Delta cancels order for 18 Boeing Dreamliners

More bad news for Boeing after Delta Air Lines canceled an order for 18 jets, the company announced Tuesday.

Delta came to an agreement with the Everett-based aerospace company this week to cancel an 18-jet order for 787 Dreamliners. When Delta merged with Northwest Airlines in 2008, the company took on the order. Now Delta says the 18 jets are no longer needed. The job is worth about $4 billion, according to Reuters.

“This business decision is consistent with Delta’s fleet strategy to prudently address our widebody aircraft needs,” Greg May, said Senior Vice President of Supply Chain Management and Fleet via a statement.

May further commented that Delta highly values its relationship with the Northwest aerospace company and that it will remain strong moving into the future.

Delta still plans to accept orders for new 737-900ER airplanes through 2019. Two orders for those jets are slated to be fulfilled, totaling 120 of the narrowbody jets.

Recent Boeing news

The Delta cancellation comes in the wake of other news regarding Boeing orders, specifically with the government.

President-elect Donald Trump has publicly expressed unfavorable opinions of the company’s deals with the United State’s government. He even threatened to cancel orders from the company — via Twitter. Boeing is expected to produce new Air Force One planes and has another potential deal for a next-generation fighter jet.

Trump's public complaints seemed to work, as the company responded by stating it will find a way to lower the price of the Air Force One job, as well as the fighter jets.

To make the company more competitive and efficient, Boeing has made at least one change to its practices in Everett. It was reported this week that it will cease using staggered scheduling for crews working on the 787 program. Changes to other department schedules could be coming, as well. The scheduling change is expected to happen by Jan. 23. Traffic in Everett is expected to be affected by the change