Delta A220-100 first class review: just because it’s small doesn’t mean it isn’t good

I just flew from San Diego to Seattle in first class on the Delta A220-100, and let me tell ya: a cramped and abbreviated first class experience it was not.

I enjoyed a spacious and mostly comfortable seat. The food was awesome. In-flight entertainment was incredible (as it always is on Delta).

The TLDR: You know that prejudice you have against regional jets (and small aircraft types in general)? It’s somewhat misguided.

DL2533
San Diego, CA (SAN) – Seattle, WA (SEA)
Wednesday, November 19, 2025
Aircraft: A220-100
Registration: N126DU
Duration: 2 hours 38 minutes
Seat: 3D (First Class)

Delta A220-100 side view illustration by NorebboStock.com

DL2533 flight track — Our route from San Diego to Seattle this afternoon as DL2533.

My full review of Delta A220-100 first class from San Diego to Seattle

Delta seems to be all over the place when it comes to assigning aircraft types for flights between San Diego and Seattle. I did it in 737-800 first class once. Embraer 175 first class another time. Now they have the A220-100 on the job, and it just feels like the right sized aircraft for this route. Time will tell if it sticks…

Arrival at SAN

I arrived at Terminal 2 West at 10:47 AM in great anticipation for this 1:41 PM flight up to Seattle. Ok, maybe I was more looking forward to a leisurely lunch here at the airport more than the flight itself. But it was still a pretty cool feeling knowing that I was just hours away from getting my first ride on an A220-100.

Scott (SANspotter) walking into terminal 2 west at the San Diego airport from the ground level — Welcome to Terminal 2 West at the San Diego Airport! *“If only there was a sign telling me which way to go…”*

Entrance to the baggage claim level terminal 2 west San Diego airport — Thankfully I’ve been here a time or two before so it was pretty easy to figure out. Sort of. Does entering through the baggage claim exit to catch a departing flight count as “figuring it out”?

Delta air lines check-in and baggage drop terminal 2 San Diego airport — One of these days I’m gonna show up to this airport and the Delta check in counter is going to look different than it did when it first opened in 1997. Today is not that day.

Artwork hanging on the wall in terminal 2 west San Diego airport — New stuff! And by “stuff” I actually mean “artwork”. This is a pretty exciting Delta A220-100 first class review so far, isn’t it?

Gate 46 San Diego airport terminal 2 west — Don’t worry. It’s going to start getting a lot more “Delta A220-100 first class review-y” really quick. As a matter of fact, this is the departure gate for my flight up to Seattle today.

Delta flight information display for a flight to Seattle at gate 46 San Diego airport — **Pro:** the flight information display panel is indicating an on-time departure. **Con:** Our trusty Delta gate agent seems to be missing in action. Perhaps she had to run off for a quick poo. I don’t know.

Delta A220-100 pulling up to gate 46 San Diego airport — Perfectly on queue, the star of the show has just arrived from Seattle. That’s a good lookin’ ~~Bombardier CS100~~ Airbus A220-100!

The boarding process

The cattle call for first class passengers came at 1:03 PM, which seemed really quick considering that they called for passengers needing extra time at 1:02 PM. Nobody seemed all that eager to try out this A220-100, that’s for sure.

Delta San Diego to Seattle first class mobile boarding pass — SAN-SEA? Fan-cy! Especially when the boarding pass says “Zone 1”.

Scott (SANspotter) walking down the jet bridge gate 46 San Diego airport — Just a picture of your boy SANspotter walking down the jet bridge, oblivious to the fact that the woman behind him is mere moments away from throwing her uncooperative piece of sh*t roller bag into the nearest trash can. Backpack life FTW!

You’ll only get the opportunity to walk through a Delta A220-100 forward boarding door for the very first time once in your life, so savor every moment of it.

Delta A220-100 first class seat and cabin overview

With a seating capacity of 109, the A220-100 just barely misses the mark of being labeled as a regional jet (which generally is considered to be less than 100 seats). That said, the first class cabin is relatively small by mainline aircraft standards.

Delta A220-100 first class seats row 3 — Doing my best to suck in my gut as I attempt to show you the first class seats here on the Delta A220-100. Maybe eating a huge bowl of chicken fried rice before the flight wasn’t such a good idea.

Speaking of sucking it in, check out the taper on these seats from top to bottom. Every inch counts on this little ~~Bombardier~~ Airbus I guess!

There are 12 first class seats total arranged in a 2-2 layout. And yes, these are full-size domestic US first class seats with a decent amount of legroom.

Delta A220-100 first class legroom — Legroom eh? Better than Delta A220-300 economy by about “a whole hell of a lot”. This is nice.

Delta A220-100 first class seat width — And by “nice” I actually mean “even though the legroom is pretty good (and the seat width is OK), it still feels a bit cozy all up in here.”

Delta A220-100 first class complementary bottled water — **Pro tip:** if you ever fly Delta first class, and there is no bottled water at your seat, it’s because your seatmate nabbed both of them before you arrived thinking you’re probably an idiot who doesn’t read SANspotter airline reviews.

Delta A220-100 first class dual electrical outlets located between the seats — Ain’t nobody going to steal these integrated electrical outlets though. They got these bad boys glued down tight!

Delta A220-100 first class airbag seatbelt — You know what it feels like to take a bite of something you’re allergic to, and you end up with a swollen lip because of it? That’s kind of what these airbag-equipped seatbelts remind me of.

The departure from San Diego

16 minutes. 16 freakin’ minutes. That’s how early we pushed off the gate, which has to be a personal record of some kind. I can’t remember the last time I was on a flight that departed so far ahead of schedule.

Delta A220-100 pushing back from gate 46 San Diego airport — If you look closely, you can see what appears to be a wing walker doing a “hell yeah” dance in celebration of our 16 minute early departure. Someone gets to go home early today!

Passing by the United gates at terminal 2 San Diego airport

Window view of the engine and wing of a Delta A220-100 while taxiing at San Diego airport

The taxi time out to the threshold of runway 27 took 25 minutes. It was only supposed to take 10, so we were only one minute ahead of schedule by the time we took off.

Delta A220-100 taking off from runway 27 San Diego airport — Sucking squeezing banging and blowing our way off of runway 27. You stay classy, San Diego.

Delta A220-100 moments after taking off from San Diego airport

View of Mission Bay just moments after taking off from San Diego airport

Delta A220-100 departing over Mission Bay just moments after taking off from SAN — “Delta twenty five thirty three, contact departure on one twenty six point five, good day – which I know you’re gonna have after all that sucking and blowing we just witnessed. That was so hot!”

In-flight entertainment

You’d never know that you’re sitting in an “almost regional jet” as you browse Delta Studio on the large video screen right in front of your face. You’ll get the full Delta in-flight entertainment experience in first class on the A220-100.

Delta A220-100 first class in flight entertainment movie menu — Sh*t. I just started the review of the in-flight entertainment, and I’m already being presented with two movies that I wanna watch like *right now*. Being an airline reviewer sucks sometimes.

Delta A220-100 first class in flight entertainment movie detail screen

Cheap earbuds are provided for free, but I highly recommend bringing your own. The ones they hand out aren’t all that good IMHO.

Delta A220-100 first class aircraft detail screen on the in-flight entertainment — Did you know that the Delta A220-100 has an accommodation of 109, a speed of 541mph, and a distance of 3100 miles? It’s grammar may be a little off, but it’s still an impressive little aircraft overall.

What about Wi-Fi? Well, it’s free just as long as you’re a Delta SkyMiles member. Yeah, it was fast and convenient, but I highly prefer the “free for all – even if you’re not part of the club” Starlink Wi-Fi I recently experienced in Hawaiian Airlines A321neo Extra Comfort.

Interacting with the large touchscreen display in my seat in Delta A220-100 first class — The screens are very responsive as well. They *like* to be touched.

The meal service

A full meal service is part of the first class experience on flights of 2 1/2 hours in length (or more). This 2 hour and 38 minute flight from San Diego to Seattle barely qualified.

I was given the opportunity to preselect a meal approximately one week before departure. I chose the salmon salad, which was easily the healthiest choice on the menu. There were 4 other options to choose from.

Delta A220-100 first class salmon salad meal — Fresh salmon salad with a bread roll and a lemon tart for dessert. And a crap ton of olives. That’s a lot of olives!

Delta A220-100 first class fresh salmon salad — Is Santa Claus eyeing the salmon or the olives? Either way, I’m happy to share (anything to avoid ending up on the naughty list this year).

Delta A220-100 first class lunch dessert

Delta A220-100 first class fresh bread roll served with the meal

As usual with Delta first class food, everything about this meal was perfect. It was delicious, fresh, and served with a smile.

Empty plate after eating the entire meal in Delta A220-100 first class — Rather than tell you what I thought about the salmon (and the olives), maybe it’s better if I show you.

Scott (SANspotter) eating lunch in Delta A220-100 first class — Who cares about all those salmon and olive calories when you wash it all down with a healthy 0 calorie Diet Coke? Definitely not this guy.

Seat and cabin comfort

This is a fairly comfortable domestic first class experience IMHO. It’s not any better or worse than, say, Delta A321 first class, which I guess is a compliment considering the smaller size of this aircraft.

Delta A220-100 first class seat recline do you — The obligatory *“that’s really all the seat recline there is?”* pic.

Seat recline is ok. Nothing worth ranting and raving about. I didn’t get out my protractor, but it was probably a few degrees steeper than what you would get in basic economy.

Delta A220-100 first class row three passengers — And yes, those of us here in row three (the last row of first class) have the exact same amount of mediocre seat recline as everyone else does. There are no hard partitions separating the two cabins.

Adjusting the headrest in Delta A220-100 first class — *“This F’n headrest…”* (…is highly adjustable and fairly comfortable actually).

Delta A220-100 first class seat comfort — These seats could use a little more side bolstering IMHO. I was sliding all over the place during this emergency maneuver to avoid crashing into Mt Hood.

The descent and arrival in Seattle

The flight attendant came down the aisle with a snack basket approximately 15 minutes before the initiation of the descent into Seattle. I chose pistachios from the myriad of choices available. Because of course I did.

Delta A220-100 first class pre-landing snack — A little bag of pistachios for ~~your~~ my pre-landing pleasure.

Delta A220-100 first class storage compartment between the seats — Oh! There’s actually a convenient “I ate too much already so I’ll save the snack for later” storage compartment here between the seats. I didn’t even notice it until just now.

Delta A220-100 on the downwind approach into the Seattle Tacoma airport — **Fun fact:** the blue in the Delta livery is actually called “Seattle at about 4:30 PM(ish) in November (if it’s slightly overcast and not raining)”.

It was a beautiful (and very twisty / turny) approach all the way in. The views of downtown Seattle were really nice – although we didn’t pass by Mt Rainier as closely as I hoped we would’ve. Oh well.

Delta A220-100 descending into Seattle at dusk

Delta A220-100 flying over downtown Seattle

Delta A220-100 landing on runway 16R Seattle Tacoma international airport — Welcome to Seattle!

We touched down on runway 16R at exactly 4:28 PM (which was 16 minutes ahead of schedule). From there it was a five minute taxi over to gate B1. Quick and easy!

Seattle Tacoma international airport with Mount Rainier in the distance — Another successful arrival at SEA without plowing into the side of Mt Rainier on the way in. I’m getting so good at this.

Checking the in-flight map just moments after arrival in Seattle in Delta A220-100 first class

Pulling up to the gate next to a Delta 737-800 at the Seattle Tacoma airport

Passengers waiting to deplane after arrival in Seattle in Delta A220-100 first class — BTW, the lack of mood lighting on these planes is surprising considering how hardcore Delta usually goes with that stuff. Perhaps that’s the sacrifice that had to be made for going so hard on all those expensive a** olives.

SANspotter walking up the jet bridge at the Seattle Tacoma airport after arriving on a flight — The olives were worth it IMHO. The 12 that I’m currently digesting have brought more joy to my day than the neutral expression on my face could possibly convey. Well done Delta. Well done indeed.

Pros and cons of Delta A220-100 first class

Fear not if you see the A220-100 listed as one of the options while doing a search for flights. This is not an aircraft you want to avoid. As a matter of fact, it’s probably going to be better than other mainline aircraft types due to its small and compact size. Fewer passengers = less chaos.

Pros

The first class seats are just as large and spacious as they are on other (bigger) aircraft types.
The video screens are big as well. Some of the largest in the entire domestic Delta fleet actually.
There are ovens in the forward galley of the A220-100, which means that they will serve hot meals in first class if the flight is long enough.

Cons

With only 12 first class seats available, they’ll go quick. Book early!
The ride is somewhat bumpier compared to other (larger) aircraft types.
At the time of this writing, it’s not possible to connect your wireless headphones to the in-flight entertainment system via Bluetooth.

6 Comments

Kelly says:

May 3, 2026 at 3:00 pm

I’ve got a flight from ANC-SEA coming up in an A220-300…..and in the same 3D seat! Thank you for the review and for easing any concerns I had about this equipment!

1. Scott Leazenby (SANspotter) says:
  
  May 3, 2026 at 3:54 pm
  
  You’re very welcome Kelly! I highly recommend the salmon lol.
  
JNSD says:

December 17, 2025 at 10:49 am

Scott – which other routes are flying the A220 at SAN? Thought I saw Air Canada to Toronto or Montreal at times but seems like a long flight for that size of plane.

1. Scott Leazenby (SANspotter) says:
  
  December 17, 2025 at 11:10 am
  
  I think SAN-SEA on Delta and SAN-YYZ (or Montreal?) on Air Canada are the only two at the moment. I have seen Delta use the A220 to SLC every now and then, but it never seems to stick.
  
  I actually didn’t mind the A220 to Montreal when I flew it a few years ago. Of course being in business class helped, but it was a comfortable ride overall.
  
Peter says:

December 5, 2025 at 11:28 pm

Finally, a positive review of Delta A220 First Class! All of the reviews I’ve read say it’s “bad” due to the tighter seat width, but hey, I’m guessing it’s still better than Economy, and you did a good job showing that. Maybe it was the olives that made you like it so much? Haha.

Also, beautiful approach into Seattle! (Well, not as pretty as your ORD-SEA flight on American, but still great) I visited in 2017, and the flights I took to and from there were easily my most scenic to date.

1. Scott Leazenby (SANspotter) says:
  
  December 8, 2025 at 11:29 am
  
  It’s hard to believe people can hate on Delta A220 first class. I personally didn’t notice any significant difference in seat width, and I actually quite like how large the video screens are. Haters gonna hate I guess.
  
  And yup, the approach into the Seattle airport is never not beautiful. Even in the pouring rain!

Delta A220-100 first class review: just because it’s small doesn’t mean it isn’t good