The used airliner market will be interesting. I am sure, now that Delta has set this precedence, many more airlines will be publicly announcing what they have been privately planning for some weeks now, a slew of airliner retirements. It certainly sets the table for what the legacy carriers are preparing for in their passenger load predictions for the next 2-3 years.
This certainly does not help Boeing either losing the parts/maintenance support business because of Delta’s 777 fleet retirement. I am sure there will be a bunch of Boeing 777/767/757/747/737 retirements soon to be announced. It will be interesting to see what the results will be for both Boeing and Airbus as the airlines “thin their herds”.
Looks like a great opportunity for the Federal Government to expand Davis-Monthan and provide retired airliner long term parking and storage for a fee and get a few bucks back from the Airline Bailout Program (ABP…I just wanted to invent another acronym…aviation thrives on them…just doing my part). The airliner pickling business will be the next aviation “boom” venue.