Airbus delivered its first United States-built Airbus A220 aircraft to Delta Air Lines from its Mobile, Alabama manufacturing site.
The jet (registered N302DU) was handed over to Delta Air Lines on October 22, 2020. It first flew on June 2, 2020, and has joined Delta’s fleet of 33 Airbus A220 family jets.
The Mobile, Alabama-built narrow-body represents the largest variant of the A220 family, the -300. Delta configured the aircraft to fit 12 business, 30 premium economy and 88 economy class seats according to the airline’s website.
“The delivery of the first U.S.-built A220-300 is a historic moment that highlights Airbus’ growing industrial footprint in North America and makes us all extremely proud,” stated Jeffrey Knittel, the chief executive of Airbus Americas. The production of the aircraft type began at the site in August 2019, according to Airbus.
“Handing over the first U.S-assembled aircraft to a U.S.-based customer is a real point of pride for the A220 program,” added the head of the Airbus A220 program Philippe Balducchi.
Delta Air Lines so far has the largest order book for the ex-Bombardier CSeries narrow-body, with 95 units on order. Across the globe, 123 A220s were delivered to seven different operators, according to the manufacturer.
In addition to the A220, the Mobile Final Assembly Line (FAL) hosts the A320 family. The first A320 family member to leave the FAL was an Airbus A321 (registered N965JT), delivered to JetBlue (JBLU) on April 25, 2016.