Delta Air Lines’ first Airbus A220-100 fresh from the paint shop

Airbus just rolled out this A220-100 out of the Mirabel paint shop. It’s the very first A220 (*) in Delta Air Lines’ fleet.

Larry Cato, a program manager on Delta’s Fleet Management team, was onsite for the occasion. “There’s nothing like seeing years of planning come together in the shape of a freshly painted aircraft,” Cato said. “It’s a major milestone for the future of our fleet.”

The painting process took nine days, 200 rolls of masking tape and 165 gallons of paint to complete.

For Julie Léveillé, an Airbus supervisor in the Mirabel paint shop, seeing this aircraft in its signature Delta colours is particularly meaningful. “It’s a tremendous feeling of accomplishment to know we just outfitted North America’s first A220 from tail to tip,” Léveillé said. “I’ve been working in the paint shop for 15 years. It can be a challenging job, but seeing the finished product makes it worth it.”

The airline will put state-of-the-art Airbus A220 jets into service at the beginning of 2019, becoming the first North American airline to do so. But first the maiden flight, later on, this autumn.

https://news.delta.com/fresh-paint-shop-introducing-delta-s-first-a220

(*) renamed as such after Airbus acquired Bombardier’s C Series program