Delta Intends to Add 500 Jets Over Next Decade : Airlines: The nation’s third-largest carrier wants to expand its international market. It is also evaluating the assets of struggling Pan Am.

Delta Air Lines Inc., the nation’s third-largest airline and a carrier stronger than most of its rivals, said Wednesday that it will add 500 jets over the next decade as it looks at expansion into the international market.

In what could be a significant piece of that strategy, the Atlanta-based carrier also said it was continuing to evaluate the assets of struggling Pan Am Corp.

The cash-starved Pan Am filed for bankruptcy protection in January.

Thomas Roeck, Delta’s senior vice president of finance, met with industry analysts at a closed-door luncheon in New York and said Delta plans to buy 500 planes in the next 10 years.

The planes include 190 on order and options for an additional 310. About a fourth of the orders and a third of the options are for McDonnell Douglas MD-90s.

“Delta is a growing airline with a significant international route expansion under way,” Roeck said in a statement released by Delta.

Delta now has 469 planes, many of which will have to be retired because of federal laws covering aircraft age. The biggest proportion of its current fleet is Boeing 727-200s.

Analysts said Roeck acknowledged during the meeting that the airline continues to evaluate Pan Am’s assets.

Delta spokesman Neil Monroe said the airline is “simply looking at the assets that are available. We have never stated any timetable.”

Analysts said that was par for the course for Delta, which they said looks at potential acquisitions like a Southern belle choosing an evening dress.

“They’re very meticulous,” County Natwest USA analyst Rose Ann Tortora said. “In general, it was a fairly upbeat meeting.”

Leon Marcus, an attorney representing Pan Am creditors, recently told Reuters that he expected no decision on whether Delta would scoop up Pan Am until the end of the summer, typically a strong period for airlines because of vacation travel.

“They’re (Delta) going to buy something, but who knows what they will buy,” Marcus said. “It’s just a question of time.”

Pan Am said in a recent regulatory filing that there were no assurances it will operate through the rest of 1991.

Marcus cautioned that other airlines and individuals are looking at Pan Am and may beat Delta to the punch.

“They’re not the only game in town,” he said, declining to name the other potential suitors.

The Delta executive also told analysts that developing a presence in the Pacific Rim by setting up a hub in Taiwan’s capital of Taipei is a major part of its international growth strategy.

It hopes to begin the first phase of the Taipei operation in 1992.

But in a sign of lingering trouble for the airline industry, Delta said its prospects for its fourth quarter that ends June 30 do not appear as favorable as those for the long term.

“While we expect traffic in June to be above last year, it will not match the growth in available seat miles,” Delta said.

Airlines lost billions of dollars last year and in the first quarter of this year as the Gulf War pushed up jet fuel prices and prompted passengers to stay home because of fears of terrorism.

Airlines are betting heavily on a second-half recovery. But recent summer fare discounts could erode their bottom lines.

Delta said a closely watched statistic--the amount of revenue divided by passenger miles, or “yield”--will be lower in the fourth quarter than the 13.89 cents in the year-ago period.

The company said growth in routes, facilities and aircraft has allowed it to expand its system traffic market share to 16% today from 13% in 1988.

This year it has added service to Tokyo, Hong Kong, Berlin and Copenhagen, among other destinations.

Delta said its fleet growth requires major expansion of facilities. A project to double the size of its Cincinnati operation to 50 gates from 25 gates is under way.