The New Delta Air Lines Long-Haul Aircraft Coming In 2026

Delta Air Lines has made some unique fleet decisions compared to other US carriers. On the widebody front, it has gone with Airbus for new twin-aisle planes, while American and United rely on Boeing jets. In addition, both of Delta’s competitors fly a small fleet of Boeing 777-300ERs as their flagship aircraft (20 in the case of American and 22 in the case of United). Meanwhile, Delta’s largest aircraft is the Airbus A350-900, an airliner more comparable in size to the Boeing 777-200ER.

Soon, however, this will change, as Delta Air Lines holds orders for 20 A350-1000’s, which are nearly the same size as the 777-300ER. These will be the largest aircraft that Delta has operated since the retirement of the Boeing 747 in 2017, and the Atlanta-based carrier intends to begin taking delivery of these planes in 2026. As such, they will serve a new role for the airline, and they’re also expected to debut new interiors, given the age of the carrier’s current premium products.

Delta’s Airbus A350-1000 Order

In 2024, Delta Air Lines ordered 20 Airbus A350-1000s along with 20 options. The carrier currently has 39 A350-900s in service and five more on order, for a combined total of 44 planes. Once the A350-1000s are delivered, this will total 64 aircraft, and if Delta decides to exercise its 20 options, this will add up to 84 Airbus A350 family aircraft in Delta’s fleet. This would make it the world’s third-largest operator of the Airbus A350, behind only Air France and Turkish Airlines.

The A350-1000 is a larger variant of the A350-900. It features a fuselage stretch that matches the length of the Boeing 777-300ER, although the latter holds more passengers as it seats ten-abreast in economy (as opposed to nine-abreast on the A350). However, the A350’s more space-efficient interior layout helps close the gap slightly.

The A350-1000 features a larger wing and new landing gear compared to the A350-900, along with more powerful Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-97 engines. This model is available with a Maximum Takeoff Weight of up to 322 tons, and it has a range of up to 9,000 NM (16,688 km). While its sales have historically lagged significantly behind the A350-900, the A350-1000 has outsold the A350-900 in 2025.

Where Could The Airbus A350-1000 Fly?

Delta Air Lines currently has A350 pilot bases at four airports: Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, Detroit Metro Wayne County Airport, Los Angeles International Airport, and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. Additionally, Delta is said to be looking at adding flights between New York JFK and Seoul, which would require the A350. However, the routes that these planes operate will depend on whether Delta decides to focus more heavily on the aircraft’s capacity or range.

Delta is looking to grow its Asia network, leveraging both its Seattle and Los Angeles hubs. Reportedly, the carrier is planning to add service to Singapore and Manila, while adding flights from Los Angeles and New York to Seoul. Singapore is a high-yielding premium market, and the A350-1000s will have more premium seats than any other Delta widebody. Manila, meanwhile, is low-yielding but high volume, and the A350-1000 will be Delta’s largest aircraft yet.

Delta is also planning to commence service from Atlanta to Delhi, a route that could use the A350-1000’s extra range over the A350-900. The type could also suit high-volume destinations, such as SkyTeam hubs like Amsterdam, Paris, and Seoul. Initially, the A350-1000 will likely launch a mix of new routes, such as the US West Coast to Singapore, while replacing A350-900s on routes like Atlanta to Seoul and Amsterdam. They’ll likely be most common in Atlanta and Los Angeles.

How The Airbus A350-1000 Will Fit Into Delta’s Network

Delta’s Asian network is smaller than that of United Airlines, and this is an issue that the carrier is working to address. In addition to the aforementioned routes, which are in the planning stages, Delta launched new flights to Taipei from Seattle in 2024 and has announced flights from Los Angeles to Hong Kong and from Atlanta to Riyadh, which will commence in 2026. With only 20 A350-1000s, overall growth will be slow but steady, and Delta has 20 options if it wants to expand further.

Delta’s long-haul strategy primarily centers around funneling passengers to its joint-venture hubs at Incheon International Airport, Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, and Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport for connecting flights on partner airlines. Its A350-900s have 306 or 275 seats, but the aircraft with the 306-seat layout are expected to be reconfigured to the 275-seat ’35H’ configuration. United, meanwhile, operates 318-seat Boeing 787-10s and 350-seat Boeing 777-300ERs.

While the A350-1000s will be used to open up some new routes, they will certainly also be deployed to partner airline hubs. While a layout hasn’t officially been published, these planes will likely feature over 300 seats, allowing Delta to move more passengers to these partner hubs. At the same time, the A350-900s previously operating said routes can then be used to launch new routes where Delta would prefer to fly a smaller aircraft, such as Atlanta to Riyadh.

What Will The A350-1000s Look Like On The Inside?

No official layout or images have been published for Delta’s A350-1000, so all we have is speculation, although industry insider JonNYC reported on X that Delta is planning 50 Delta One suites on the A350-1000. While this isn’t an official quote from the airline, it does track with Delta’s current layout strategy, as its A350-900s in the ’35H’ layout feature 40 Delta One suites, including two rows behind the second set of exit doors.

An A350-1000 in a similar layout would likely have 42 Delta One suites in between the first and second set of exit doors, along with eight suites behind the second set. Delta tends to have large Premium Select cabins on its Airbus A350-900s (48 on the 359 subfleet and 40 on the 35H subfleet). As such, it’s not unreasonable that Delta will go for either 48 or 56 seats for Premium Select.

Using data from the Aircraft Characteristics Airport And Maintenance Planning document for the Airbus A350, an A350-1000 configured with 50 Delta One suites and 56 Premium Select seats could have space for 204 economy seats, if Delta were to install a mid-cabin galley near the third set of exit doors (as it did for the 35H subfleet). This would give it a total capacity of 310 passengers, although, of course, this is all speculative for the time being.

Delta unveiled its Delta One suites on the A350-900 in 2017, based on the Thompson Vantage XL+. These seats are aging, and American and United are rolling out new business class suites based on the Adient Ascent, a reverse herringbone seat. It’s thought that the A350-1000s will come with a new Delta One suite, which is reported to be based on the Thompson VantageNOVA. This is a reverse herringbone seat with doors, and it also comes with a front-row ‘business class plus’ product.

How Delta’s A350-1000s Will Stack Up Against The Competition

As Delta’s future flagship, the A350-1000 will compete against the Boeing 777-300ERs operated by American Airlines and Delta Air Lines. However, with only 50 Delta One suites, the carrier’s business class cabin will be outmatched in terms of capacity by that of United (60 Polaris seats) and American Airlines (52 Flagship seats, to be reconfigured to 70 Flagship Suites). Delta has long been more conservative with the size of its business class cabins.

However, its A350s offer the largest premium economy cabins in the US, which is likely to continue with the A350-1000. United’s current 777-300ERs are flown with a total of 350 seats, and American’s currently fly with 304 seats, but will be reconfigured to seat 330 passengers. As such, unless Delta elects to pursue a radically different direction than what is expected with these planes, its A350-1000s will likely seat fewer passengers than the 777-300ERs flown by its competitors.

United and American are rolling out the Adient Ascent with doors on new Boeing 787 deliveries. American is also confirmed to be installing these seats on its entire Boeing 777 fleet, while United has not confirmed such plans. The Thompson VantageNOVA is similar in that it’s a reverse herringbone seat with doors and a front-row business class plus product. As such, we should expect that Delta’s A350-1000s will be competitive with the latest and greatest interiors from American and United.