Delta Air Lines has renegotiated leases for 88 aircraft with a group of lessors at rates that would save it more than USD$200 million a year in rent, according to court documents filed on Friday.

The carrier filed the documents objecting to a motion by a group of its creditors, which has asked the court for permission to file antitrust claims against those lessors on Delta's behalf.

"By acting in unison, (lessors were) able to extract from the debtors above-market lease rates and onerous terms and conditions," the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors alleged in a separate filing last month.

Delta has asked the court to deny their request.

The airline said it had renegotiated the lease terms with the lessors down to rates and terms that were better than what it had now. The "consummation of the transaction... will generate substantial savings" for Delta, it said in its objection.

Atlanta-based Delta also said in the filing that prosecution of antitrust claims against the aircraft lessors by its creditors committee would leave it "defenseless... against the repossession of 88 aircraft."

Delta, which filed for bankruptcy protection in September, has been renegotiating its aircraft leases as part of efforts to realize USD$3 billion in cost cuts and revenue increases.

Delta officials have said that the airline has either rejected or renegotiated more than 90 percent of its leases since it filed for bankruptcy and has managed to cut some of the lease rates by as much as two-thirds.