Delta Air Lines is once again employing a tactic it has previously used to circumvent tariffs on aircraft imports. By redirecting a new Airbus A350-900 to a third country before it enters service, the airline strategically avoids a 10% universal tariff. This maneuver follows Delta’s previous actions stemming from an October 2019 World Trade Organization (WTO) ruling favoring the United States, which claimed European states provided illegal subsidies for commercial aircraft programs.
Flight records from Flightradar24 indicated that Delta’s scheduled A350-900, registered as N528DN, was set to travel from Toulouse Blagnac Airport to Tokyo Narita International Airport on April 30. This relocation would have allowed the aircraft to enter service in Japan rather than the US. However, the flight, numbered DL9936, was canceled.
Since the start of 2025, Delta has received 11 aircraft, including two A350-900s, one of which, the N528DN, remains in Toulouse, France. The other A350-900 was delivered on March 25, ahead of the period after Donald Trump’s ‘Liberation Day,’ which imposed 10% tariffs globally, except for China. These tariffs have been temporarily suspended.
Delta’s CEO Ed Bastian emphasized on April 9, during a Q1 earnings call, that Delta is committed to avoiding tariffs on aircraft deliveries. Bastian noted, “we will not be paying tariffs,” emphasizing the financial challenge posed by a potential 20% cost increase on aircraft. He expressed optimism that trade discussions could resolve the tariff issue and pointed out the significant export gap between the US and European aerospace industries.
In its financial plans for 2025 filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Delta anticipates receiving 43 Airbus planes, with some potentially from the company’s Alabama assembly line. From 2020 to 2024, Delta redirected other aircraft designated for foreign entry amid tariffs following the WTO dispute, ultimately resolved with suspended tariffs from July 2021.
The strategic re-routing isn’t unfamiliar to Delta, with past instances involving at least eight A350-900s and numerous A330-900s initially entering service at foreign airports.
