JetBlue orders 30 more Airbus A220 jets to speed Embraer retirements

JetBlue Airways Corp. is buying 30 additional Airbus SE A220-300 planes, bolstering the carrier’s fleet and allowing it to more swiftly retire older aircraft.

The purchase, an exercise of prior options, brings JetBlue’s total order of the single-aisle jet to 100, the airline said Tuesday in a statement. JetBlue expects its ninth A220 delivery this month, and 30 more by the end of 2023.

The additional A220s allow the carrier to “accelerate our fleet modernization plans to deliver stronger cost performance,” JetBlue Chief Executive Officer Robin Hayes said in the statement. The aircraft will replace Embraer SA E190 jets by 2026.

JetBlue shares gained 7.2% as of 11:34 a.m. in New York, while shares in Airbus were up 1.8% in Paris.

The A220s give JetBlue 40 seats more per jet than the current 100-seat E190 fleet, a critical factor in the airline’s drive to lower its per-seat unit costs. The company also expects to fly the aircraft across the country, something it can’t do with the Embraers given their range limits, Chief Financial Officer Ursula Hurley said in a telephone interview.

“This is a game-changer aircraft for JetBlue in terms of the financial and operational performance it will deliver,” she said.

New York-based JetBlue originally ordered 60 A220s in 2018 with an option for 60 more, and converted 10 of those to firm orders the following year. JetBlue will begin retiring its oldest Airbus aircraft as early as 2023 and is “comfortable” with the size of its current A220 order book, she said.

The carrier is interested in the prospect of a larger, stretched version that Airbus is contemplating in response to some customers’ requests, she said. “We’re supportive if Airbus were to move forward on a stretched airplane.”

With the new deal, Airbus has secured orders for more than 700 A220s. Delta Air Lines Inc. and Breeze Airways are other large U.S. customers for the model.