Delta A220 - Trip Report

Real World Aviation
1

Hey all!

This weekend was an incredible one. I headed out to DTW on Saturday to catch a Rangers (hockey) game and returned on an A220 today.

We flew a 717-200 to DTW, and I’ll be posting an Economy Comfort review for the 717 in the coming days.

For this flight, we were lucky enough to get the first class upgrade.

Flight Info

Route: KDTW (Detroit) - KJFK (John F. Kennedy)

Airline: Delta

Aircraft: Airbus A220

Tail Number: N111NG

Boarding Process

After pre-boarding, First Class passengers and Diamond medallion members are boarded first. The process is simple and orderly, and we were on the aircraft in no time.

Here was our aircraft. (Taken in JFK because of the evil DTW window dots)

image
image4032×3024 2.69 MB

I went up to visit the flight deck and speak to the pilots. They were welcoming as always, and I got to talk about some of the more in depth characteristics of the A220.

image
image4032×3024 3.76 MB

My Seat

My seat was seat 3D. It was comfortable, large, and had plenty of legroom! The tray table was sturdy, and the seat-back pocket had plenty of room. Not to mention the great IFE and the large windows!

Here was my seat (taken in JFK).

image
image4032×3024 2.63 MB

The legroom was impressive as well! Check this out:

image
image1536×2048 480 KB

I had plenty of room.

IFE

Delta’s IFE absolutely never fails to impress. This had all the standard features with great shows, new and mainstream movies, and excellent display size and accessibility.

The A220 has unique IFE as there are some pretty neat systems that track your flight!

Just excuse the airspeed issues, not sure the units were correct.

image
image4032×3024 3.26 MB

It had this HUD and so much more!

Service

The service on this flight was also incredible as always. Delta’s cabin crew has always been exceptionally friendly and hardworking. This time was no different. We were served often and taken great care of!

No meal on this short flight, but we did receive delicious snacks. Here’s what I got and a drink while watching some old episodes of “Friends”. I was offered a glass but chose to keep the can.

image
image4032×3024 2.42 MB

Photos

First class passengers have their own bathroom, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to visit the bathroom with the window in it! Sorry it’s vertical.

image
image1536×2048 264 KB

The view from the bathroom was neat!

image
image3836×2874 2.08 MB

Climbing out of DTW!

image
image4032×3024 2.47 MB

Approaching JFK after a short flight,

image
image3556×2666 1.48 MB

Thanks for checking out my review! I’ll be coming out with another one some time soon, or perhaps a DTW spotting topic.

Have a good one, and enjoy the rest of the Super Bowl! Or perhaps reminisce on that interesting halftime show… or fly in the skies of IF!

50 Likes
Guess the Airline and Aircraft! [Part 8]
2

An A220?

Approved immediately.

2 Likes
3

Cool stuff. I have some questions.

  1. Does the A220 have back driven throttles like on Boeing aircraft or do the throttles remain in position like most Airbus aircraft?

I’ve heard rumors that they are back driven since Bombardier had a part in the aircraft design.

  1. Are the sidesticks the same as those found on most Airbus products or are they active sidesticks (Ie: have Force feedback, have motors that allow them to move in tandem, etc)?

  2. Are the flight control laws purely Airbus flight control laws or are they Boeing flight control laws?

I ask because I know bombardier had a large part about in the aircrafts design.

Thanks

1 Like
4

Those are some great questions that I honestly have no idea the answer to. I spent maybe 10 minutes in the flight deck and would much rather have somebody give you the correct answer rather than feed you false information.

I can weigh in on this. If you mean fly-by-wire sort of thing, the A220 is fly by wire. The computer helps stabilize all control inputs, but that’s about all I can say.

If anyone has the correct answer I’d love to hear it!

2 Likes
5

Thanks.

I’m aware that it’s flight by wire. That said Airbus and Boeing fly by wire aircraft have a different flight control system (different flight control laws)

In a nutshell my understanding is that airbus aircraft have hard limits that can’t be overridden. Boeing aircraft (777, 787) have soft limits that can be overridden in an emergency.

The elevator trim system is also different with Airbus using an auto trim system . The flight control system tries to maintain 1 G throughout the flight envelope.

1 Like
6

That’s very cool, nice trip report I love Delta!

Hope you enjoyed you’re flight!

7

I didn’t read the full thing because I would get to jealous, but you’re really lucky to have experienced this!

8

Nice trip report here, @Will_A!

9

To my knowledge the thrust levers are moving according to the engine’s power setting , but not 100% sure about this one.

The A220 has active sidesticks, to make the pilot “feel” the aircraft’s behaviour.

It’s a Bombardier designed aircraft with Bombardier’s flight philosophy of a clean-sheet design for the A220. Probably a combination of both, but not 100 % sure with this one.

Not sure if that’s of interest to you as well (not that much 100% information provided by myself), but I will tag you nonetheless:@Will_A

1 Like
10

I had plenty of chances to fly on a Delta A220 from SLC to DFW, but my parents chose to fly SLC-PHX-DAL on WN instead :(

11

Jealous as I really want to try the A220 for myself. Hopefully SAS orders them to fill the gap in their fleet from the crj9 to a320 after they have retired the 737-600

12

checks wallet
books Delta A220 flight
casually tells parents that I booked a flight

13

That HUD is awesome.

1 Like
14

Right? It’s not fully realistic. For example the camera view doesn’t change altitudes, the airspeed is messed up, and the movements aren’t perfect. That being said it’s pretty neat!

2 Likes
15

overspeed overspeed overspeed

1 Like
16

Great Review! To bad I only fly out of Chicago which Delta has absolutely no presence on. I’d love to fly the 220! It just seems so sleek. Definitely think we still need this urgently in IF.

1 Like
17

Thanks a lot!

1 Like
18

Question @Will_A, who is the best Delta ramper and why is it me?

1 Like
19

It’s obviously you… duh. (Pls give me buddy pass thanks).

1 Like
20

Aww thanks @Will_A, but you really don’t want a buddy pass, they are more trouble than they are worth.

1 Like