Delta may buy up to 125 Boeing 787 jets

updated 12:20 p.m. ET June 19, 2007

ATLANTA - Delta Air Lines Inc., which emerged from bankruptcy protection earlier this year, may order as many as 125 of Boeing Co.’s new 787 Dreamliner jets by the end of the year, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.

The order is still being negotiated while Delta considers seat configurations and how much the planes would cost to operate and maintain, the airline’s chief operating officer, Jim Whitehurst, told the Journal.

The Atlanta-based airline is considering “a massive order over a long period of time,” Whitehurst told the Journal.

A Delta spokesman reached by The Associated Press early Tuesday said he could not immediately confirm the report.

The 787 Dreamliner has been a big seller for Chicago-based Boeing.

Heading into the weeklong Paris Air Show in Le Bourget, France, Boeing had already pocketed 584 orders for the Dreamliner, compared with European rival Airbus’ total of 13 firm orders and 142 non-final commitments for its A350.

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