(Reuters) - Delta Air Lines Inc , which bought Northwest Airlines Corp in October, plans to seek significant changes to aircraft orders both carriers had placed individually with Boeing Co , The Wall Street Journal said.
Delta is likely to scale back a Northwest order for BOEING (BA.NY)s new, but delayed, 787 Dreamliner, and ask the manufacturer to expand a Delta order for the 777-200LR aircraft, the newspaper said, citing people familiar with Delta's plans.
The 777-200LR is a long-range aircraft that carries at least 50 more passengers and would better enable the combined carrier to continue pursuing Delta's strategy to shift a greater percentage of its flights to long overseas routes, the paper said.
The two companies could not be immediately reached for comment by Reuters.
No final decisions have been made regarding the new aircraft, the WSJ told the paper, and Delta has yet to officially ask Boeing to alter its order book.
A change in orders from Delta is unlikely to significantly hurt Boeing as it has secured other customers for 787s, and the manufacturer will be willing to expand its order book for the more expensive 777-200LR, the paper said, citing people familiar with the situation.
Delta declined to comment on specific order plans, the Journal reported, but said the company believes the long-term needs of a merged fleet would differ from those of each airline individually.
A Boeing spokeswoman said the company remains in regular contact with its customers to make sure their pending orders match their needs, but declined to comment about specific dealings with any airline, the newspaper said.
(Reporting by Pratish Narayanan in Bangalore; Editing by Anshuman Daga)
