Ten years after the C Series entered service, editors are joined by Richard Aboulafia to assess the success of what is now the A220 and explain why a decision to stretch it or not is such a conundrum for Airbus.

Has The A220 Been A Winner For Airbus? And Should They Stretch It?

Aviation Week's Check 6 Podcast

Welcome to the Check 6 Podcast. I'm Joe Anselmo, Aviation Week's Editor-in-Chief. If today's passenger jet industry was shaped by a series of falling dominoes, the first one to fall was the C-Series. Developed by Canada's Bombardier, it entered service 10 years ago. It was such a good airplane that a worried Airbus moved to re-engine the A320, which in turn forced Boeing to re-engine the 737.

And then, those improved product lines had the desired effect of knocking Bombardier out of the passenger jet business. Barely two years after the C-Series entered service, Bombardier sold it to Airbus for a pittance, after Boeing said no thanks to acquiring it. So, 10 years after it entered service, is the C-Series, now re-christened the Airbus A220, the winner for Airbus that everybody thought it would be?

Executive Editor Jens Flotau is just back from visiting the program in Montreal, and will fill us in. Also joining us is the Numbers Guy, Dan Williams, Aviation Week's Director of Fleet Data Services. And rounding out the conversation is Richard Abelafia, Managing Director at Aerodynamic Advisory and an Aviation Week columnist. Jens, let's start with you. I actually wanted to start with the basics for those in our audience that aren't commercial aircraft buffs.

The A220 is the smallest in Airbus' line, right? It's smaller than the A320, five abreast? Yeah, it's five abreast, has two versions, the A220-100, which was the first one to enter service in 2016, with Swiss in July of 2016. Then there's a stretched version, the A220-300, which can seat up to 160 seats now in a high-density configuration that Asia has just ordered,

Has The A220 Been A Winner For Airbus? And Should They Stretch It?

Read the full transcript

The candid version is on a podcast,
not the earnings call.

Has The A220 Been A Winner For Airbus? And Should They Stretch It?

Read the full transcript

The candid version is on a podcast, not the earnings call.

The candid version is on a podcast,
not the earnings call.