History

Service with Northwest

"The A330 will allow us to both grow our revenues and lower our costs. The A330 will equip Northwest with the customer comforts and amenities necessary to compete for today's sophisticated international traveler, and simultaneously enable Northwest to take another important step to contain our costs through reduced operating expenses and expanded fleet commonality." Richard Anderson, Northwest Airlines CEO in 2001

The fuel-efficient, wide-body Airbus A330 was the first new aircraft type added to the Northwest Airlines fleet in 14 years, when its cousin, the A320 made its arrival. Northwest purchased the A330 to enhance Atlantic and Pacific region services. The new airliner brought range, capacity, economics and amenities to improve existing international operations using Boeing 747 and McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 aircraft.

Passenger Experience
World Business Class on the A330 offered Northwest's new lie-flat seat, each with a private canopy, 60 inches of space between the seats, and state-of-the-art entertainment system.

Customers in the 264-main cabin also enjoyed in-flight video programming on a 6.5 inch screen found on the seatbacks with audio and video on demand. The economy class seat offered more personal space than any other seat in Northwest's fleet and featured a "winged" headrest, with bendable sides.

A330-323
Northwest's first scheduled A330-300 flight left Detroit on August 25, 2003, and arrived in Amsterdam the next morning.

The A330-300 became Northwest's transatlantic flagship aircraft, gradually replacing Douglas DC-10-30s. The last Northwest DC-10 ended international service on October 29, 2006, and retired from domestic service on January 8, 2007.

The A330's fuel efficiency allowed Northwest to increase transatlantic service by 12% from 2000-2007, but use almost 30% less fuel. Northwest CEO Doug Steenland said the fuel-efficient A330 fleet was part of the "greening of Northwest Airlines." The A330 was much quieter and 35% more efficient than the DC-10 aircraft it replaced.

In October 2007, Northwest received its 32nd A330 aircraft, making it the largest A330 operator in the world. Northwest now had the youngest international fleet of any North American airline, and the youngest transatlantic fleet of any North American or European carrier.

A330-200

Northwest accepted delivery of the smaller, longer-range A330-200 on July 21, 2004, and it arrived in Minnesota/St. Paul on July 22. Northwest configured the A330-200 with 243 seats: 32 World Business Class and 211 in Coach. The A330-200 could fly about 17 percent further than the larger A330-300 model.

The A330-200 made its first scheduled flight with Northwest on September 1, 2004, between Portland, Oregon, and Tokyo-Narita. It was Northwest's first new aircraft type across the Pacific since the Boeing 747-400. The A330-200 began replacing DC-10-30 and Boeing 747-200 aircraft serving destinations in Asia.

The 1,000th aircraft made by Airbus was an A330-200 delivered to Northwest in November 2004.

A330-300
On May 28, 2015, honorees of Delta's Chairman's Club, the airline's most prestigious recognition for employees, took delivery of a new Airbus A330-300 widebody aircraft from Airbus' headquarters in Toulouse, France.  

Ship 3322 (MSN 1627) was the first new Airbus A330-300 aircraft purchased by Delta following the 2008 merger with Northwest Airlines, and one of ten new A330-300s scheduled to enter Delta's fleet by 2017.

The new A330-300s are 15 to 25 percent more fuel efficient per seat than the Boeing 767-300s and Boeing 747-400s they replaced. The A330 operate primarily on Delta Atlantic and Pacific long-range routes, as well as provide Delta's network with more flexibility to optimally match capacity with demand. The aircraft is powered by General Electric CF6-80E1 engines.

The Airbus A330-300 features 34 full flat-bed seats with direct aisle access in Delta One, 32 extra-legroom seats in Delta Comfort+ and 227 Main Cabin seats. Delta customers enjoy access to satellite in-flight Wi-Fi featuring the Delta Studio library of free streaming programming as well as more than 1,000 on-demand movies, television shows and music on large, high-definition seatback monitors. Customers also benefit from modern interiors with LED lighting and extra-capacity overhead bins.

A330-900neo
On November 19, 2014, Delta became the launch customer for the extended fuselage Airbus A330-900neo with an order for 25. In November 2018, Delta increased its order to 35. 

The aircraft was ordered for Delta's medium-haul trans-Atlantic routes and select routes between the West Coast and Asia, replacing older Boeing 767-300ERs. New, more efficient engines allowed for a longer flying range of 7,200 miles than Delta's standard A330-300 aircraft.

Delta took delivery of its first A330-900neo, Ship 3401, on May 23, 2019. In an environmental partnership with Airbus, Delta flew the delivery flight using jet fuel blended with non-petroleum synthetic fuel.

Service began on July 10, 2019, with flight DL589 from Seattle to Shanghai. Flights connecting Seattle with Seoul started October 1 and Tokyo-Narita on October 27, 2019. 

Highlights:

• Delta was the first U.S. airline to operate the A330-900neo.
• First new widebody delivery to feature four Delta seat experiences: Delta One Suite (29 seats), Delta Premium Select (28), Delta Comfort+ (56) and Main Cabin (168).
• First Delta aircraft delivered with memory foam cushioned seats throughout the aircraft.
• First widebody aircraft featuring a new wireless in-flight entertainment system from Delta Flight Products.
• Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 engines produce a 25 percent lower fuel burn than previous generation aircraft.