Dan Weber

Usually fly UAL in first but had to fly Delta today from Sea to SFO. Was on the new A220 in first and have to admit, it is an excellent product. The seat is very comfortable with leg room. While I did not eat - I usually pass - my seatmate did, and it looked very good. What impressed me was the seat. I like the Embraer seats in first but this was better. Flew up on the UAL Airbus yesterday, and I do not like that seat in first.

IAH-OIL-TRASH

Maybe UA will buy the 717s from Delta (and put 5-across in front and 6-across in back)

RAD_PDX

As a regular AS flyer, I enquired with the folks on the DL forum after flying that same route on an A220. I was very impressed as well. No one can deny that the A220 is a nice plane, but it turns out that the meals served on that particular route are a big step up from what DL offers on similar routes. This seems to just be a play at taking market share away from AS.

IMO the E175 is still a much more comfortable plane (at least an AS E175 vs the DL A220).

Repooc17

Probably the best narrowbody short-to-medium haul plane on the market. Not just F but Y cabin as well. Flew the Delta inaugural last February - LGA to BOS.

For *A flyers in NA, AC has started operating extended length A223s, which will be on routes between Canada and US soon. Delta is currently operating A221s.

jiburi

Tho it's "apples and oranges", I think what's un-matched is United's CRJ550. For an aircraft of CRJ550 size, limiting seats to 50 passengers is a much more spacious experience.

DL's A220 was a lucky purchase for Delta. When originally marketed by Bombardier C Series, Delta snuck a steal of a deal for a struggling Canadian aircraft maker. I wouldn't necessarily credit Delta for investing in new aircraft, but really, it was DL trying to under price a failing Canadian Aircraft maker which DL later convinced Airbus in saving the order and purchasing 50.1% rights.

Jiburi

dilanesp

I read a story about how the 717, which had been a sales bust, is now a very hot property among airlines. It fills a niche.

IAH-OIL-TRASH

Its great for high-frequency short hops. Hawaiian uses them inter-island and DL picked ‘em up for (I think mostly) west coast shuttle flights. DL and HA have most (all?) of them domestically, so I think they’re only a hot property for two airlines. I think DL was pretty smart in picking up the old AirTran fleet of them from WN. UA was out-thunk

xliioper

Yes, the meal is a big step up as normally they would not serve any meals in FC on a flight of this length (679 miles). The regular threshold for a meal in FC on DL flights is 900 miles.

tshirt

A220 are an awesome plane, United had the chance to buy some and Boeing "gave" United some crappy 737-7 at a great price so they would not order the 220s
The fools at UA took the 737 and now they will pay 50% to buy some A220s.
well lets hope they buy some A220s

beachmouse

The 717s also get used a decent amount for short hops into ATL from Birmingham or Biloxi or the Florida panhandle airports or such. Lets them keep the right passenger volume feeding into a megahub with a somewhat smaller number of flights from that kind of outstation.

spin88

I fly this route about once a week, always select Delta for the A220 unless the price difference is really wide or I need a different flight time that DL does not cover, it is a much, much nicer plane. Seats in F are very good as you indicate, but in Y the delta (pun intended) from the UA A319/320 with the horrible slimmed seats and 737 with it's narrow seats and horrible 24" bathrooms is immense. Any C+ seat on the two seat side is great, and BTB, 16E is the best seat in Y, infinite leg room.... and 16D is usually empty unless the plane is totally full...

Delta gives good food on this route (as others noted it is an exception flight) and has blankets and pillows. And the restrooms (particuarly the one in the back with the window) are oh so much nicer than what Boeing is doing.

It is just a better plane in every respect.

fly18725

From a pax perspective, yes the A220 is great. From an airline perspective, there are regrets. The reliability is poor and it is exacerbated by significant quality problems in manufacturing and part shortages. Maybe these will get fixed in the future, but I’ve heard it has scared UA away from the plane and pushed DL to look at used aircraft to offset slower fleet growth and lower utilization.

Bottom line, at the end of the day the airlines will focus on planes that make the most money by being reliable. These are rarely the newest and most passenger friendly airplanes.

JimInOhio

It still has a middle seat, unlike the E175/190.

findark

I agree - UA E75s also.

SteveHK

Hit and misses in every fleet. I don't love the 220 so much that I'm willing to move to DL and deal with their awful premium hard products on the 767s, 330s, and 737s.