Delta start flying the Airbus A220 in passenger service

February 8, 2019

After a long and interesting journey, the Airbus A220 has entered commercial service with Delta Air Lines. After certain legal maneuverings, it looked possible that the aircraft wouldn’t start flying in the USA for a long time, if at all.

Starting life as the Canadian designed and manufactured Bombardier CSeries, Airbus took over control of the programme in 2018. This was in response to US tariffs being slapped on the import of the aircraft, which were subsequently struck down.

Start Flying On A Modern Aircraft

With its spacious five abreast cabin reminiscent of the Douglas DC-9 and MD-80 family, the Airbus A220 promises customer comfort. Delta have designed, engineered and installed a home grown inflight entertainment system with screens in every seat.

Seat back entertainment is offered in all seats in the Delta A220

Something that I found quite fun is the fact that at least one of the rear toilets features a window. This is something only seen in international first class cabins as a general rule. It makes the throne room appear much fresher with all that natural light.

At least one toilet has a window for a view while washing your hands

Delta have configured the Airbus A220-100 with 109 seats. First Class features seating for 12, Delta Comfort+ has 15 and there are 82 in the Main Cabin.

Pilots of the Airbus A220 have Heads Up Displays (HUD) as standard

First services for Delta are from New York LaGuardia to Boston and Dallas/Fort Worth. It is expected the aircraft will be a perfect fit for the Atlanta-based carrier as they recently extended their order to 90.

Overall Thoughts

It is great to see Delta start flying the Airbus A220-100, especially after all the palaver of the last couple of years. Airlines operating the aeroplane report fuel savings are extensive. According to FlightGlobal, Swiss report 25% more efficiency per seat than the Avro RJ100 it replaces, while JetBlue report fuel burn is around 40% lower than the Embraer 190.

Perhaps my favourite thing today was found in the featured image at the top of this post. I didn’t expect any reference to the fact the aircraft is a Bombardier CSeries. However, under the nose you can see CS100 painted there, which is what the aircraft really is.

Are you looking forward to trying the Delta Airbus A220-100? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.

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All images via Delta Air Lines.

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Brian

5 years ago

I don’t think it’s a self-made entertainment system. Isn’t this just the Vision Touch tablet system from GoGo, who also supplies the WiFi?

The Flight Detective

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Reply to Brian

5 years ago

According to FlightGlobal it’s manufactured by Delta Flight Products – “Delta chief operating officer Gil West told investors in December that the airline was able to engineer, certify and manufacture the system on the A220 at “a fraction of the cost point that we pay today” to outside vendors.”

Delta plan to sell the system to Airbus and other airlines, plus they plan to install it on their Airbus A321neos, Airbus A330-900s, and Boeing 767-400ERs. So I think it’s safe to say they made it themselves. It was news to me too!