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Delta 777 has short-lived run as seatless freighter

A Boeing 777-200 Extended Range. Delta retired a plane like this two months after putting the plane in the shop to remove seats. (Photo: Delta Air Lines)

Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) unbolted and removed all the seats from a Boeing 777 passenger airplane to make room for cargo shipments and then decommissioned it two months later along with the rest of its 777 fleet, raising the question: Why bother?

The Federal Aviation Administration certified Delta’s plan to remove seats from a 777-200 Extended Range aircraft at the end of August, enabling more than 10,000 additional pounds of cargo to be carried on the main deck. The aircraft was retired at the end of October, spokeswoman Debbie Sheehan confirmed.

“There are no plans to convert additional aircraft,” she said.

The seat removal process can take several days, according to industry officials, which means Delta only had use of the stripped-down 777 for eight weeks. Sheehan didn’t disclose how many cargo-only flights the passenger freighter conducted.


Delta incurred lower modification costs because it isn’t putting the seats back. Given the hot state of the market, executives likely calculated that modifying the 777 was worthwhile to generate some additional revenue before retirement.

International airlines have stripped seats from nearly 160 aircraft this year so the cabin floor can be utilized to stack light boxes and increase carrying capacity as demand soars for airlift to move goods, according to the International Air Transport Association. But no U.S. airlines, besides Delta, have opted to pull seats for floor-loading of cargo despite the FAA granting broad permission in July. 

Delta has operated more than 1,600 passenger-freighter flights since March and last week added new flights to Europe and India.

Removing seats is the most aggressive step for taking advantage of the hot air cargo market. Several thousand aircraft were repurposed for dedicated cargo transport, with cargo carried in the traditional lower hold and sometimes in passenger seats and overhead bins, after the coronavirus pandemic forced the shutdown of most international passenger operations. The resulting shortage of aircraft rapidly boosted yields, attracting airlines to offer scheduled and charter cargo service as a way to replace lost passenger revenue.


The FAA ruling came after the surge in demand for personal protective equipment waned last summer, which removed some of the urgency to create more temporary cargo space on aircraft. Industry watchers assumed Delta wouldn’t opt to reconfigure any 777s because the short payback period wasn’t worth the engineering expense and few freight forwarders were aware the plane was being marketed. 

But Phil Seymour, president of aviation consultancy IBA Group, said removal of seats isn’t a major difficulty and could be managed by eight to 10 mechanics.

Some airlines have recouped the tear-down expense with as few as 10 mini-freighter flights from China to the U.S., he told FreightWaves.

So long, triple sevens

Delta decided in May to retire its 18 twin-aisle 777s as part of drastic cost-cutting efforts to cope with the devastating impact of the coronavirus crisis. The company, which began flying the 777 in 1999, recently reported third-quarter revenue fell $9.5 billion compared to last year. 

Delta is shrinking its fleet to align with much lower passenger demand. The decision was also based on fuel efficiency.The carrier will rely on the Airbus A330 and A350 instead of the 777s for long-haul flights. The A350-900s that will directly replace the 777s burn 21% less fuel per seat.

The 777s, which are highly regarded in the airfreight industry for their ability to handle large payloads, were active most of the year as auxiliary freighters. 

Click here for more FreightWaves/American Shipper stories by Eric Kulisch.


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One Comment

  1. JDM

    As an e-commerce business owner who works with manufacturing and shipping out of China/Taiwan, I am seeing the massive increase in price for air freight and have wondered why carriers aren’t doing what Delta did with the 777 to take advantage of the huge influx of demand for air freight.

    After reading this article, it’s still not clear to me why they shut the operation down. (Forgive me and be kind of I’ve missed something obvious.)

    I just got quotes for several air freight shipments out of China and the price is still astronomical compared to previous years due to low supply and high demand.

    So, if the demand is still “hot”—to use a word from the article—why is this plan to convert passenger carriers to cargo carriers still being canceled when it seems like it’d be an effective way to pick up business/revenue while passenger carrying is down?

Comments are closed.

Eric Kulisch

Eric is the Supply Chain and Air Cargo Editor at FreightWaves. An award-winning business journalist with extensive experience covering the logistics sector, Eric spent nearly two years as the Washington, D.C., correspondent for Automotive News, where he focused on regulatory and policy issues surrounding autonomous vehicles, mobility, fuel economy and safety. He has won two regional Gold Medals and a Silver Medal from the American Society of Business Publication Editors for government and trade coverage, and news analysis. He was voted best for feature writing and commentary in the Trade/Newsletter category by the D.C. Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. He won Environmental Journalist of the Year from the Seahorse Freight Association in 2014 and was the group's 2013 Supply Chain Journalist of the Year. In December 2022, he was voted runner up for Air Cargo Journalist by the Seahorse Freight Association. As associate editor at American Shipper Magazine for more than a decade, he wrote about trade, freight transportation and supply chains. Eric is based in Portland, Oregon. He can be reached for comments and tips at [email protected]