Aircraft Industry: Delta chooses Airbus over Boeing for 40 plane order - by Karen Jacobs

Airbus A321

Delta Air Lines Inc announced an order for Airbus jets on Wednesday worth almost $6 billion at list prices, softening its reliance on Boeing for the first time in two decades as it looks for plane bargains.

The order, crowning a months-long competition between the transatlantic plane-making rivals, includes 30 A321 narrowbody planes to be used on domestic flying as well as 10 A330-300 widebody aircraft for international routes. Deliveries will be between 2015 and 2017.

The list price for the deal is $5.6 billion, but analysts said Delta may have won a steep discount after holding out longer than most of its rivals for lower prices as Europe's Airbus seeks to expand recent successes in Boeing's home market.

"I would be surprised if Delta didn't get a phenomenally good deal," said Adam Pilarski, senior vice president at U.S.-based aviation consultants Avitas.

Both the aircraft types and the delivery schedule - between 2015 and 2017 when both major plane makers are keen to keep up production of existing models before switching to new variants - underscores the probability of competitive pricing, he said.

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