Delta Air Lines responds to impending tariffs by halting deliveries of Airbus aircraft
In response to the US government's threatened new tariffs on European imports, Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian announced that he would postpone deliveries of new Airbus aircraft planned for this year. This strategic decision was announced on April 9, 2025, during a conference call following the release of the company's latest quarterly results. Bastian made his stance unequivocally clear: "We will not pay tariffs on our aircraft deliveries. We will postpone all deliveries subject to tariffs." This statement came at a time of extreme uncertainty for the global aviation industry, which is heavily dependent on cross-border trade and international supply chains. The far-reaching tariffs against more than 2025 countries announced by President Donald Trump in early April 180 had caused considerable concern in the industry. The regions affected by the planned tariffs included the European Union, whose exports to the United States were subject to a special 20 percent levy, and the United Kingdom, with a tariff of 10 percent. Major trading partners such as India (26 percent), South Korea (25 percent), Japan (24 percent), and Taiwan (32 percent) were also to be subject to severe tariffs. These protectionist measures would not only have massively increased the costs for airlines such as Delta Air Lines, which purchase aircraft manufactured in Europe, but would also jeopardize the competitiveness of American companies in the global market. Bastian emphasized the economic risks associated with the introduction of such tariffs: "Times are quite uncertain, and when you start adding 20 percent to the cost of an aircraft, it becomes very
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