CSeries jet game-changer for mid-range flights: analyst

Delta Air Lines expecting to fly fuel-efficient CS100s out of L.A., N.Y. next year

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 mid-size plane.

Dallas is also likely to get a lot of CSeries flights, Delta said in an internal memo to pilots, a copy of which was reviewed by Bloomberg. 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 U.S. carrier to buy the CSeries, a mid-range 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 developing, should enable airlines to offer comfy rides to mid-size 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 on the memo or how the company will use the CSeries. 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. The U.S. airline ordered at least 75 of the CS100 models last year in a deal valued at $5.6 billion.