JetBlue will buy 60 of the newly-renamed Airbus A220 jetliners, and has taken an option on 60 more. The big order is a game-changer for the Canadian-built plane formerly known as the Bombardier CS-300, and a game-changer for JetBlue as well.
JetBlue will use the planes to retire the Embraer E-190s it has used on less-dense routes. The A220s will give the airline 20 to 40 more seats in a plane that it expects to cost 29% less per seat to operate. The first 60 planes will be A220-300s, with 130 to 140 seats. Some of the option planes could be A220-100s.
The seat count could change a bit if JetBlue decides to offer some of its Mint premium-class seats on the A220s, something that has not been possible on the E-190s. The planes will start arriving in 2020. JetBlue also announced it is shifting orders for 25 A320neo planes to the larger A321neo.
Marty St. George, a JetBlue executive vice-president, told an investor conference call that the planes are versatile enough for both short- and medium-length flights and could be used for some red-eye transcontinental service as well. He suggested that routes that might get the planes include Westchester, NY to Florida, Boston to Austin and New Orleans, or some Caribbean runs.
“There’s a sizable chunk of the existing 190 flying that is really much better flown in a much larger aircraft,” St. George said. “Some of these longer-haul routes (are) where we could really use these extra seats.”
JetBlue is the second major U.S. airline to go for the plane; Delta is waiting for delivery on an order of 75 planes. The order may sting a bit for Boeing, which announced last week that it will take over Embraer's airline program, which includes the E-190.
Title illustration: Airbus computer rendering of an A220 in JetBlue livery
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