Delta plans Bombardier jet for LA, New York

Bloomberg

Delta Air Lines Inc. is eyeing New York and Los Angeles as the main bases for Bombardier Inc.’s new jetliner next year, offering a glimpse of how carriers can add service economically with the midsize aircraft.
Dallas is also likely to get a lot of C Series flights, Delta said in an internal memo to pilots, a copy of which was reviewed by Bloomberg News. That sets up a test of the carrier’s ability to use the single-aisle aircraft to attract customers in the backyard of American Airlines Group Inc. and Southwest Airlines Co.
Delta is the first major US carrier to buy the C Series, a midrange aircraft that offers roomier interiors than regional jets while typically carrying fewer passengers than a plane from the Boeing Co. 737 or Airbus SE A320 families. The Bombardier aircraft, which the Montreal-based company has spent at least $6 billion to develop, should enable airlines to offer comfy rides to midsize cities without flooding the market with too many seats.
“From the standpoint of operating costs, from the standpoint of ownership costs, it’s an ideal aircraft for these not-quite-mainline markets,” said Robert Mann, an aviation consultant and former airline executive. “If it performs as advertised, reliably, it’s going to be a real game-changer.”
Morgan Durrant, a spokesman for Delta, declined to comment. The aircraft is scheduled to enter service for the Atlanta-based airline in the second quarter of 2018, according to the Aug. 7 notice to pilots, which described preliminary plans for the planes.

Boeing Complaint
Delta ordered at least 75 of the CS100 models last year in a deal valued at $5.6 billion, before the discounts that are customary for large aircraft purchases. Ordering the C Series was a bit of an anomaly for Delta under former CEO Richard Anderson, who had historically preferred more tested airplanes over new models.
The purchase threw a lifeline to Bombardier after the C Series program came in two and a half years late and more than $2 billion over budget. But the transaction also prompted Boeing to file a trade complaint with the US government, accusing Bombardier of selling Delta the planes at “absurdly low” prices while benefiting from unfair Canadian government subsidies and calling for tariffs. Bombardier has denied the allegations.
Delta will place the new CS100 planes on popular routes now served by the airline’s largest 76-seat regional jets, which will free up those planes to replace 50-seat aircraft around Delta’s system, President Glen Hauenstein said last month. He said New York would get the first CS100.