Delta Air Lines (DL, Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson) will initially deploy its incoming A220-100s on existing routes currently operated by large regional jets rather than use the aircraft to develop new focus cities, Senior Vice-President (Network Planning) Joe Esposito said at the Boyd Group International Aviation Forecast Summit in Denver.
As reported by Flightglobal, Esposito added that the incoming Airbus narrowbody jets could replace E175s operated by the airline's partners under the Delta Connection brand on some regional routes, such as Dallas/Fort Worth-Houston Intercontinental.
Delta will look at launching new focus cities with the A220s in the longer term, once it will have taken a larger number of the jets. The carrier has been expanding point-to-point services outside of its bases for a while now.
The carrier has seventy-five A220-100s, formerly known as CS100s, on order with Airbus. Delta is the type's largest customer globally. It plans to take delivery of the maiden unit of the type by the end of 2018 and launch revenue services with A220s in the first quarter of 2019.
