Airbus is Making Some Serious Progress on Delta's First A350
The Airbus A350-900 destined for Delta is starting to take shape at the factory — winglets and all. The carrier's giving future passengers a look into the progress of Ship 3501, its soon-to-be flagship aircraft.
Many of the body components, including the tail, wings and winglets, arrived at Airbus' factory in Toulouse, France in January 2017. Since then, the components have been placed together in the formation that will ultimately complete the aircraft. This week, the aircraft winglets were placed, featuring the Delta tail logo that will be exclusive to the A350-900.
There's still plenty of work to be done before the aircraft debuts in fall 2017. The carrier will install 32 Delta One suites, making this the first all-suite business cabin flying on an American carrier. The A350-900 will also feature 48 Delta Premium Select seats and 226 economy seats, for a total capacity of 306 passengers.
The next-gen airframe will also feature seatback entertainment screens from Delta Studio, Gogo 2KU Wi-Fi internet access, high-capacity overhead bins across all cabins and LED ambient lighting. The A350-900 will be powered by two Rolls-Royce Trent 700 XWB engines, which will be delivered at a later time.
This aircraft will primarily operate on trans-Pacific routes, replacing the retiring Boeing 747-400 currently servicing these flights. Ship 3501 will be the first of 25 total Airbus A350 aircraft to fly with the carrier, in addition to an A330-900neo that will be delivered in 2019.
Delta is working exclusively with Airbus to add modern wide-body jet to its fleet. Outside of 49 737-MAX 9 aircraft, the carrier does not have any future aircraft currently on order with Boeing. Comparatively, Delta has a total of 151 modern aircraft on order with Airbus, including 82 A321s, 10 A330-300s, 25 A330-900 and the A350-900 order.
All images courtesy of Airbus and Delta Air Lines via Flickr.
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Rewards Rate
| 2X miles | 2 miles per dollar on every purchase |
| 5X miles | 5 miles per dollar on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Business Travel |
| 10X miles | 10 miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Business Travel |
Intro Offer
Earn 200K miles when you spend $30K in the first 3 months, and an additional 200K miles when you spend $150K in the first 6 monthsLIMITED-TIME OFFER: Earn up to 400K bonus milesAnnual Fee
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Why We Chose It
The Capital One Venture X Business Card has all the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card has to offer and more. It offers an incredible welcome bonus and requires an equally impressive spend to qualify. In addition, the card comes with premium travel perks like annual travel credit. (Partner offer)Pros
- The Capital One Venture X business card has a very lucrative welcome offer.
- In addition, the card comes with many premium travel perks such as an annual $300 credit for bookings through Capital One Business Travel.
- Business owners are also able to add employee cards for free.
Cons
- The card requires significant spending to earn the welcome offer.
- Another drawback is that the annual travel credit can only be used on bookings made through Capital One Business Travel.
- LIMITED-TIME OFFER: Earn up to 400K bonus miles: 200K miles when you spend $30K in the first 3 months, and an additional 200k miles when you spend $150k in the first 6 months
- Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, everywhere—with no limits or category restrictions
- Earn 10X miles on hotels and rental cars and 5X miles on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Business Travel
- With no preset spending limit, enjoy big purchasing power that adapts so you can spend more and earn more rewards
- Empower your teams to make business purchases while earning rewards on their transactions, with free employee and virtual cards. Plus, automatically sync your transaction data with your accounting software and pay your vendors with ease
- Redeem your miles on flights, hotels and more. Plus, transfer your miles to any of the 15+ travel loyalty programs
- Every year, you'll get 10,000 bonus miles after your account anniversary date. Plus, receive an annual $300 credit for bookings made through Capital One Business Travel
- Receive up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®. Enjoy access to 1,300+ airport lounges worldwide, including Capital One Lounge locations and Priority Pass™ lounges, after enrollment
- Enjoy a $100 experience credit and other premium benefits with every hotel and vacation rental booked from the Premier Collection
- This is a pay-in-full card, so your balance is due in full every month