Technical Advances & Amenities Delta flies the world's largest 767 fleet. Delta is the only airline to have operated all sub-types of the Boeing 767: the -200, the -300/300ER and the -400ER. For more interesting 767 facts, see the Delta Blog. In 1982, Delta's first 767-200s offered:
For details and photos, see this 1982 booklet "Delta Air Lines' Boeing 767." Ship 102 The Spirit of Delta Ship 102 holds a special place in Delta hearts and history. In difficult economic times in the early 1980s, employees purchased Delta's first 767 and presented it to the company. Christened "The Spirit of Delta," its dedication ceremony on December 15, 1982, made international news. Read all about it on the Delta Blog. Immediately after the dedication ceremony, Ship 102 went into service. Inaugural flight: Atlanta-Tampa. After 23 years of Delta service and a 2-month farewell tour across the U.S., Ship 102 came home to the Delta Air Transport Heritage Museum. Delta employees, Museum staff and volunteers transformed the world's only preserved 767 into an award-winning exhibit in 2006. For more info and how to visit, see the Delta Museum website. 767-300 Delta was the first U.S. carrier to fly the Boeing 767-300 in scheduled service on December 1, 1986. Inaugural flight: Atlanta-Miami. The -300 was a stretched version of the -200 model. Carrying 60 more passengers, the -300's fuselage was longer by 21 feet and 3 inches. The new plane was also 20 percent more fuel efficient and carried 25 percent more cargo than the 767-200. Delta purchased the -300 for "intermediate and long-range runs that enjoy heavy demand." Initial service: New England, New York and Montreal, Canada; to Florida and the Bahamas. By 2006, the -300 was flying for Delta in Latin America and Puerto Rico and in the U.S. between Atlanta and Florida and over medium to long transcontinental routes. 767-300ER In September 1988, Delta selected the Boeing 767-300ER and the McDonnell Douglas MD-11 for flexibility on its international routes. Delta planned to operate the 767-300ER over the Atlantic, and to fly the MD-11 over the Pacific and later to Europe. Delta began 767-300ER service in 1990. In 1996, Delta made its first move to retire its older L-1011 trans-Atlantic fleet to domestic service, replacing them with the Boeing 767-300ER. By 2006, the 767-300ER was flying most of Delta's trans-Atlantic routes and to South America. In May 2004, Delta completed a five-month reconfiguration of its 767-300ER fleet, adding more economy class seats and removing some BusinessElite Seats, in response to changing passenger demand. Each standard -300ER now held 36 Business Elite seats, down from 48, and 168 economy class seats, up from 147. The seven 767-300ER from Gulf Air and Asiana, which differed from the standard -300ER because of an extra door in the BusinessElite cabin, were reconfigured from 48 BusinessElite seats to 30, and from 142 economy seats to 175. Both seat counts include the crew rest seats. 767-400ER Delta was the launch customer for this final extended-range version of the 767 in 1997, continuing plans to retire its international L-1011s. The -400ER model stretched 21.1 feet to 201.4 feet with a wingspan increase of 14.3 feet to meet the need for a Boeing airliner sized between the -300 model and 777-200. The -400ER also featured improved electrical and air-conditioning systems, increased takeoff weight, "raked" wingtips to increase fuel efficiency, and a new 777-style interior. Delta took delivery of its first 767-400ER on August 11, 2000, and began replacing L-1011s on high-volume domestic flights:
Delta received its 100th 767 jet from Boeing on October 23, 2000. It was the sixth 767-400ER delivered to Delta in 2000. On March 27, 2007, Delta announced plans to convert its entire 767-400ER fleet to an international configuration, featuring a BusinessElite cabin. Lie-flat seats were installed in the -400ER BusinessElite cabins in Spring 2009. At the end of 2009, Delta 767-432ERs international destination included Buenos Aires, Argentina; Caracas, Venezuela; Lima, Peru; London and Manchester, England; Madrid, Spain; Munich, Germany; Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, Brazil; Milan and Rome, Italy; and Tel Aviv, Israel. The 767-432ER also continued to fly high-volume domestic flights. Video & Pics
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