Why the Airbus A220 might END the A320! 

"Bombardier intended to compete with Airbus not join them" gives me "you were supposed to destroy the Sith not join them!" vibes

I flew an Air France A220 last year and I have to say it was the most comfortable and quiet narrow body aircraft I’ve ever been in - I certainly hope it will become more popular with European carriers

I was involved in the early development of the CSeries. We had designed the fuselage and systems to support the "stuffed barrel" assembly process. I wasn't on the program when it went into serial production, so I have no idea why the assembly process changed. Also, as for line rate: the Mirabel facility used to produce 40+ CRJ back in the day, with a smaller factory!

As a kid I used to get excited about going on certain planes like the 757 with RB211 engines and the DC-10. The A220 is the first commercial plane in a long time that makes me feel the same.

This information has absolutely no value for my professional and personal life, but it is pure joy to listen to someone who knows what there talking about and has the passion and energy as Mentour has! Thank you, sir!

Honestly, having a A220 as their main narrowbody jets and a XLR version of the A320 will seem pretty decent.

As a passenger I will say that the A220 is probably my favorite narrowbody to fly on. I flew JetBlue from Boston to Orlando and back very frequently in college and I preferred the A220 to the 320. 5 abreast is nice because if you book early you can end up picking a seat on the left side of the aisle where there’s no middle seat.

Lol Bombardier sure knocked out a banger of a plane.

I LOVE Mentour Pilot, the material you deliver is FIRST CLASS, in such an articulate way that enables us to understand everything aircraft related. THANK YOU MENTOUR!!!! NEVER STOP delivering ✈️ ✈️✈️✈️.

When A220 showed up in my SAS booking last year (I think they wet-leased them), I thought this was a typo. Never heard of this plane before and thought how on earth could an airline misspell their plane type 😂 Well, I really liked it.

Glad to see Airbus trying not to stick to one narrowbody design for too long. The A320 design may become too limiting in the future like the B737 and it's nice to not put all eggs in one basket.

Airbus definitely needs an engine option for the A220 given P&W's persistent technical and supply chain challenges. Airlines that bet heavily on the A220, like airBaltic, are having to lease in capacity because much of their fleet is waiting for engine maintenance items.

Pilot Groups need to see it this way because right now the pay rates treat it as a regional jet as well.

I don't like flying that much cause I get headaches or ear pain quite often, but this summer I flew the A220 with AirBaltic and it was the most relaxing flight I ever had. It's quiet, spacious, comfortable and quick. I didn't even notice how quickly we flew across Europe. We also we're landing in a big thunderstorm and it was a breeze. I would be ready to pay a little bit more for plane tickets if I knew I would be getting the A220 instead of for example the A320.

I'm in training at JetBlue on the 220. Couldn't be happier. I appreciate your video.

Your video does a good job of pointing out the reasons why the Duopoly of Airbus and Boeing is nearly impossible for competitors to make ground against.

I have no connection to the airline industry aside from occasionally booking a trip from A to B but for some reason I find these videos fascinating.

One thing to consider in JetBlue’s situation though is that they are in the process of acquiring Spirit Airlines, which has many A320s with many A320 Neos on order. So that would also eliminate our need to have any A320s on order !

The A220 is fuel efficient & quiet because of the PW1500G geared turbofan. This also caused a lot of the delays when Bombardier was developing it. I can see why it would be difficult to get a different engine. I've flown on an A220 a couple times, and it's so quiet during takeoff, presumably because the fan isn't supersonic. The pilots said they enjoyed flying them too.

I flew on one of JetBlue's A220-300s a couple of weeks ago (Blue Ya Gonna Call) on a BOS/PHX flight. It was pretty great, even in coach. Happy passenger tbh.

The A220 is a fantastic aircraft but the engines are troublesome. A lot of A220 are grounded waiting for maintenance because the GTF is not reliable yet

As an aircraft engineer, I really appreciate your videos updating me with current news about the aviation industry. I love the A320 family, and I also love the A220. But I never would have thought the A220 would be a problem to Airbus. I'm learning new things everyday. Keep up the good work! Looking fwd for your next video! 😊

It appears that Bombardier has always built great airliners and still builds great business jets. The sticky part was always building them efficiently. Hopefully Mirabel can sort things out so we Canadians can get some return on all the taxpayer money poured into the company over the years.

Flew on an Air Canada A220 last summer and was blown away by just how quiet it was. Cabin was cavernous and did not at all feel cramped. I’m really excited to hopefully fly one again in a month!

Would love to see more A220s coming off the lines in the future 💯💯💯💯

The A220 needs to get rid of those PW Geared Turbofans. Nice tech, but too unreliable.

Loving the new longer vids! Great detail in this and I have little knowledge about aircraft mfg or marketing, but was glued. Now I have more knowledge, ty! 😊

The new 500 variant of the 220 is a great opportunity for Airbus to use their engineering prowess to rejig the assembly operations and implement much needed efficiencies in building 220s.

The production lines for the A320neos are completely at max capacity, and for still a few years of orders. Airbus probably doesn't care about the A319 and A320 (the A318 is already dead), because they receive massive orders for the A321 variants. In a few years they could endup with most of orders being A321s and A220-300s, with the A320 and A220-100 being only ordered for specific things or for fleet compatibility, and that would be perfectly fine for them. As always for Airbus, they have the good designs, they have the orders, it will all come down to production nad how they will be able to deliver; but the ordering backlog will stay full for years to come. On the other hand, this is grim for Boeing; they have no argument for the 737max, which on the small side (-7 and -8) is less efficient than the A220 and on the large side (-9 and -10) is not as capable as an A321 XLR. The only reason they sale is legacy compatibility and the stupidly long waiting times to get a new Airbus (and the US department of commerce cheaty tactics ?). Having no technical advantage on that size of aircraft, they just have to hope that Airbus doesn't find a way to deliver 1000 aircrafts a year. It's a small problem for Airbus in the end, and moreover a problem that can become a strength in the future. They have all the cards in hand, and if they don't mess up they could really hurt Boeing in the long run, an aviation company with apparently no one working on a new aircraft that size (!)

I had the pleasure of taking one of these across Canada, and it's my new favourite airliner.

Just flew as a passenger as on an A220-300 on Air Canada (C-GVUO) for a 4.5h flight and it was spectacular. Great ride!

Fascinating content. Thank you for telling this interesting ongoing story!

I love these new modern airliners. Ive always loved aviation to begin with, and If i ever get the chance, id honestly become a pilot just to fly one of these beauties! Cheers Petter for producing such wonderful content and getting me passionate about aviation once more!

Also jet blue new all premium economic layout on a220 is just banger

Always fascinating and informative. Thanks.

Hi Peter! Thanks for this, and all of your videos, I always find them very interesting! As a proud Canadian, I am both glad and sad about the A220: When Bombardier was developing the aircraft, it looked extremally promising, but it was obvious that the development had put Bombardier's finances on the edge. Boeing's stupid move backfired on them and as a result Airbus got a heck of plane and a great deal. In a bit of Karma, Boeing's move caused them to lose out on a Canadian government new fighter contract. I've heard from a friend in Mirabel that the plant is absolutely buzzing! So I'm happy that this aircraft lives on and is popular with airlines and pilots. Contrarily, I'm sad that this is the second time Canada has lost a jet transport, the first being the Avro C-102 Jetliner of 1949. Have you heard of this plane? It was the first plane to be called/named "Jetliner" (as one word) and would have beat the De Havilland Comet to the air had it not been for runway repaving at what is now Toronto's Pearson airport. As such, it took to the air 13 days after the Comet. The cabin was pressurized to 10,000 ft, the plane had a ceiling of 35,000 ft. It carried the world's first international jet airmail from Toronto to New York City and the crew was given a ticker-tape parade in NYC. U.S. airlines were interested in it, Howard Hughes wanted to produce it under license. Had it gone into production, it would have beat the Boeing 707 by several years. As the Korean war was going on, the Canadian government told Avro Canada to prioritize its resources to development of the CF-100 fighter, which would for a time become NATO's best all-weather interceptor with a high rate of climb. The government, for some reason, would not allow AVRO Canada to license it for U.S. production. As such, the Jetliner never went into production. This is a pity, as the aircraft was essentially ready to go, along with an extended version. It would have been very useful as a fast transport during the Korean War, as well as the obvious civilian airliner. In a very interesting "co-incidence", the Jetliner was cut up in the middle of the night in the mid-1950's. The next day Boeing introduced the 707, touting it as the "only flying Jetliner in the world" (the De Havilland Comet was grounded at the time). I would love to see you do a feature on this forgotten aircraft! It could have been a major player in the industry, but was lost to poor decision-making.

I am definitely more of a car guy , but I truly enjoy watching your videos !

Recently took an A220-300 to Paris and back, couldn't resist the temptation to tap the skin of the plane with my finger, just to see what an aluminium-lithium alloy felt like! Beautiful sleek plane only 9 months old according to the registry, has reawakened my inner aviation geek.

I think the choice between A220 and A320 is also determined by the delivery time. For an airline, the delay between the purchase and delivery of an A320 is now several years... It's faster for an A220. And for A321 XLR, i even can't imagine how long you have to wait.

I flew on one for the first time recently. Very nice airplane. I loved the large windows! I’m sure it’ll be a great success.

Before COVID, I flew to a summer vacation in Cyprus. I had to pick badly timed flights over direct daytime ones because that way I could fly on Dash 8 and A220, instead of a boring 737NG the direct flights were flown with. Needless to say, next time I'll pick direct daytime flights instead of arriving at 3AM and departing around midnight, but both Dash 8 and A220 were really interesting to experience! The A220 is just incredibly quiet, and Dash 8 accelerates from standstill like a rocket and takes off in a ridiculously short distance.

Very interesting in-depth thoughts! Thanks!

Super interesting content. And we’ll explained. Thank you for this!

As a Canadian I was so pissed to hear bombardier give up and sell the design to airbus, they could've made billions if it hadn't been for sanctions on planes from Canada

this Canadian designed and built C Series airliner is the best out there.....love flying aboard the CSeries Bombardier airliner

As a ramp worker with 20 years of working experience at an international airport i have plenty of experience with both aircraft. They are both really good to work on even if the A220 has a few odd elements to it but nothing too big. But one big drawback of the A220 vs the A320 is cargo hold space, especially the roof hight of the hold. It can already be an issue to get bulky items into a A320 hold, say like an Electrict wheelchair. It would be impossible to fit that same type of item into the hold of a A220. So i do feel there is room for both types. Secondly ULD versions would not be possible on the A220.

I flew AirBaltic A220 into Stockholm a couple of weeks ago. Good leg room, Nice flight. Loved the little flight indicator screens over head.

Regardless of what the A220 is costing to produce now...they are still miles ahead considering that they didn't spend a penny of the billions of dollars it cost to develop the aircraft. I agree that the A220 will eventually replace everything smaller than the A321, even if it doesn't happen soon. There is at least 5 years of A320 production in the backlog and even then, the A321 is becoming their most popular legacy single aisle aircraft so factory space will not go to waste. The A220-500 will be the final nail in the coffin for the A320, but its advantages over anything Boeing has, makes the transition very worthwhile.

Petter/Mentour, Thank you for this analysis and your expertise. Paul (in MA USA)

These market analysis videos are excellent

I've been in the a220 once. I didn't bang my head on the overhead panel, which was nice, and the overhead storage bins actually have space. And I don't need to bend over to get into the lavatory.

"Hurting sales of A320 neo". Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't there over 6000 A320s on back order? Even if there is not a single new order coming in, I think it will take 7-8 years for Airbus to work off the current order book.

Flew on this recently and it was really good: 1. Real USB-C PD chargers (not the fake ones that just dump 5V3A) up to 60W that you can charge laptops and phones with, on every seat, even in ultra economy. 2. Super clever overhead luggage bin design, the entire bin rotates down to open, so that when they are closed by rotating up, they leave a lot more room in the cabin to help it feel less claustrophobic (unfortunately it appears these might be going away in favor of 'moar space') 3. Less grating engine noise even when sitting right next to them - not quieter, but more like white noise which is good 4. Fancy gamer lights

This was an excellent presentation and I especially appreciated the difficult decisions facing Airbus Management in the coming years. It would be interesting to know the range/payload of an A220-500 variant.

Boeing's games around Bombardier were a sign that it was in deeper trouble than anyone understood at the time

Very good info.

Thank you for your in-depth explanation. It’s professionally written and very informative. You spent a lot of time on this, I deeply appreciate it. Please why the Bombardier CRJ Embraer ERJ family aren't sold anymore?

Very interesting discussion!!

I flew in a A220 with Delta between Boston and Seattle last year and loved it. Great little plane. 👍

I guess you should make a video now explaining the manufacturing business model and efficiencies of Embraer building their airliners 190E2 and 195E2.

I think that is acceptable for Airbus as there is a long list of waiting passengers for the A321 and with the A220 replace the A320 neos, Airbus can focus on what they're aiming at improve A321 XLR and control the market of short-range-narrow bodies

flew a Swiss air A220 a couple years ago and it was BY FAR the best short haul experience I've ever had.

Flew on the CRJ900 lastnight for the first time. Quite enjoyable and gave me a little more feel of a private jet. Very fascinating

I doubt it now that the A320-NEO's are out. But i will say that statistically the A220-300 the largest variant is VERY comparable to the A320 or a 737. In my opinion the A220 is a MUCH quieter more fuel efficient jet by far. I've flown on both MANY times and my first time on an A220 i couldn't believe how quiet it was on take off. I much prefer it over the A320. Airbus can thank Bombardier for making such a great jet.

After not going on a plane since 2015, I’ve been on 3 trips from April last year till may this year. Two to mainland Europe and one to turkey and every single plane was either an A320 or A321

Top quality content/info/analysis

Airbus harming the A320 with the A220 is akin to Apple choosing to be the one to kill their iPod line with the iPhone : better to be the one pivoting the market from mp3 player to smartphone than the one with a dying iPod line and no replacement. A lot of companies would have choose the safe bet and sticking with the iPod

Personally, would love the A220-500 AND an A322 - extra long stretch of the 321. Perhaps even a 321 & 322 both with a new wing. This would create a complete family of narrowbodies from 100-275 (all economy) pax.

Well.. to be fair. A220 killed of the A318, and the A319 is pretty much on life suport. The A320 is quite a bit bigger than A220-300 and not really a direct competitor. It would be very diffrent wirh a A220-500. Maybe there is some way airbus can soft the A220 to be more simular the A320, curting down the traning a bit.

Purely for a 2+3 layout. 2 seats are SO much better than 3. One of the main reasons why Embraer E-Jets are hands down my favourites to fly on. My second favourite is E145 for the single seat!

Like @livethefuture I have a life long love of flying (1st flight from Dum Dum airport to Nepal in a DC3 at 4yrs old!). Modern aircraft are a joy to fly in (unless your flying as a sardine in a UK budget carrier 😏). The days of turbulent, vomit comets like the 707 are a vague memory. The Airbus family are particularly enjoyable without exception. Thank you for this interesting post. Looking firward to a 1st flight in the new addition soon. 👌

231k subs here on your mentor now channel, you are obviously doing it right! Cheers

Airbus CEO bought Bombardier on instinct (gut feeling he said) - now we get to see the result and also how dumb boeing was to contest the canadians expanding their operations into the USA initially (with the A220 factory).

very well done

When I looked in the a220 displays I was shocked because it was better Than the a320

I still can't believe the A380 basically got throw away after less than 10 years ... I flew on one of the first routes available early in winter 2010. I know it is ignorance, but sometimes I wish they would just settle on what planes we need 😭 ... somebody has to pay for all those underused A380 and I think it will be us passengers ultimately.

As a Canadian, it was a sad day for me when Bombardier was unable to complete the C series and find an interested market for it. Canadian tax payer money went into it, but the financial scale to finally have it become a success was illusive and Airbus really prevented it from becoming just another failed air plane. Then because of Airbus and its marketing and status it is now flying in so many companies fleets.

Very good video. I always wondered why the vertical and horizontal view in the cockpit is not larger. It seems the instrumentation area takes up a lot the viewing area for the pilots. i thought this might change with the newer aircraft.

You have to take into consideration that the Bombardier deal had a number or restrictions that meant a percentage of the A220 still have be built in Mirabel and changing the working practices of another company takes time. This was demanded by the state of Montreal to allow certain subsidies and the initial ownership transfer to Airbus. The A220 FAL in Mobile is relatively new and and also remember that Mobile A220 FAL was built just before COVID struck and so its ramp-up has been delayed somewhat. This is not unusual as the A320 FAL in China took several years to ramp up. Airbus knew that it would have to renegotiate supply lines and this would have been factored in, knowing that the break-even curve is still much cheaper and less risky than developing a new aircraft. Even if Airbus develops a new aircraft, it would still need new suppliers, so the problem is always there. What Airbus did was to bite the bullet early by effectively finding a cheap replacement for its single aisle while knowing that the A321 is so flexible that can become the mid sized option with impressive range. Without being critical of Boeing, they are extracting every last ounce of juice from the 737 but the market is realistic and that Boeing is in trouble and close to flogging a dead horse. Boeing is bleeding money at the moment and eventually they will have to find an alternative as the next generation aircraft are not even on the drawing board.

I think Airbus could potentially set up the A320 family in such a way that it complements well with the A220. Airbus is working on a new composite wing for the A320 and some people have suggested this new wing also opens the door for a further strech - an A322. There is an increasing demand for narrow bodies that can fly really long routs - hence we already have the A321XLR. So in the mid/longterm future Airbus could potenitally create a new generation of A321 and A322 that is mostly optimized for long haul flying while the A220 family is suitable short to medium haul operations. But I also agree with your assessment that at this point in time Airbus probably doesn't want to push Boeing to start a new development.

As mentioned in the video,the problem with the A220 is that as great as it is, it is not a proper Airbus with the consequent lack of commonality and pilot training. The narrower fuselage of the A220, simply cannot be lengthened to replace the A321, which will continue as the most popular A320 series model for some time to come. As a variant of a very popular range, even a few hundred A320s will be profitable. Then, we have the possibility of a new wing for the A320 series. As yet, we do not know how close this will take the economies of the A320 series to those of the A220. On the other hand, of the A220 is an A320 killer, presumably it will have a similar effect on the 737.

Thanks so much

It says a great deal about the quality of the Canadian design that Airbus invested in it in spite of the challenges.

I feel like that’s where the xlr comes in…to differentiate with the a200 family And in term the a320 family will all be xlr or lr

Great review. ❤ It’s “They don’t need to be replaced urgently”. Not doesn’t 😊

The A320 is a tried and true airframe, and is not likely gonna be phased out anytime soon, she's still got the massive capacity, and larger more modern engines will fit under her wings, the airframe has a lot of room for future development, no cost of designing something brand new, Design, Improve, Iterate and Refine. A320 is most definitely in the Iteration phase still

The A220 is hands down the most comfortable narrow body currently flying. Love the 3-2 configuration I'd be happy to never step foot on a 737 or 320 again.

Thank you 😊

Flew on an Air France A220 after years of A320 - loved the flight on that nifty plane !

This is really a happy problem for Airbus. They were well aware of the initial growing pains involved in acquiring the 220 beforehand. It really represents more of a problem for Boeing as airlines like having two airplane types of the same category in case one fleet gets grounded like it happened with the Max. Now they can opt for two fleets from the same manufacturer. The A220 has already practically killed the A319. And I can foresee Airbus replacing an A320 line with an efficient A220 line as market dictates. Or, at least reorganizing and growing the Mirabel line to be more productive. Also, certifying a second engine type for the A220 is not such a big deal and a normal expense for every airliner.

Does the A220's (or MD-80's) 2-3 seat arrangement somehow affect its centre of gravity around the roll axis?

I really hoped good technical designs get properly rewarded. It is heartening that it is. Putting extra features on the 220 500 with engine options, enhanced commonality, rwnegotiated suppliers, ...

I love the A220 as a passenger. I pray P&W can fix the problems and improve repair speed. A look at the potential Spirit/Jetblue combined fleet might be interesting.

"As I said" NOT "like I said" Great ep

I'll fly 777, A350 and A220 first time in a few weeks. Really looking forward to that experience.

May have to start by sorting out the endless problems with the PW1500G engines. Also the Airbus 320 NEO sells really well and of course they are two different aircraft and sizes.

Wonderful dissection of fiscal and corporate reality

If the A220 hurts 737 demand more than it does A320 demand, it's a win of Airbus. Better to cannibalize your own products than to have another company do it for (to) you.

Interesting topic, however the a320neo is here to stay for a long time, no going to be replaced soon by a220 as you rightly said the differences in cockpit and avionics compared to a320 are bigger than on any other airbus type and this is particularly troublesome for airlines heavily invested in a320 like easyjet and they will never swap to a220 anytime soon, I think for now most of the airlines have seen the a220 as an aircraft to replace their older embrarer regional jests, anyway as said biggest problem is type rating and training for pilots, the a320 fullf light sim is much cheaper more available and if a pilot has a320 type rating he just needs a refreshment and can fly the neo too, a220 is different in terms of cost operating

Latest rumor, instead of a 500 series, Airbus would go for a larger variant and call it the 221 with another engine option. The 220 is still a fairly new airplane with some minor bugs to work out, but from a pilot standpoint, it is a lot of fun to fly..