JetBlue Places Massive Order For the New Airbus A220-300

It was just Tuesday morning that we learned the fate of Bombardier's former C Series program. Effectively immediately, the CS100 became the Airbus A220-100, with the CS300 now known as the A220-300.

Now, we've learned that JetBlue has placed a very significant order for the latest Airbus jet. The carrier will take delivery of 60 Airbus A220-300s beginning in 2020, at which point it will begin phasing out its Embraer 190 fleet. JetBlue also has the option of purchasing an additional 60 A220 jets beginning in 2025 — if both orders pan out, we could see more than 100 JetBlue A220s flying around the country by the middle of the next decade. All of JetBlue's A220s will be assembled at Airbus' Mobile, Alabama facility.

The A220-300 can accommodate up to 160 passengers in an all-economy configuration, but we could see that count drop closer to JetBlue's 100-seat Embraer 190s, since the airline's known for offering far more legroom than the competition, both in its base economy seats and in Even More Space rows.

While the Embraer 190 is known for being a fairly comfortable aircraft, thanks to its 18.25-inch-wide seats, there's no question that the Airbus A220 represents a huge upgrade when it comes to passenger comfort — especially if JetBlue decides to install comfortable seats, with legroom similar to what you can experience with the carrier's Airbus fleet today.

Along with the order, JetBlue also converted its order for 25 A320neos to the A321neo.