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Delta orders up to 70 Bombardier regional jets

Published: December 6, 2012 Comment on this article

Delta already has 101 CRJ-900s flown by Pinnacle Airlines Corp., SkyWest Inc. and SkyWest's ExpressJet unit. Those same airlines also fly the 50-seat CRJ-200s that Delta is in effect trading in to Bombardier for the new planes.

Delta spokesman Anthony Black said it isn't known yet which regional airline will fly the new planes, or which ones will be losing the 50-seaters. Delta will still have 226 of those CRJ-200s, even after it sends 60 back to Bombardier.

Delta also has another 154 larger regional jets that have first-class seats.

Delta said this fall that it was looking for 76-seat regional jets. It's a big win for Montreal-based Bombardier, whose small-jet regional jet business has been in the doldrums as other airlines also shift away from 50-seaters.

Shares of Atlana-based Delta Air Lines Inc. rose 27 cents, or 2.7 percent, to $9.98 in afternoon trading.

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AP Business Writer Michelle Chapman in New York contributed to this report.

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