as their new northern international departure point while others see this as a direct response to competition from low cost carrier, JetBlue.  Either way, Delta has added multiple destinations to and from JFK. 

 
Fleets here, Fleets there, Fleets everywhere

Delta Air Lines has been reabsorbing their Song fleet of Boeing 757s back into the mainline.  Delta has two types of aircraft companies represented in the fleet, Boeing and McDonnell Douglas.  Their McDonnell Douglas fleet outnumbers their Boeing 757 fleet, which is sizable. 

Delta Air Lines Fleet as of September 2005

737-200                          32

737-300                          21

737-800                           71 with 50 more ordered

757-200                         121                                           

767-200                           11

767-300ER                        59

767-400ER                        21

777-200                             8

MD-88                            120

Total                               480

Delta’s significant Boeing 757 fleet would fit nicely into United’s fleet however; their MD-88/90 fleet is something of an odd ball.  The MD family fits between the seating capacity of the 737 and the 757 family.  The aircraft is something that is missing from the United fleet.  But the extra costs that are required for the maintenance and the training of personnel are something that could be costly. 

The problem is with Delta’s fleet is that on their international routes, Delta has opted for just two classes of service, Business Elite (a combination of business and first classes) and economy.  United still has three classes of service on their international services.  A bit of seat moment and upgrading of services and this situation could be rectified but Delta’s aircraft has all been configured in the two class system.  So that means reconfiguring all of the aircraft that are internationally bound, and in Delta’s case that number increases daily.