sfozrhfco

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...-billion-order

JetBlue Airways Corp. is placing a big bet on Airbus SE’s newest jetliner.

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Deliveries of the A220-300 planes are scheduled to begin in 2020. JetBlue also took an option to buy as many as 60 more of the A220-300 aircraft starting in 2025.In addition, JetBlue made changes to its existing Airbus order book, including the conversion of an existing deal for 25 A320neo aircraft to larger A321neos. It also deferred seven A321 deliveries and moved up two by a year.

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A220s will be replacing the E190s which will be phased out of the fleet starting in 2020.

Full press release here:

https://www.businesswire.com/news/ho...ent-Generation

DCP2016

Kind of expected them to go with the A220's, but not the bigger variant and not this soon. Great news regardless, although I wonder how this is going to effect the pilot TA vote.

sfozrhfco

The have flexibility to take A220-100s instead if they decide smaller aircraft would be better.

tphuang

this is going to be great, since a lot of those transcon routes that had been tech stop specials in winter time with A320s will be replaced by A220. And they'd be able to do BUR transcon flights more easily and probably add SNA transcons. I can't imagine them taking another A320 at this point. So their fleet will be:
135 seat? A220-300 -> very comfortable
162 seat A320 -> should still be comfortable after the reconfig
159 seat mint A321 -> really comfortable
200 seat A321 -> still comfortable but a little more crowded
Would be interesting to see if they pick up some 100. The economy might not make sense, but that's a huge increase in capacity to go from 100 seat E90s to 135 seat A220-300

moulder3

I think this is a very sad day. RIP E190. We don't know much about the A220 yet (looks like 2x3 seating?), but I seriously doubt it will be as comfortable as the E190 and its spacious 2x2 seating (no middle seats!) & 34 inch legroom. JetBlue's E190 is currently--by FAR--the best, most comfortable ride in domestic economy.

At what point should we start worrying that B6 management will try to shove the truly awful SpaceFlex bathrooms on this plane?

N830MH

Wow! What a nice surprise! I am pretty sure about new A220-300 should be done very well. As long if they orders A230 or not. It's up to JetBlue.

They didn't orders A321LR yet?

bkojote

Don't the E190's only have 32" of legroom? I always felt they were the least comfortable in JetBlue core (though by far the most comfortable in the EMS seats in 12-14)

sfozrhfco

Maybe sad if one likes to live in the past but the E190s haven't exactly been a rousing success for any airline. They are not bad but the A220s will be much nicer, more efficient, and more comfortable.

hi55us

Would love having 2-3 seating on transcons or short TATL hops that the A220-300s will be capable of, BOS/JFK-DUB/LHR/SNN will all be within the 3,800 mile range of the A220-300. Perhaps Jet Blue is thinking of making a ding in the TATL and TCON market with 2-3 seating, giving them the flexibility to use a JFK-LHR aircraft on (say) JFK-MCO. Or they're being less creative and thinking of just using them on the E-190 routes. Either way I'll be excited for the first A220 flights in 2 years.

diburning

I'm curious to see what they're going to do with the seating layout. The stock seats from Bombardier/Airbus are 2x3, with the middle seat being 19" wide. However, I'd assume that JetBlue would want to install their Rockwell Collins Meridian slimline product with the next-gen entertainment system, so who knows whether they'll just slap in the Airbus seats, or if they'll actually customize the seats for this aircraft.

As for transcons, the new slimline seats, even with the two added rows, actually weighs less than seats from the old layout, so refreshed A320s might not need the tech stop for transcons anyway.

Yellowjj

TATL with a 130 seater? Seriously doubt that.

tphuang

I think you are really going to like A220. It's going to be the most comfortable narrow body aircraft out there with 18.5 to 19 inch wide seating and probably 32 inch pitch and really large windows.

https://thepointsguy.com/2017/04/cs3...table-economy/

Not sure if they will be able to do TATL, but I can see a lot of TCON flights on this thing. Hoping for a couple of rows of 2x2 mini-mint cabin, which I think would sell well if priced correctly.

MSYtoJFKagain

This is great news. I'm excited to see what routes this will open up given the fuel economics/range/loads. I don't think they will be TATL capable.

moulder3

My assessment of the B6 E190 being best-in-class for domestic economy is simply from a passenger's perspective. I get that the new A220 is more fuel-efficient and that's certainly good for the environment, but supposedly the new E190v2 would've also solved that problem. I'm legitimately shocked that so many people on this forum prefer a 2x3 config vs 2x2. Who the heck wants middle seats? Both planes have nearly identical seat width so there's nothing to be gained there. And based on how B6 has gone anti-passenger with the A320 retrofit (crappier seats, less legroom & abysmal SpaceFlex bathrooms), you honestly think they won't do the same to the A220? So the only *real* benefit is that the A220 has a longer range?
For that you're giving up:
1. no middle seats
2. padded seats
3. *probably* reduced legroom in A220 (based on A320 & A321 retrofits)
4. *probably* getting SpaceFlex or similar tiny bathrooms

Again, I get this is a win for B6 & probably their shareholders...but why on earth are frequent travelers celebrating this announcement?

sfozrhfco

The middle seat can be made wider than the other seats and from all reviews so far, the middle seats are actually not bad. The E190s are not very reliable and have high costs to operate and can not be used for transcons. The new plane will open up many more route possibilities AND will be just as if not more comfortable that the E190s with more space for carry on baggage as well instead of the mini overhead bins of the E190s. This will be a great benefit for longer flights which the E190s can't even do reliably. The missions for the planes will be different and the A220 will be a far better plane for the job. This will be a win for JetBlue and the passengers.