The Airbus A220 is a nifty plane that offers both a a great experience for passengers, as well as favorable economics for airlines. While Delta was the first North American airline to take delivery of the A220, another airline on the continent will soon take delivery of their first such plane (and they'll be the…
Continue reading: Air Canada A220 Details: Cabins, Routes, And More
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Always interested in the economics side of these next gen planes. On what basis is the 20% improvement to fuel consumption? It stated previous generation planes but isn’t this a first gen aircraft?
Do you know which aircraft these A220s are going to replace in Air Canada's fleet? Are they designed to replace the A320-series which have been a mainstay of their domestic fleet for decades?
Varun
I doubt there is much demand for lie-flat seats on a regional jet. And it would reduce the revenue for the airline.
@Tom - there is no such thing as a regional jet. This jet is built to fly over 3000 miles (is that regional?)
Jordan,
It is classified as a regional jet despite its range.
There isn't much demand for lie-flat even on trans-con routes, Only JetBlue Mint and AA A321T have then on a regular basis, and only on high value routes like JFK-SFO. Other than that we might find the odd 777 or A330 on a few routes, but the vast majority of aircraft on transcon-routes do not have lie-flat seats.
Great news. YUL-SEA is long overdue.
Plus I totally disagree that there is no market for lie-flat seats transcon. Quite the opposite I think it’s the future of transcon flights.
B788/B789 and A330 flights from YYZ/YUL to YVR/LAX/SFO are always full or near full.
But if they didn’t put lie-flat on the max 8, i don’t see why they would include them on C-series. Was hoping for a better J/Y ratio like Delta....
If we’re talking about Air Canada, right now 6/15 YYZ-YVR, 2/5 YUL-YVR, 3/6 YYZ-LAX, 1/3 YUL-LAX, and 2/5 YYZ-SFO are widebodies with flat beds. Sure it’s probably more about capacity than flat beds in business, but you can’t dismiss it entirely.
@ Tom
I have to disagree that there isn't demand for lie flat on Trans-cons. On the SFO - EWR/JFK route alone United alone flies 14 per day all with Lie Flat seats with a combination of 757/777/787. Most are in the old seats in high density bus class.
Jet Blue flies 6 dailys all with MINT, and American has 5. Both in A321's
Then there is LAX - NYC which I haven't even counted.
I've never been on a United flight going to EWR that business class hasn't been totally full, or Jet Blue.
Lie flat seats on these routes are nice but not necessary. These are not red eyes and business travellers probably prefer a more direct route!!
Regional jets are mostly classified by seats not range. Delta puts the A220 as a mainline jet.
Another interesting fact.
The 737 was originally designed as a regional jet. Look at it now.
Wonder if the seat pitch is going to be like Rouge....of corset will be, it's AC!
My impression after 2 flights on Delta's A220-100. First Class.
1. Row 1 has about 34 in of pitch.
2. Rows 2 and 3 have 36 in of pitch.
3. Space from the floor to the bottom of the seat seems narrow, and full backpack won't fit under it.
4. Arm rests are too narrow, there is no way to arms can share with hitting the other. Drink holders are also impacted and there is no extension.
5. Bathroom is spacious BUT the seat doesn't stay up, and there is not grab handle to not touch the seat that might be contaminated with urine or whatever.
6. Overhead bin space is ample.
The Delta wireless IFE works well. The myflight has great "experiences" versions of display.
On a side note, I like the first class experience on the CRJ900 with the Atmosphere interior, for flights 2 hours or so......physical seating attributes are much more comfortable.
The A220 will be used to replace A319s as well as some E190s. Potentially also some A320s due to the MAX issues at the moment. The A321s aren't due for replacement quite yet as they're much newer. Probably waiting for the MAX 9 to replace those. Now that I think of it, the A220 might also replace the E175.
Where are the lie-flat beds on my regional jets that are not commercially viable so that I can redeem my credit card transferred-points for free award seats???
Some of you readers are delusional.
@keitherson - Does it not occur to you that some people are willing to pay for such a product?
The A223 (or CSeries if you're feeling some Canadian patriotism) is planned to fully replace the existing E190 and A319 fleets.
The A223 will replace the E190s first, as they have had higher operating and maintenance costs than AC would have liked, while allowing a significant range and incremental capacity increase.
Replacement of the A319 fleet will follow, with some of the younger 319's likely going over to RV. Once the MAX's return to the AC fleet, the mainline A319's will no longer be needed for trans-Atlantic missions.
The order of 45 aircraft will allow for full replacement of the E190 and A319 fleets with an extra five incremental additions to the overall fleet.