First American Made Airbus A220 Damaged in Production Incident
Delta Airbus A220 at the Mirabel facility

Delta to launch Airbus A220-100 from LaGuardia

Aaron Hilsz-Lothian·
A220Airbus IndustrieAviation NewsDelta Air Lines

Delta to launch Airbus A220-100 from LaGuardia

Delta Airlines has elected to start strong with the Airbus A220-100 by introducing the aircraft at New York LaGuardia Airport.

Initial flights will be from LaGuardia to Boston and Dallas/Fort Worth starting on the 31st of January 2019. Further expansion will occur not long after with the introduction of the following routes:

  • Detroit to Dallas/Fort Worth in March
  • LaGuardia to Houston Intercontinental in April
  • Salt Lake City to Dallas/Fort Worth in May
  • Minneapolis/St Paul to Dallas/Fort Worth in June
  • Houston to Detroit and Mineapolis/St Paul in July
  • Houston to Salt Lake City in July
  • New York JFK to Dallas/Fort Worth in August

Delta is boasting the fact that they’re the first U.S airline to take delivery of the Airbus A220, which features a spacious, modern interior and superior fuel performance.

Configured in a three class configuration, comprising of 12 seats in first class, 15 in extra-legroom economy and 82 in economy, totaling 109 seats, the Delta Airbus A220-100 is intended to replace the smaller and less efficient regional aircraft within its fleet.

Each seat within the main cabin is 18.6 inches wide and are set out in a 2-3 layout. All seats have access to power ports and have a full in-flight entertainment system mounted on the back.

On a wider scale, the cabin is outfitted with 2Ku Wi-Fi, full-spectrum LED ambient lighting and high-capacity overhead bins.

“The aircraft is the culmination of years of listening to our customers and responding with design innovations that continue to improve Delta’s domestic in-flight experience”

– Tim Mapes, SVP and Chief Marketing Officer

Just like all Airbus A220s, the aircraft is powered by two Pratt and Whitney PW1500G Geared Turbofan engines, which along with the composite materials and a completely new design, help deliver a 20% improvement in fuel efficiency compared to other aircraft in the same category/size.

Delta to launch Airbus A220-100 from LaGuardia
Delta Airbus A220-100 in the paint shop

On the 6th of October, the first of 75 A220s ordered by Delta performed its first flight at Airbus/Bombardier’s Mirabel facility in Montreal.

You can watch the first flight here:

First delivery is expected at the end of this month.

The A220 is just one type of aircraft that Delta is acquiring, with the Airbus A350, A330neo, A321neo and Boeing 737-900ER all entering the fleet at present times or in the future to replace older aircraft.