JetBlue taking delivery of first A220-300 just in time for New Year's Eve
JetBlue is taking delivery of its first-ever Airbus A220-300 on New Year's Eve.
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It's the first of 70 of the aircraft that JetBlue has ordered to replace its aging fleet of Embraer 190 planes. The plane with a tail number N3008J is set to arrive at JetBlue's hub in New York John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) Thursday evening from Airbus's U.S. production facility in Mobile, Alabama.
The flight is due to depart Mobile Airport (BFM) at 3:30 p.m. ET and arrive at JFK at 7:50 p.m. ET.
JetBlue says the new plane will have a 30% lower direct operating cost per seat than the E190s they will replace.
Related: Why the new Airbus A220 is popular with airlines during the coronavirus pandemic
In a statement, JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes said:
"The A220 is a next-generation aircraft our customers and crewmembers will love, featuring impressive range and superior economics to support critical financial and operating priorities along with new network planning flexibility. And as we evolve our fleet for the future, the A220's significant reduction in per-seat emissions supports our ongoing commitment to carbon neutrality for all our domestic flights, and moves us closer to achieving our pledge of net zero carbon emissions across all operations by 2040."
JetBlue said it was the first airline to achieve carbon neutrality on domestic flights this year and has said it plans to achieve net zero carbon emissions across all operations by 2040.
C. Jeffrey Knittel, Chairman & CEO of Airbus Americas, said, "This first A220-300 delivery creates new route possibilities for JetBlue, and raises their passenger experience to even higher standards."
We don't yet know what routes the planes will fly. In May, the CEO said the airline might fly high-frequency routes, but COVID-19 has scrambled frequencies and routing so it's hard to guess at this point.
Related: JetBlue accelerates Airbus A220 deliveries, Boston-Washington a possible early route
The brand new planes will also offer a better journey inside too. The planes are going to have wider seats, bigger overhead bins and extra-large windows. More details on the interiors will be released in January. The planes will have a 2-3 all-economy configuration with seating for around 130 passengers.
A rendering of a JetBlue A220-300. (Image courtesy of Airbus)
Additional reporting by Zach Griff and Ned Russell.
Featured screenshot image courtesy of JetBlue Airways.