With service set to launch in June JetBlue still has plenty of time to refine the details on its new A220-300 cabin service. But the carrier opened up the aircraft the first time this week, showing off the interior so passengers can get an idea for what the travel experience will be like.
Spacious Seating
PaxEx.Aero was first to report the 140 seat layout inside nearly 2 years ago. This is now confirmed by the company. The cabin includes 30 Even More Space seats at 35″ pitch, four rows at the front of the aircraft and two at the over wing exits. The other 110 seats feature 32″ pitch.
JetBlue chose the Collins Aerospace Meridian seats and, while there is now a middle seat in the 3-2 layout on board, the seats are the widest in the fleet at 18.6″.
Upgraded IFE on the JetBlue A220
JetBlue will continue to offer in-seat entertainment at every seat. The Thales AVANT system on board features 10.1″ 1080p HD screens to screen 30 channels of live television plus hundreds of hours of on-demand content. The live TV includes DVR-like pause and rewind functionality for each passenger as well. The total channel selection is reduced from the older aircraft because the company transitioned to IP TV streams rather than a second satellite antenna on board pulling the DirecTV content straight from the satellite.
The IFE also includes picture-in-picture functionality and personal handheld device pairing to use as a remote or a gaming controller.
Each seat also includes three power ports. Attached to the screen is a USB-A port while beneath the seat passengers can access a 110V port or a 15 Watt USB-C outlet.
An “enhanced, 3D flight map” is also part of the new offering.
FlyFi Flies on the JetBlue A220
The JetBlue A220 will also include the latest version of the FlyFi in-flight wifi solution from Viasat. The newest Viasat hardware offers satellite connectivity nearly everywhere in the JetBlue network and that will only improve when the first ViaSat-3 satellite launches and enters service in the coming year or so.
While the AVANT system was installed as part of the seating work at the Airbus factory in Mobile the Viasat system is not available as a line-fit option for the A220. As a result the plane was delivered without the kit on board. Getting it installed, including the associated STC certification from the FAA, is understood to be part of the timing delay in getting the aircraft into commercial service.
Where with the JetBlue A220 fly first?
JetBlue will press the A220 into service officially on the Boston-Fort Lauderdale route later this Spring. A firm date is not yet known but the carrier expects that to happen no later than late June. JetBlue also expects that the plane could substitute in for other routes on an ad hoc basis for crew familiarization.
PaxEx.Aero understands that while pilots are receiving dedicated training on the type flight attendants will not. The A220 will be added to their certification during annual recurrent training throughout the coming year. Given the limited number of aircraft and the timing of entry into service this should not pose any issues for the carrier.
Beyond the initial route the company is coy about where the A220 might operate. The aircraft has the range for transcon routes and can efficiently operate shorter hops as well. It can even potentially serve Europe, though that would likely require a Mint cabin up front, something that previously tipped as a possibility.
Chris Sloan/TheAirchive.net also contributed to this story, including all of the interior photos.
More about the JetBlue A220’s evolution to operation:
- JetBlue takes delivery of first A220
- JetBlue’s first A220 emerges with a new tail design
- JetBlue selects Thales AVANT for A220 IFE
- JetBlue picks Viasat for A220 WiFi service
- JetBlue pushes TATL further away, teases “Junior Mint” cabin
- JetBlue plans 140 seats, Boston base for A220 launch
- JetBlue Grows Up with A220 order: Big shoes (and planes) to fill
- JetBlue takes the A220, refreshing its smaller aircraft fleet
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RE: “The rear galley/lav combo is cozy on the JetBlue A220-300”
For those don’t live in NY City – and never have – “cozy” is the euphemism favored by developers, landlords and real estate brokers for teensy-weensy; teenie-tiny; super small, closet sized, apartments.
So, from the pic showing the pair of lavs embedded in the rear bulkhead, is this also a stealth reveal for the “option” to eliminate the ginormous, rear cabin, port side, windowed on Delta, lavatory in favor of even tinier, harder to squeeze into, miniaturized, “SpaceFlex” lavs for the A220?
Just wondering (when the awesomely large, windowed, rear lavatory fell by the wayside)?
Hmmmm.
I wonder if that was the tradeoff to keep 32″ pitch (plus 6 rows of 35″ EMS) while only having 5 fewer seats than Swiss? They probably didn’t need the galley across from the windowed lav as the front galley probably can handle most of what JetBlue needs.
That’d be an interesting question for people – 30″ pitch aft of the emergency exits and well-sized bathrooms or 32″ pitch and claustrophobia central at the lav? I’d probably do the former, but who knows how happy FAs will be with that rear galley.
No doubt that the decision to put in the space-saver lavs in the back is tied to the seats that would be lost in the main cabin if the alternate layout were selected. These look a smidgen better than the A321 version but I’m not sure on that.
And, for now, JetBlue can get away with the galley layout like this as food service on board is minimal. Unclear if there would be enough space to stock fresh food for longer routes or even consider putting in ovens for premium service. That would be a much different galley situation.
To be sure, other than the teeny-tiny loos (especially the outboard one on the far right in the pic where the toilet is seen more forward vs the left loo), with its 18.6” wide seats, 32” Core rows pitch & embedded seatback IFE featuring 30 live satellite channels (including DVR-like pausing & rewind; although here’s hoping it’s NOT 8-10 sports & golf channels clogging up the 30 available slots! ) there’s much to like, perhaps even love about JetBlue’s new A220s!
Still, it took just one time using those horrible rear bulkhead “SpaceFlex” loos for me to HATE them with an unbridled passion – & I’m neither tall at 5’ 8” nor “fluffy” (still, but barely since onset of Covid19 pandemic able to wear W33 Levi’s jeans).
So, as a very average sized adult male who found the A320 “SpaceFlex” loos way too small/narrow (including crouching to squeeze into it) & unacceptably so, I simply shudder to think how much worse those loos are for others who aren’t as diminutive as I am.
As for passengers with reduced mobility, based on conversations with my partner, who had Polio as a young child & us being together 15+ years, anything that reduces independence or that will call attention to a reduced mobility as requiring flight attendants’ assistance to convert the rear pair of teeny-tiny, waaaayyy too small/narrow loos into a single accessible loo hardly compares with say, the very large, windowed loo found on Delta’s A220s.
Just sayin’
Seth
What’s up with Viasat grounding the JetBlue A220 aircraft for six months?
Delta/GoGo/Bombardier worked together and delivers the A220 aircraft with line fit 2Ku.
-Mark Sorensen
Getting line-fit installation certification is neither cheap nor easy. Delta (and Air Canada) did push Gogo to get there but JetBlue does not see it as necessary. That’s not the entire cause of the delay for EIS, but it is a factor.
And the lengthy installation delay should only affect the first aircraft. Once the certification is issued the work can typically be completed in just a few days.
Is the live TV service provided by Thales or ViaSat?
Viasat