For our short connection to Burbank I was pleased that instead of a regional jet we were booked on an Airbus A220-100, which is a spacious and comfortable aircraft that is nicely-sized for lower-volume routes.

Delta Air Lines A220-100 Economy Class Review (SLC-BUR)

Our connection in Salt Lake City could not have been easier…even though we only had 30 minutes, our flights were only a few gates apart, leaving the kids a few moments to check out the LEGO store…

Delta Air Lines 339
Salt Lake City (SLC) – Burbank (BUR)
Saturday, June 13
Depart: 8:50 PM
Arrive: 9:50 PM
Duration: 02hr, 00min
Distance: 574 miles
Aircraft: Airbus A220-100
Seat: 23C (Economy Class)

We boarded fairly late in the process, but the cabin was not full (making me wonder whether Delta will go back to CRJ-700 on this route). We ended up holding for a bit while waiting for some passengers connecting from Mexico and about a dozen more people eventually made it onboard, with some sweating profusely. Even so, the flight went out with many open seats.

Seats

Speaking of seats, the smaller A220-100 has 12 seats in business class and 97 seats in economy class. Reminding me of DC-9 and MD-80, the aircraft has a 2-3 configuration in economy class. Delta uses the Collins Aerospace Pinnacle seats, which are 18.6 inches wide (so noticeably wider than many narrowbody aircraft), with 31 inches of pitch and a recline of three inches (Delta Comfort+ seats in rows 10-12 have 34 inches of pitch).

A/C outlets are located between seats and air vents overhead, with USB-A ports in the setback monitors, but no USB-C ports on this aircraft.

Service

This flight was staffed by a fairly senior, all female SLC-based crew, some of them going back to Western Airlines (which Delta acquired in 1987).

On Delta, I judge a good crew by whether they proactively offer me two (small) cans of club soda instead of just one! 😉

Food + Drink

Speaking of food and drink, a beverage service was performed after takeoff with a choice of snacks including:

Cheez-It Original Baked Snack Crackers
Lotus Biscoff Cookies
MadeGood Chocolate Chip Chewy Granola Bar
Rold Gold Tiny Twists Original Pretzels

(it was more Biscoffs for the Klint family)

I had club soda while the kids had apple juice…detestable sugar water, but on airplanes they can drink what they want.

Here again, I wish Delta offered meals for purchase because we had a tight connection in SLC with no time to buy any food. But I did come prepared and enjoyed a “protein platter” from Trader Joe’s (Italian dry pepper, Parmesan cheese crisps, roasted almonds) with 33 grams of protein. A very nice treat.

Lavatory

The Delta A220-100 has two lavatories in the rear of the aircraft for economy class passengers. These feel more spacious than the A320 family lavatories and especially the 737 lavatories.

IFE + Wi-Fi

Once again, complimentary onboard Wi-Fi worked flawlessly, though at this point in the day I was tired and just spent the flight relaxing and preparing mentally for church the following morning by reading the lectionary texts and watching the sunset out the window.

An IFE library contained an extensive collection of films, TV programming, games, and music, plus a moving flight map.

CONCLUSION

We landed well-ahead of schedule in Burbank, even with the departure delay waiting for additional passengers, and were soon in a car heading home.

This was a very smooth way to get from Chicago to Burbank…it was an easier connection than via Denver on United and I enjoyed the fast Wi-Fi onboard, which absolutely makes me more likely to choose Delta over United for these sorts of trips.

Finally, I really like the A220…I’ve flown it on a number of carriers now and it always strikes me as a very comfortable aircraft.