Delta Air Lines seems to be in love with the Airbus A220, with the airline putting in another follow-on order for the type
Delta Airbus A220 approaching Chicago O’Hare – Image, Economy Class and Beyond
The airline has firmed up an order for 12 A220-300 aircraft, bringing the airline’s total firm order for A220s to 119 aircraft – 45 A220-100s and 74 A220-300s.
Throughout the years, Delta has reordered the A220 four times and is today the largest A220 customer and operator.
Delta took delivery of its first Airbus A220 in October 2018 and was the first U.S. carrier to operate the aircraft type. The airline has an interest in Airbus aircraft -with 415 of the Delta fleet being Airbus-manufactured units. These include 59 A220 aircraft, 266 A320 Family aircraft, 62 A330s and 28 A350-900 aircraft.
In Quotes
Kristen Bojko, Vice President of Fleet, Delta Air Lines, said:
“These 12 additional A220 aircraft will help power our increasingly streamlined fleet while also providing our customers with the elevated in-flight experience they’ve come to expect from Delta,”
Christian Scherer, Airbus Chief Commercial Officer and Head of International added:
“Delta Air Lines was the U.S. launch customer for the A220 and this fourth reorder in just four years by a leading carrier as Delta is a most gratifying endorsement,”
“The aircraft is currently connecting Delta passengers on more than 100 routes at 25 percent less fuel and CO2 emissions. If you want to connect today and tomorrow, you can’t do any better!”
Another vote of confidence in the A220 programme
It has taken some years, but the fruits of the Bombardier C Series programme are paying off, with customers repeat-ordering aircraft of the type.
And that’s a great place for Airbus to be as it continues to evaluate the programme’s future after paying a pretty penny for it.
Currently, 246 A220 family aircraft have been delivered, to 16 airlines, with 30 customers ordering close to 800 aircraft in total – that’s not a number to be sniffed at.
With the A220 firmly establishing itself in the airbus family line-up, it will be interesting who next gets the chequebook out to buy them.
The A220 is a fantastic plane and I’m not surprised to see Delta order more, both to complete the 717 (or, as I still call it, the MD-95) replacement, upgauge Delta Connection flights to mainline where it makes sense, and start new routes. The A220 is great for long-thin transcons here in the States, like Breeze’s service from White Plains to LAX.
Delta’s never had as close a relationship with Boeing as AA and UA, they were a big buyer of DC/MD back in the day, and even bought the TriStar from Lockheed. I’m surprised they went with the MAX-10 instead of more A321s, although I’d bet part of that was just faster delivery times and Boeing offering deep discounts.