Delta has officially pushed back the debut of their new Airbus A220 jets due to the government shutdown

Airbus

A Delta Airbus A220.

• Delta Air Lines has officially pushed back the debut of its new Airbus A220 fleet as a result of the government shutdown.
• The delay is due to the lack of available safety regulators to certify the new Airbus jet during the shutdown.
• The A220 is expected to enter service with Delta on February 7. However, that date is predicated on the government shutdown coming to an end.

Delta Air Lines confirmed on Friday that the debut of its new Airbus A220 fleet will be delayed due to the lack of working federal safety regulators during the government shutdown.

"Delta has made the decision to postpone the service debut of the Airbus A220 due to delays in certification processes that are required by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration," an airline spokesman told us. "No customer impact is expected as a result of this equipment change and no flights will be canceled because of A220 certification."

Delta CEO Ed Bastian brought up the possibility of the delay during the airline's latest earnings call last week. However, the airline told Business Insider in an email on Friday that the plane's entry into service on January 31 will be pushed back to February 7.

Read more: Hundreds of flights delayed in New York and Atlanta as the longest government shutdown in history leads to air-traffic-control staffing shortages.

However, even the February 7 entry into service is contingent upon the end of the government shutdown that has thus far lasted 35 days.

The Airbus A220, formerly the Bombardier C Series, is a 100 to 150-seat state-of-the-art carbon-composite airliner. The A220 is powered by a pair of ultra-fuel-efficient Pratt & Whitney geared turbofan engines. Delta will be the first airline in North America to operate the Canadian built jet which was the subject of a trade dispute between Boeing and the Canadian government.

Delta currently has 90 A220s on order while JetBlue recently firmed up its order for 60 planes. JetBlue founder David Neeleman's new start-up airline, Moxy, confirmed an order for 60 A220s.