The ongoing partial shutdown of federal services has led to inordinate delay in launch of Delta Air Lines’ latest acquisition Airbus A220 jet aircrafts that have wider seats, windows and new entertainment setup that was scheduled for launch on 31st Jan. Due to federal shutdown the airlines was not able to get the required approvals that are mandatory to start flying the new jets on commercial basis. In an official declaration Delta Airlines has stated that it is postponing debut of Airbus A220 and the delay will not affect existing scheduled flights as they will be handled by existing aircrafts.
This announcement was met with groans of disappointment by aviation enthusiasts that were planning to be the first passengers of the flight. Recently President Trump announced during a meeting with lawmakers that all federal services will start working immediately and will continue functioning for three weeks until an agreement is reached. But this announcement brought little cheer to the enthusiastic travelers that had already bought tickets to be on A-220 ‘s inaugural flight from LaGuardia Airport. The shutdown has led to widespread disruption of flights and delay in flights on new routes across the country due to shortage of staff in airports.
Though the new A220 may look similar to its older version from outside but its creator Airbus and airline companies like Delta have heaped praises on the new one claiming it as a fuel saving machine that also provides passenger comforts like wide seats and large windows. The airline is planning to reschedule the A220 flights from 7th Feb onwards and will accommodate passengers on case-by-case basis. Aviation enthusiasts generally fly out on inaugural flights whenever airlines announce that aging planes are being replaced with new jets or are retiring favorites like Boeing 747. Recently AvGeeks group took the first flight aboard Boeing 787-10 from Newark early this month and handed out memorabilia in the form of buttons with a drawing of the plane to passengers.
