The United States Is The Busiest Airbus A220 Market

Only two US airlines currently use the Airbus A220: Delta and JetBlue. But don't be fooled. The US is very much the world's leading country for the aircraft. At the moment, Delta expects to operate 95 A220s while JetBlue plans 70. We examine both carriers' use of the aircraft.

Delta is the world's largest user of the A220, and uses both the -100 (IATA code: 221) and the -300 (223). It is one of just two carriers to use both variants, joining SWISS. JetBlue, meanwhile, uses only the larger 223, of which it has three, but only two are in active service.

The US will become an even more important country for the A220 when Breeze Airways' 80-strong order for the -300 begins to be delivered, along with more deliveries to the two incumbent operators. For now, Breeze uses Embraer 195s on a network spanning 39 routes.

JetBlue's A220s — Six routes will see JetBlue's A220-300s this summer, all from Boston. Photo: Adam Moreira via Wikimedia.

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Delta's A220s

Delta's A220 fleet presently comprises 41 -100s and nine -300s, ch-aviation.com shows. The smaller variant first arrived in October 2018 with the delivery of N101DU, which meant Delta was the launch customer in North America. The -100s have 109 seats: 82 in economy (up to 32" pitch), 15 in comfort plus (34"), and 12 in first (37"). Economy and comfort plus are in a 3-2 layout, while it's 2-2 for first.

The heavier -300, meanwhile, was first delivered two years later, in October 2020. The honor went to N302DU, which was also the first US-built example. ('301 arrived in March 2021.) There are 130 seats – 88 in economy, 30 in comfort plus, and 12 in first – with the same seat pitches and cabin layout as the -100.

Delta's A220s — At the time of writing, it's very late night in the US. Here are Delta's A220-100s, with DL2002 highlighted. This left Salt Lake City at 21:57 and arrived in Kansas City, where the author's American relative lives, at 00:59. Image: Flightradar24.com.

Delta to have 95 A220s

Delta has 45 outstanding orders for the A220, renowned for having quieter and bigger cabins, larger overhead bins and windows, and far better fuel efficiency than comparable aircraft. It has 41 orders for the -300 and four for the -100, ch-aviation shows. When all are delivered, Delta will have a fleet of 95 A220s.

Delta Airbus A220 — The A220 hasn't only been beneficial for Delta, passengers have been loving it too. Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying

69 Delta routes for the rest of the summer

Salt Lake City is the most important airport for the aircraft, followed by New York La Guardia, Dallas Fort Worth, Seattle, and Minneapolis. No flights are scheduled from Atlanta. The significance of Salt Lake is demonstrated by looking at the top-10 routes (below) based on total flights, according to the carrier's schedule submission to OAG.

New York La Guardia to Chicago O'Hare
Orange County-Salt Lake City
Dallas Fort Worth-New York La Guardia
Dallas Fort Worth-Minneapolis
Salt Lake City-San Francisco
Dallas Fort Worth-Detroit
Houston Intercontinental-New York La Guardia
Salt Lake City-San Jose (California)
Houston Intercontinental-Salt Lake City
Denver-Salt Lake City

A220 routes — Delta's top-10 routes by the A220 are in red and all of JetBlue's are in blue. Image: GCMap.

JetBlue to have 70 A220s

JetBlue currently has three 223s – each built in the US – with a further 67 on order. With 140 seats, they have an 8% denser cabin than Delta, spread across 110 economy and 30 in even more space. The first revenue-generating flight took off in April this year, with six routes for the rest of the summer, very much led by Boston to Fort Lauderdale: