Less than a year old, the Airbus A220-300 (formerly known as the Bombardier CS300) is the newest narrow-body aircraft in the Delta Air Lines fleet and offers some of the latest technology and onboard amenities. The US carrier began flying the aircraft type back in December of 2020, which operates alongside a well-developed fleet of the shorter A220-100. AeroNewsX team member, Tyler Lorenz shares his views on the longer variant of the Bombardier developed jet, on a flight from Detroit, Michigan to Austin, Texas.
Flight Information:
Airline: Delta Air Lines (DL/DAL)
Aircraft: Airbus A220-300
Flight: DL2509
Route: Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW) – Austin Bergstrom International Airport (AUS)
Seat: 22A
Booking experience:
“Despite not originally starting my journey in Detroit, Delta’s booking process was incredibly consumer-friendly as it allowed me to select my seats and pay for all of my flights together, including the transition through Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County (DTW) to Austin–Bergstrom International Airport (AUS). On this particular route, Delta Air Lines offers four different options; basic economy, main cabin, comfort plus, and first-class.”
“I elected to book a ‘main cabin’ ticket, as it includes perks such as free seat selection, a free carry-on bag, as well as earlier boarding than those booked in basic economy. The US carrier also does a good job of reminding customers of its COVID-19 procedures as well as mandating that masks must be worn at all times onboard all of its flights.”
Airport experience (Detroit):
“As I was a transiting passenger, I didn’t get to a landside experience of Detroit Airport, my short connecting time listed as 47 minutes, however boarding for the flight to Austin was scheduled to begin only 7 minutes after my arrival. Unfortunately, my flight from Newark arrived at gate A11 and the flight to Austin was set to leave from gate A71, which was at the opposite end of Detroit’s McNamara terminal. As the terminal is quite long, I originally had planned to ease my connection in Detroit by using the terminal’s ‘Express Tram,’ which has various stops throughout the terminal building.”
“However, that morning the express tram was closed which meant I had to walk essentially the full length of the terminal. The walk was not as long as I had anticipated, taking only around 7 to 8 minutes thanks to the help of various moving travelators along the concourse. I eventually arrived at gate A71 where priority boarding had already commenced. Due to the ongoing pandemic, Delta is boarding aircraft from back to front, with the exception of first-class passengers and Delta elite diamond medallion members who are allowed to board at any time.”
Aircraft cabin and seat:
“This particular Delta Air Lines Airbus A220-300 registered N303DU has a 2-3 seating configuration with 2 seats on the A/B side and a row of 3 seats with letters C, D and E. Delta sells certain seats as “preferred,” which can be selected for an extra charge, however, these seats do not have any advantages other than being further forward in the cabin.”
“I selected seat 22A, a window seat featuring two windows situated just on the end of the wing at no extra charge. One of my favourite features of this less than one-year-old Airbus aircraft is its massive windows, which are not available on other Airbus aircraft. This is mainly due to the fact that the A220 was originally developed by Bombardier as the Bombardier C Series.”
“The actual seat itself is incredibly comfortable and is the widest economy seat in the carrier’s fleet measuring 18.6cm wide, according to Delta Air Lines. As well as being wide, the seats offer a good amount of padding, while the seat pitch in the main cabin is listed as between 31-32 inches (79-81cm).”
“The seats recline in a ‘shell’ design where the bottom of the seat slides forward as the seat-back reclines which should result in fewer disturbances for the passengers behind you. Each seat also has a fully adjustable headrest as well as a centre armrest which can be moved up and down. Each pair or group of three seats has adjustable air vents as well as reading lights in the overhead console. While the pair of seats features a power outlet between the seats, the rows of 3 seats contain 2 power outlets located between the seats.”
“Every seat on this aircraft comes with an inflight entertainment screen, featuring hours of entertainment, aircraft info, as well as other features such as Live TV. The inflight map on the A220 is provided in the form of Rockwell-Collins great “Airshow 3D” experience which features a number of interesting views.”
“The only issue with these screens is the fact that they do not tilt, so if the seat in front of you were to recline it could potentially make the inflight entertainment experience somewhat challenging. The seatback pocket only featured the aircraft’s safety card, while onboard WiFi is also available for purchase.”
“The tray table onboard the A220 is quite big and can be pulled closer or pushed further away from the seat. The tray table was surprising very clean and was able to hold a 15-inch laptop with ease. Overall, these seats had great legroom and in my opinion, are some of the best seats on a narrow-body aircraft in the US.”
“Another somewhat infamous feature of Delta’s A220 series aircraft is the fact that one of the rear lavatories features a window. The toilets are also incredibly spacious on the A220 and both were very modern and clean. The aircraft has a total of three toilets onboard and for me, the toilet without the window at the rear of the aircraft is just as spacious as the one featuring the loo with a view.”
Flight experience:
“The actual experience onboard this flight to Austin, Texas was simple and perfectly forgettable, which isn’t a bad thing. Upon boarding the aircraft, every passenger received an alcohol sanitizing wipe so that they could clean the area around their seats.”
“While many other airlines in the US had stopped blocking seats onboard flights, Delta Air Lines remained unique in this area and continued to block off seats onboard its aircraft up until the end of April and was a very reassuring policy for passengers.”
“The carrier also now plays a video for passengers highlighting the precautions Delta has taken during the COVID-19 pandemic which is followed by the standard safety demonstration video. Overall, these COVID safe precautions do in fact help make flying with Delta feel incredibly safe and offer passengers a sense of reassurance amidst the pandemic.”
“After an on-time push back, the A220-300 ended up following a Delta 737-900ER to Detroit’s runway 22L. After a quick takeoff roll followed by a steep climb out, thanks to the powerful CFM engines and light load factor, flight DL2509 was on route to Austin with an estimated flight time of 2 hours and 47 minutes.”
Inflight service:
“Service did not begin immediately as our flight crew was advised that there would be a bit of turbulence as the aircraft departed from Detroit. After roughly 20 minutes inflight service began and mainly consisted of a snack bag. Currently, for the main cabin on nearly all of Delta’s flights, the inflight service consists of a single snack bag and nothing else. The bag’s contents tend to vary from flight to flight but are relatively similar, usually featuring two types of snacks, a small water bottle, napkin, and alcohol wipe.”
“This is certainly the one area of the flight that could be significantly improved, as it is an aspect of the flight where Delta is currently well behind in terms of its competitors. Therefore until full service resumes, I would highly recommend getting food and beverages prior to boarding a Delta Air Lines flight.”
“Aside from the snack bag, the cabin crew were very friendly and passed around the cabin multiple times to collect any rubbish. After some brief turbulence, we climbed to our final cruising altitude of 40,000ft, where we would remain until our descent. It was an absolutely beautiful day for flying and some great views were offered over Texas with the beautiful A220 winglet on full display.”
“Eventually, the aircraft touching down at Austin–Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) a few minutes earlier than scheduled and after a short the less than one-year-old Airbus A220 parked up at gate 10 at Austin’s beautiful Barbra Jordan terminal. Delta Air Lines then instructed passengers to disembark by row to allow for extra social distancing.”
Final Verdict:
“Overall, the A220-300 is the future of Delta’s narrow-body fleet, it is comfortable, quiet, and just an overall joy to fly. It is hard to think of a better narrow-body aircraft in the USA at the moment, the wide seats, the inflight entertainment, and 2-3 seating configuration all make the plane a pleasure to travel on. The carrier also doing a tremendous job at making sure the inflight experience is a COVID safe experience, with hand sanitisers outside lavatories, blocking middle seats, and the distribution of wipes when boarding.”
“Ultimately, I feel that it is time that Delta moves forward with improving its onboard service, while the snack bag is COVID safe, it just seems to be miles behind in comparison to its competitors, especially since this one lacked Delta’s delicious Biscoff cookies. While other airlines are back to offering full drink and snack services, Delta has insisted on a single snack bag for customers on most flights. However, I still enjoyed my experience onboard Delta’s A220-300 and would not be hesitant to book it again, especially over other narrowbody aircraft.”
- Airport Experience (Detroit): 8/10
- Cabin and seat: 9/10
- Inflight service: 5/10
- Overall experience: 7.3/10
By Tyler Lorenz, AeroNewsX
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Source: https://aeronewsx.com/flying-economy-on-a-delta-air-lines-airbus-a220-300/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=flying-economy-on-a-delta-air-lines-airbus-a220-300
