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JetBlue founder David Neeleman's new airline will fly the Airbus A220, the controversial plane Boeing tried to keep out of the US

Thomas Pallini   

JetBlue founder David Neeleman's new airline will fly the Airbus A220, the controversial plane Boeing tried to keep out of the US
Airbus A220

Regis Duvignau/Reuters

The first CSeries aircraft in its new Airbus colors.

  • The Bombardier CSeries was meant to be a game-changing aircraft. Produced by the Canadian aircraft manufacturer, it was its first foray in the 100-to-150-seat market.
  • Though initially successful with sales to major airlines, the program was turned upside following a trade dispute with Boeing.
  • The aircraft program was taken over by Airbus as a result, with the aircraft renamed the Airbus A220.
  • Twelve years after the aircraft was first announced, Bombardier is considering pulling out of the venture entirely.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

David Neeleman just unveiled the name and image of his new airline, Breeze Airlines, and the first rendition of the aircraft that will be powering the operation: the Airbus A220.

It's the first time that Neeleman - a long-time Airbus fan - will use the aircraft in any of his airlines, largely because it's still relatively new to the world's skies. In just under a year, the Airbus A220 went from being largely unknown in North America to operating passenger services for some of its largest airlines.

Delta Air Lines first started operating the aircraft in the US in February 2019, with Air Canada following suit in the aircraft's home country in January 2020. Already with a foothold in Europe with Air Baltic and Swiss International Air Lines, the aircraft would now become commonplace in the skies of North America.

Though its name suggests otherwise, the A220 wasn't another success story of Boeing or Airbus, but of Bombardier, a small company located just outside Montreal, Canada with the aim of taking on the duopoly that was dominating the market.

Bombardier had already dominated in the regional aircraft market, with its Canadair Regional Jet series aircraft flying for airlines all over the world, as well as strong representation in the private jet market with its Learjet, Challenger, Global Express aircraft. But the Canadian manufacturer decided to set its sights on a larger type of aircraft, one that can seat up to 150 passengers.

It would be larger than anything Bombardier had produced before and would make it the target of Airbus and Boeing, as it would later find out, but had the potential to be a game-changer and unlike anything else currently in the works.

This is the story of the aircraft formerly known as Bombardier CSeries.

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