Airbus has delivered its 10th U.S-made A220 from its assembly plant in Mobile, Alabama. The manufacturing giant delivered the A220-300 to JetBlue yesterday, with the airline receiving the second of 70 A220s it has on order.
Airbus reaches a milestone
The A220 delivered yesterday to JetBlue represents a significant milestone for Airbus. It is the 10th A220 the company has delivered which was assembled on U.S soil at its factory in Mobile, Alabama. The plane (registration: N3023J) is the second A220 in JetBlue’s fleet after the carrier received its first U.S-made A220 in December.
We have delivered our 10th U.S.-made #A220 aircraft from our Mobile, Alabama manufacturing facility. It's also the second A220 delivery for @JetBlue, which just this week started A220 operations between @BostonLogan and @FlyTPA. Time sure does fly! (Along with our planes!) pic.twitter.com/QUCXRKnK7n
— Airbus in the U.S. (@AirbusInTheUS) April 28, 2021
JetBlue’s A220-300 fleet will offer 140 seats in economy, 30 of which will be ‘Even More Space’ seats, in a 2-3 layout. The delivery comes at a good time for JetBlue, which introduced its first A220 into service this week. The plane (registration: N3008J) flew from Boston to Tampa on Monday and offers up to a 30% lower cost per seat than JetBlue’s Embraer E190 fleet.
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The other U.S-built A220s
The first U.S-made A220 delivery went to Delta Air Lines in October 2020. The jet (registration: N302DU) was the first A220 to depart Airbus’ Mobile assembly factory, which first started producing the A220 in August 2019. Delta was also the recipient of the second (N303DU), third (N305DU), fourth (N304DU) and fifth (N306DU) A220s out of Mobile.
JetBlue’s first A220 (N3008J) was the sixth to be assembled and delivered in the U.S. Delta received another three planes (N307DU, N301DU and N308DU) before JetBlue had the honor of taking Airbus’ 10th U.S-built A220 delivery yesterday.
U.S-assembled A220s delivered so far:
- Delta Air Lines – 8
- JetBlue – 2
Airbus’s facility at Mobile, Alabama is 270,000-square-foot and began producing A220s in August 2019. By May 2020, the Mobile factory doubled in size as Airbus completed its A220 final assembly line (FAL). The site can assemble both A220-100 and A220-300 jets, becoming the second dedicated A220 assembly line after Airbus’ primary facility in Mirabel, Canada.
The A220 order book
According to Airbus, there are almost 650 outstanding A220 orders, with 90 A220-100 and 559 A220-300 planes on order. The company managed to deliver a total of 72 planes in March (A220, A320, and A350 family jets). JetBlue has a firm order for 70 A220-300s which are set to replace the airline’s fleet of E190s, of which it has 60 in total.
JetBlue is Airbus’ biggest customer for the A220 in terms of upcoming orders with 70, with the carrier receiving just two so far. The third A220-300 is expected for delivery in May this year. Other major customers awaiting delivery include:
- Breeze Airways, David Neeleman’s new startup, has ordered 60 A220-300s.
- Air France also has 60 A220-300s on order.
- AirBaltic, Air Lease Corp (ALC) and Delta Air Lines have 50 A220-300s on order each.
- Air Canada has ordered 45 A220-300s.
- Delta Air Lines has 45 A220-100s on order.
What do you think of the A220-300? Do you think JetBlue’s all-economy configuration on the A220 is ideal for its network? Let us know your thoughts and insights in the comments.
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