Frontier takes delivery of its first Airbus A321

Frontier Airlines took delivery of its first Airbus A321 aircraft last week. The airplanes are the largest member of Airbus’ A320 family, and have become popular with U.S. carriers looking to add capacity. Frontier, which has ordered 19 A321s, flew the jet back to the United States this past weekend after taking delivery of the jet on Oct. 9 in Germany.

"All of us at Team Frontier are excited to welcome our first A321 into our family of Airbus aircraft," Frontier Airlines president Barry Biffle says in a statement.

However, Frontier’s A321 passengers may find it a tight fit. The Denver-based airline, which has been transitioning into an "ultra" low-cost business carrier, has opted to squeeze 230 economy seats into the plane.

Other airlines typically configure the planes with 180 to 190 seats. Even Spirit, Frontier’s chief rival in the no-frills ultra low-cost space, flies its A321s with 218 seats -- or two fewer rows of seats than Frontier's configuration.

Frontier's first A321s will operate out of Orlando, where it has opened a crew base specifically for the larger jet. The A321s initially will fly on Frontier's routes to Cleveland, Detroit, Denver, and Philadelphia.

Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren is a Seattle-based photojournalist and aviation writer and a contributor to Ben Mutzabaugh's Today in the Sky blog. You also can follow Jeremy on Twitter at @photoJDL.