Already 5 years of commercial flights for the largest bird in Quebec

Created by Bombardier, the largest aircraft ever developed in Quebec, the Airbus A220, completed five years of service.

“It’s not always easy, we have a lot of dangers, but we always believe in it,” said Rob Dewar, a former Bombardier who is now vice president at Airbus.

The first commercial flight of the C Series aircraft took place on July 15, 2016 between Zurich and Paris. Since then, more than 150 devices have entered service. They have flown over 365,000 flights and traveled over 410 million kilometers!

Technical error

At the tragedy that afflicted the Boeing 737 Max, the C Series was well on its way into service. However, in the early years various engine problems plagued the A220.

“Pratt & Whitney really transcends the boundaries of technology, so just having a few maturity elements to work with is enough,” Dewar said.

Peter Koch, who was responsible for entering the C Series service in Switzerland, also revealed that there were premature power cuts before takeoff. The situation was gradually corrected with software changes.

In terms of improvements, Airbus has extended the range of the A220 and is preparing to do it again. The 100 to 150 seater aircraft can travel over 6,000 kilometers.

The A220 is currently owned by nine airlines, including Switzerland, Air Baltic, Delta Airlines, Air Canada, Korean Air, Air Tanzania, JetBlue and Air Astral. Air France will be added to the list in September.

Mr. Koch still remembers how Airbus and Boeing responded in 2008 to a favorable intermediate transit.

“We were told, ‘You can choose the A320 or the 737.’ It’s not that, it’s nothing.