JetBlue will order 60 Airbus A220-300 aircraft, for delivery beginning 2020, replacing the Embraer 190 fleet.

http://otp.investis.com/clients/us/jetblue_airways/usn/usnews-story.aspx?cid=981&newsid=55200

AA94 wrote:

JetBlue will order 60 Airbus A220-300 aircraft, for delivery beginning 2020, replacing the Embraer 190 fleet.

http://otp.investis.com/clients/us/jetblue_airways/usn/usnews-story.aspx?cid=981&newsid=55200

Wow!!

Well that is a boost for the program, great aircraft, now let's see BBD get it's act together.

That's a big increase in seat capacity vs. 60 E90s.

Congratulations to jetBlue, Bombardier and Airbus. It’s been a tough road for Bombardier, but there is no denying they’ve built a great little plane. It seems the center of gravity initially for A220 will be JFK, thanks to Delta and JetBlue.

Wow...that was quick! Wasted no time announcing an order once re-branded as the A220

Wonder what this means for their smaller markets like BTV, PWM, SYR ect.

Wow, I wonder how the announcement will affect the pilot vote that is about to start. When those C series rates were announced, they were theoretical- now they are attached to real aircraft, makes the rates matter more to the pilots.

I thought they were buying E2s...

Fex180 wrote:

Wonder what this means for their smaller markets like BTV, PWM, SYR ect.

It means nothing.

Hello IND!!!!

Your move now Embraer. Congrats to JB and I guess now Airbus.

Massive blow to the E2 and Embraer. This was always in the bag for the Cser.....sorry A220.

Huge boost to the program. Hopefully the domino theory begins to apply itself and more airlines follow with orders.

I guess my flight on a B6 E190 this Friday will have a bit more value attached to it.

There have been mentions that B6 also secured earlier slot deliveries for the A321neo. Any truth to that?

Also mentioned in the press release is that they have converted their remaining 25 A320neo on order to the A321neo.

Samrnpage wrote:

Massive blow to the E2 and Embraer. This was always in the bag for the Cser.....sorry A220.

Is it too soon for Boeing to be getting involved in Embraer sales?

Congratulations to Airbus, was a great move and Jetblue will be all Airbus soon.

delivery schedule. All a/c made in USA.

catiii wrote:

Fex180 wrote:

Wonder what this means for their smaller markets like BTV, PWM, SYR ect.

It means nothing.

You sure? That's a lot more plane than the E190.

Prost wrote:

Congratulations to jetBlue, Bombardier and Airbus. It’s been a tough road for Bombardier, but there is no denying they’ve built a great little plane. It seems the center of gravity initially for A220 will be JFK, thanks to Delta and JetBlue.

And in two varients as well: the A220-100 and A220-300.

They also seem to have the option to convert some orders to the A220-100.

For the thin intrastate routes in NY and for New England, there should also be a 20 A220-100 order as well.

catiii wrote:

Fex180 wrote:

Wonder what this means for their smaller markets like BTV, PWM, SYR ect.

It means nothing.

What other examples are there where an airline replaced their smallest plane for a 30-40% increase in capacity without any smaller gauge replacement or regional flying in place? May be interesting to see to see how that affected smaller markets.

"The aircraft also opens the door to new markets and routes that would have been unprofitable with JetBlue’s existing fleet."

Hmmmm

Congrats to Airbus but specially to BBD for building this neat machine. Hopefully more orders to follow!

Midwestindy wrote:

"The aircraft also opens the door to new markets and routes that would have been unprofitable with JetBlue’s existing fleet."

Hmmmm

And this is how we see IND, STL, MCI, and maybe even CMH come into play again.

I could see JFK-DAB going to the A220-300 also depending on how many seats they put into this plane.

If they go to Europe , it’s got to be DUB

"The [A220] aircraft opens the door to new markets and routes that would have been unprofitable with JetBlue's existing fleet". Very interesting! This probably means SNA, and perhaps other operationally challenging yet extremely popular places like APF, ASE, EGE, EYW and JAC too! I can't wait to see what B6 decides to do with these planes...

A few posts up in the thread there was a delivery schedule by fleet type.

Could someone in the know do a retirement by fleet type summary? I don’t tend to follow B6 fleet changes all that closely.

Presumably this will show up under the Airbus O&D tally?

SurfandSnow wrote:

"The [A220] aircraft opens the door to new markets and routes that would have been unprofitable with JetBlue's existing fleet". Very interesting! This probably means SNA, and perhaps other operationally challenging yet extremely popular places like APF, ASE, EGE, EYW and JAC too! I can't wait to see what B6 decides to do with these planes...

EYW won't happen with the -300 variant. Runway is too short unless they do FLL-EYW which to me is a waste to compete with their own code share partner when they should really aim for JFK/BOS-EYW. If they were getting the -100 variant I would say yes. They could manage APF though. You also won't see ASE since this is essentially the same size as the 737 which is prohibited in ASE.

tphuang wrote:

With A220-300, I could see
JFK/BOS/FLL-SNA/BUR
JFK/BOS-EYW
Would A220-100 work with HPN-LAX/SFO?

More importantly, they can finally do red-eyes flights with something other than A320s. A220-300 will be a boon in the secondary transcon market.

I don't think JFK/BOS-EYW will work on the -300. Don't know if the plane would be light enough to handle the short runway. The -100 variant would be no problem.

What would be the seating configuration of a JetBlue CS / A220 -300? This is no mere E90 replacement. It is bigger.

Flighty wrote:

What would be the seating configuration of a JetBlue CS / A220 -300? This is no mere E90 replacement. It is bigger.

My guess would be ~135. Swiss puts 145 seats in the plane. Remove one row in front of and behind the window exits and it looks like it would just about perfectly fit 105 at 32-33" plus 30 at 38" or so.

Congratulations to Airbus and JetBlue !!!

The Question is whether the A220 will become etops certified. Or is it already?

Block wrote:

The Question is whether the A220 will become etops certified. Or is it already?

ETOPS 120 flight test are done, Certification in the coming weeks.

Wow, nice order. Quite a boast for the program. Seems effective this collaboration between Airbus and Bombardier.

JetBlue seems to want bigger aircraft replacing the current one. Quite a step up from the E190.

Block wrote:

The Question is whether the A220 will become etops certified. Or is it already?

ETOPS certification is in process of being acquired. Apparently very close of being secured for the A220.

I wish Boeing could have pulled this off with the 717, but...different times, different aircraft etc....bring back the mainline T-tails! But 5 abreast works for me.

Congrats to B6 and Airbus. Now how about some STL action?

Excellent boost for the program. Interesting they didn't save this for Farnborough. I expect big things from Airbus there now.

evank516 wrote:

SurfandSnow wrote:

"The [A220] aircraft opens the door to new markets and routes that would have been unprofitable with JetBlue's existing fleet". Very interesting! This probably means SNA, and perhaps other operationally challenging yet extremely popular places like APF, ASE, EGE, EYW and JAC too! I can't wait to see what B6 decides to do with these planes...

EYW won't happen with the -300 variant. Runway is too short unless they do FLL-EYW which to me is a waste to compete with their own code share partner when they should really aim for JFK/BOS-EYW. If they were getting the -100 variant I would say yes. They could manage APF though. You also won't see ASE since this is essentially the same size as the 737 which is prohibited in ASE.

Delta has done EYW-LGA before on a 737-700 which is slightly heavier, is the -300's takeoff performance more limited where JFK-EYW wouldn't be doable with penalties (nothing new for EYW)?

tphuang wrote:

With A220-300, I could see
JFK/BOS/FLL-SNA/BUR
JFK/BOS-EYW
Would A220-100 work with HPN-LAX/SFO?

More importantly, they can finally do red-eyes flights with something other than A320s. A220-300 will be a boon in the secondary transcon market.

It will also open up possibilities in the already proven tatl routes. Heard rumors of Jfk-lcy which was already proven. Even Jfk-opo or any of the other Canary Islands as a possibility. And yes, small midwest markets and long thin transcon as well.
As far as syr/btv/pwm/roc. They used to be all Airbus before the E190’s came and did a good job filling the A320 up. The A220-100/300 is a perfect aircraft on those very mature markets.

Fex180 wrote:

Wonder what this means for their smaller markets like BTV, PWM, SYR ect.

Back when I worked for B6 at BTV (over 10 years ago, at this point), it was all A320s with the exception of an E190 direct to MCO. They began to transition to 190s during my last year there. So BTV has supported larger planes for them in the past.

Also, BTV passenger numbers are way up this year - they are expecting an increase of 9-10k additional passengers per week this summer versus last year. Its briefly mentioned here:

http://digital.vpr.net/post/latest-burl ... c#stream/0

So it is not out of the question that BTV can support A220s instead of 190s. I'd imagine that SYR, PWM, etc are the same, particularly if the plane has significantly better operating economics.

Edit: B6 also retains the ability to convert to the A220-100 if desired. It is possible they may decide to pick up a few to serve smaller markets.

Congratulations Airbus/Bombardier and JetBlue! That is a very nice deal.

The A220-300 along with A321neo seems like a perfect combo for mid-sized airlines like Jetblue going forward. It has excellent fuel efficiency (unbeatable per seat cost) and low operating costs. Maybe other guys like Spirit and United will jump right in as well in not too distant future.

Blow in the face to Embraer, but I think they will be just fine. With Boeing on board, I have no doubt they will secure solid orders in the future.

That being said, the A220 looks fantastic in JBU colors.

Bricktop wrote:

Excellent boost for the program. Interesting they didn't save this for Farnborough. I expect big things from Airbus there now.

According Airbus Tweet it is an MoU, so still something for Farnborough to firm.

The idea would be the A220 would replace the E190s plus some of the older A320s. Wouldn’t be surprised if Jetblue ends up being just an A321CEO/NEO/LR/XLR and A220-300/100 fleet and slowly retire the A320s.
The A220 has the advantage of flying short routes then fly a transcons with a red eye coming back to maximize aircraft utilization.

If only Pierre had not insisted on doing the Lear85...