Delta has become Airbus Industries favorite customer and at this time I would bet Airbus gave Delta a sweet deal along with government sponsored savings based on the quantity of aircraft Delta has committed to. Knowing that Delta and the industry has excess capacity, for now, Delta probably did not want to eliminate one of the most popular and capable aircraft in their fleet but had no choice based on the numbers and the goal to maintain a newer fleet. This situation will test every airline management to make very tough and unpopular decisions. Next will be furloughs and pay cuts. There will be a lot of pain and disillusions as the various airlines, and travel industry, employees unwind their budgets to this reality. One moment there was unlimited prosperity and the next moment there was unemployment, not what all those new pilots and Flight Crew ever expected. Contract negotiations are going to be pretty rough.