An article on the topic of the problem Airbus and Boeing are having moving their used jet inventories:
Fears Of An Aircraft Order Bubble | AVIATION WEEK
It's no different than your local OEM car dealership. When I bought my last car I had a choice, I could buy a new one for $7K off sticker with 2% financing with all of the stuff I wanted for the same price as a 1 year old one with 18,000 miles on it with all of the stuff I wanted. Which one would you buy?
Now, what does that mean for SWA-DAL 717 deal and the supposed Airbus A320 deal?
One thing we know is Delta has taken MD90s. If you grab a bunch of MD88 replacements, does that mean we orphan the MD90s again? Maybe not, it'll still be a sizable fleet for the 90s, probably still a bunch of 88s and hey why not add 717s on the low end? There's nothing saying you can't have both.
If the deal is for 319s, take em', which to me means no 717s.
But if the 717 deal is what we think, a trade for something we don't need for something we'd take in exchange for maybe some more benefits for us, then any A320/319 deal would need to best that, at least I'd assume so.
Or can you have them both? The 717 situation is unique, Airbus' on the open market are not. If you get a good Airbus deal why not take the unique 717 deal?