THE A220: AN ACQUISITION BROUGHT ANOTHER DESIGN PHILOSOPHY
When Airbus presented the A220 name in July 2018, it openly acknowledged the programme's Quebec origin. The A220-100 and A220-300 were the former Bombardier CS100 and CS300. They joined the portfolio as a complementary product, not as shortened A320 variants. The change illustrates a different method of growing an aircraft family: Airbus could bring its scale and commercial reach to an aircraft developed elsewhere. [221, 10 July 2018 reveal; former CS100 and CS300; programme origins]
The majority partnership took effect on 1 July 2018. The operating partnership subsequently became Airbus Canada Limited Partnership on 1 June 2019. Corporate control, programme branding and the underlying aircraft design thus changed on different clocks. The A220's familiar Airbus paint scheme is no reason to transfer A320 cockpit procedures, type-specific systems or qualifications to it. [222, Majority interest since 1 July 2018; name effective 1 June 2019]
The A220-300 in Airbus colours. Its Canadian design origin distinguishes it from the A320 family. Photograph: Airbus / Sylvain Ramadier. [222]