After emerging from bankruptcy this year, Delta is debating between the Boeing Co.'s 787 Dreamliner or the Airbus A350 XWB airplanes to replace its current fleet.
We do need to make a decision really by the end of this year on the 767 replacement, because we will need to start taking those in 2013-2014," said Jim Whitehurst, Delta's chief operating officer, in an interview at the Paris Air Show.
"We have been waiting until the numbers are fully firmed up (on the A350)," he said. "We will be assessing the 787 versus the A350 as we go forward this year."
The wall street journal online reported earlier on Tuesday that Delta is set to order as many as 125 Boeing 787s this year, worth about $20 billion at list prices.
A spokesman for Boeing, reached at the Paris Air Show, said the company does not comment on speculation about future orders.