In advance of its inaugural Airbus A220-100 flights in January, Delta recently unveiled what the inside of the shiny new aircraft will look like. There are some notable upgrades, not least of which are the bathrooms that will feature a window—a first for Delta and a very rare occurance on commerical aircraft.
There will be three restrooms on each plane, one at the front and two at the rear, and there will be a window in one of the two rear bathrooms on every Delta A220, the airline confirmed.
Beyond the unique views from the lavatories, several other new features on the planes are designed to make the aircraft “experience-rich,” according to Delta. At a time when many carriers have skewed toward having passengers use their personal devices in lieu of seatback screens for in-flight entertainment, Delta’s A220s will have seatback screens on all the seats.
There will also be Gogo-powered 2Ku Wi-Fi, which is the newest generation of in-flight connectivity, and each passenger will have personal power ports.
Economy class passengers tired of feeling overly squeezed in their seats will also be happy to know that the 18.6-inch-wide main cabin seats will be the widest among any narrowbody aircraft. The overhead bins are a bit roomier, the windows are a bit larger, and there is ambient LED lighting throughout the plane as well, all of which point to a potentially more pleasant flying experience.
The seats on Delta’s new A220s will be wider than on any narrowbody aircraft and will all feature seatback screens.
Courtesy of Delta
Of the 109 seats on board, 12 will be in the First Class cabin and 15 will be designated Delta Comfort Plus seats. First Class seats will benefit from extra-large seatback screens, and the Delta Comfort Plus seats will have additional legroom compared to the main cabin.
While initial reviews of the aircraft following a media preview of it last week appeared to be mostly positive, there was some criticism of the size of the seats in First Class, which are reportedly only 1.5 inches wider than Delta Premium Select seats.
The planes are expected to be 20 percent more fuel efficient than similar-sized aircraft. In fact, introducing them into the Delta fleet is part of Delta’s larger fleet modernization program, which aims to replace 20 percent of its older, less-efficient aircraft by 2020.
Delta is the first North American operator of the A220s. The inaugural A220 flights are set to depart on January 31 from New York’s LaGuardia (LGA) airport to Boston Logan International and to Dallas/Ft. Worth. In the following months, additional A220 routes will be added, including between Detroit and Dallas, LGA and Houston, and JFK and Dallas, among others, according to Delta.
Correction: This post was updated on Nov. 7, 2018, to reflect that the windows in the A220 lavatories will be a first for Delta, not for commercial aircraft.
