717s in Delta colors

[DaveSims]

A lot of people in the industry saw this coming, but here is the official announcement.  Delta to lease Airtran/Southwest Boeing 717s. 

http://news.delta.com/index.php?s=43&item=1624

[BlackAce]

Hmmm... They should still have the NWA DC-9-40's then, it would have made more sence I think

[DaveSims]

Delta still has their MD-80s and MD-90s, and a handful of the DC-9-50 from NWA, but the rest of the DC-9s were tired old birds at NWA and overdue for the desert.  Delta saw an opportunity to get some fairly new and cheap replacements since we all knew Southwest was going to parked the AirTran 717s at the end of the merger.