Delta Airlines Chief Executive Officer Richard Anderson said Boeing Co. executives offered him used wide-body jets for $10 million, defending his comment a month ago that he sees a bubble in long-haul planes.
Anderson surprised some in aviation when, in an Oct. 14 earnings call, he said Delta had been offered a 10-year-old Boeing 777-200 for that price. Analysts quickly challenged Anderson’s comment, suggesting a more appropriate price is around $40 million. However, in a recorded message for employees, Anderson on Friday fingered Boeing as having made the offer to Delta.
“We got that value from Boeing executives who had offered us those airplanes at that price,” Anderson said on the recording. He went on to say, “We were pleased that Boeing offered Delta used 777s for $10 million.”
Boeing had no response to Anderson’s message Friday, said spokesman Doug Alder. Following the initial comments last month, Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg suggested the Delta chief’s valuation was off-base. New 777s sold for $170 million 10 years ago.