Delta Air Lines has ordered 30 Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner widebody aircraft with options for an additional 30, the carrier announced Tuesday. The 787 will be a new fleet type for Delta and will be used for international growth and to provide additional premium seating, according to the airline. Deliveries are expected to begin in 2031. Delta did not provide financial details of the deal.
Delta also announced its fourth-quarter and full-year results. "Top-line growth is accelerating on consumer and corporate demand," Delta CEO Ed Bastian said during a Tuesday earnings call. "Business travel is showing signs of improvement as corporate confidence grows."
Corporate sales improved across all sectors during the fourth quarter—led by banking, consumer services and media—and were up 8 percent year over year, Delta president Glen Hauenstein said, adding that revenue growth in 2025 was due mostly to higher fares. "What's really exciting about the return of business as we head into '26 … is right now we're seeing [it on] both fare and traffic. Seeing that traffic come back is I think a really good start to 2026."
The carrier's recent corporate survey also indicated that nearly 90 percent of companies expect their 2026 travel volume to increase or remain steady year over year, according to Delta.
Hauenstein added that the airline's 2025 premium revenue grew 7 percent year over year, and loyalty revenue increased 6 percent compared with 2024.
During the fourth quarter, the carrier also expanded its check-in service for its Delta One premium-class offering to each of its U.S. hubs, bringing it to a total of eight locations: Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, Los Angeles, Minneapolis-Saint Paul, New York JFK, Salt Lake City and Seattle. Delta also launched a new airport drop-off service in Atlanta and at LaGuardia Airport in New York in partnership with Uber, "offering customer curbside hospitality and a direct path to security, saving time and reducing congestion," Bastian said.
Delta Q4, Full-Year 2025 Metrics
Delta reported fourth-quarter passenger revenue of $12.9 billion, a 1 percent increase year over year. Total quarterly revenue was $16 billion, up 3 percent for the same period. Full-year 2025 passenger revenue was nearly $51.8 billion, up 2 percent from 2024. Full-year total revenue was nearly $63.4 billion, a 3 percent increase from a year prior.
Fourth-quarter net income was more than $1.2 billion, up from the $843 million reported in Q4 2024, while full-year net income reached $5 billion, up from the nearly $3.5 billion reported in 2024. Capacity for the fourth quarter increased 1.3 percent year over year and was up 3 percent for 2025 compared with 2024. Quarterly fuel costs averaged $2.28 per gallon, while full-year fuel costs averaged $2.30 per gallon.
Delta expects first-quarter 2026 revenue to increase 5 percent to 7 percent year over year and capacity to be up 3 percent compared with 2025, "with all new seat growth concentrated in the premium cabins," according to Hauenstein.
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