A Delta plane sits on a runway prior to takeoff at John F Kennedy International Airport in New York Thomson Reuters Delta Air Lines Inc no longer plans to purchase 20 used and 40 new single-aisle aircraft from the Boeing Co now that its pilots rejected a tentative contract proposal, according to Delta's Chief Executive Officer Richard Anderson.

"Those orders will be canceled," Anderson said on an investor call Wednesday. Delta earlier said that if pilots approved the deal, it would place orders for the aircraft so it can replace other planes scheduled to retire through 2019. Boeing had been trying to finalize an agreement to sell the jets to Delta for months.

(Reporting By Jeffrey Dastin in New York; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)