Good morning from a frigid Calgary International Airport!
My name is Alex, and welcome to this special trip report!
Today is the very first day of revenue flights for Air Canada’s brand new Airbus A220,
and I’ll be flying on board the inaugural flight out of Calgary, over to Montreal!
Air Canada ordered 45 of the A220-300 variant in 2016 with options for an additional 30 aircraft.
Back then, the program was still known as the Bombardier CSeries, before its much-discussed
sale to Airbus in 2018.
Air Canada was, however, the first North American airline to place orders for the aircraft,
so it’s understandably a pretty big day for them today.
They’re the second airline to operate the A220 in North America, after Delta, but the
first one on the continent to fly the larger A220-300 variant.
Like any Canadian aviation enthusiast, I’ve followed the program closely over the years,
and was fortunate enough to see the smaller CS100 a couple times in Calgary during testing.
Needless to say, I’m pretty excited to fly on this brand new aircraft!
I arrived at the airport pretty early today, and the inbound flight just took off from Montreal.
I wasn’t able to make the very first flight work, but this is still the first A220 flight
from any operator out of Calgary, and in my opinion, that’s still pretty special.
We’ll be departing from Gate C50 today, where Calgary Airport had set up an event
for today’s flight.
The inbound flight was delayed due to weather in Montreal, so our departure time has been
pushed back by about an hour.
Finally, here’s the aircraft arriving from Montreal on its very first revenue flight,
our brand new Airbus A220-300, registered as C-GROV.
This is the one and only A220 Air Canada has at the moment, but they’re expected to take
delivery of all 45 aircraft by the end of 2022.
Since taking delivery of this aircraft in late December last year, Air Canada has been
busy flying it all over the country on pilot training and familiarization flights.
Along with Calgary to Montreal, they’ll also be flying the aircraft commercially between
Montreal and Toronto initially, before expanding to other destinations.
Back at the gate, things got pretty busy.
There was a ribbon cutting with the crew, and one of the pilots answered a few questions
about the aircraft.
Although I tried, there wasn’t any time given during this turnaround to get some cabin
shots beforehand, so we’ll be boarding as usual in Zone 4.
So, let’s go see what the brand new Air Canada A220 is like!
My seat for this historic flight to Montreal is 21A.
21A is designated by Air Canada as a “preferred” seat, so the legroom here is excellent for
someone who’s 6’8” like myself!
At every seat, Air Canada has a large seatback pocket, as well as a lengthy literature packet.
Each seat has a reading light, as well as a proper air vent!
The headrests are adjustable as well, and of course, there’s the A220’s massive
windows, with my phone for scale.
Each seat also has an adjustable in-flight entertainment screen, which has two headphone
jacks, as well as two USB ports, one of which is type-C!
Power outlets are also provided between the seats.
The tray table is very sturdy and it’s at a good height, although it seems a bit small.
One thing that Bombardier/Airbus have made no secret of is that the A220 has some of,
if not the widest seats in economy of any new aircraft today!
As you sit down, it is instantly noticeable, and makes a huge difference comfort-wise.
During boarding, we also received these commemorative "cord tacos", courtesy of Calgary Airport!
One peculiar thing I noticed was this bit of discolouration on both sides of the seat in front.
It could have something to do with the way the seats were transported or installed, but
I felt it was worth mentioning.
Row 21 is over the wing, so the view isn’t the best, but thanks to those huge windows,
you get quite the panoramic field of vision.
Interestingly, the crew on this flight did the safety demonstration in person.
My guess is they didn’t have the graphics ready for the A220’s safety video yet, but
with that, here’s our departure from Calgary, taxiing, deicing, and taking off from runway 17L.
Now that we’re airborne, let’s take a look at the seatback pocket contents.
On this Airbus A220, Air Canada has a crisp new safety card,
… Their buy-on-board menu,
… Their in-flight magazine,
… A few air sickness bags,
… Some donation envelopes for the Air Canada Foundation,
… And finally, an Aeroplan brochure.
The in-flight entertainment system is identical to the one used on Air Canada’s 737 MAX.
This system however, is leaps and bounds ahead of their older system on the A320 family.
It’s quick, responsive, and has a very good selection.
The moving map is also interactive and easy to use.
There’s honestly no comparison between the old system and this one, it’s like night and day!
When I booked this flight, I opted to pay extra for the Air Canada Bistro voucher, which
saves you a few dollars on on-board food purchases.
I went with a snack of cheese and crackers, as well as a personal favourite of mine, Air
Canada’s pepperoni pizza.
Plus, my usual can of Coke.
For a few days last month, it almost seemed like this flight wasn’t going to happen.
On Christmas Eve, and without any warning, Air Canada swapped the aircraft for an A320.
As such, the first A220 flights had appeared to be delayed by about 3 days or so, and this
caused a bit of panic amongst a few of us booked on the inaugural flights.
Long story short, I changed my flight only to have Air Canada switch the aircraft back
to the original date.
Thanks to the help of a very generous individual at Air Canada, I was still able to switch
it back for free.
Flying eastbound, the sun set pretty quickly after the meal service, leading to a few short
minutes of golden hour lighting.
There is in-flight wifi available for purchase, and I bought the “Browse Pass” for the
duration of the flight, although it was a bit slow.
The Air Canada Airbus A220 seats 137 passengers in a two class configuration.
Business Class at the front seats 12 passengers in 3 rows.
These 2x2 recliner seats are nearly identical to those used on Air Canada’s 737 MAX.
Compared to the MAX, they do have a slightly reduced seat pitch of 37 inches versus 38.
Meanwhile, Economy Class seats 125 passengers in the A220’s standard 2-3 configuration.
This allows for the widest seats in economy class of any Air Canada aircraft, at around
19” of width!
In comparison, Economy Class seats on the 787 are just 17.3” wide, and their
new 777 economy class has even less, at 17”.
However, there is one drawback to this.
All but four rows of the Economy Class cabin have a tight 30” of pitch.
Those of you who’ve watched my earlier videos know that I picked one of these “preferred
seats” for a very good reason!
These four rows are the bulkhead at row 12, the exit row at row 19, and rows 20 and 21.
Another drawback is that Air Canada decided not to go with the window lavatory that’s
been so popular on Delta’s own A220, as well as with a few other operators.
Instead, they’ve opted to put two lavatories right in the aft galley, so they could add
a few more seats.
I can’t imagine the cabin crew are terribly fond of this setup, it really doesn’t seem
like there’s much space for them at all.
The centre lavatory is a bit narrow at the entrance, but it’s actually not too bad
elsewhere.
Supposedly, this partition moves to create one large accessible lavatory for passengers
needing the extra space.
One other thing is that the aisle is surprisingly wide.
On more than one occasion, people were able to pass by one another without much trouble at all.
The mood lighting is a nice touch as well!
However you want to call it, Bombardier/Airbus did a very nice job when it comes to passenger comfort.
Stay tuned for my final thoughts on Air Canada’s Airbus A220 after our arrival onto Montreal-Trudeau’s
runway 06R.
Overall, I think Air Canada’s Airbus A220 might be one of the most pleasant narrowbody
aircraft in their entire fleet.
It really can’t be overstated how comfortable those super wide seats in Economy are.
I actually didn’t touch shoulders with my neighbour at all the entire flight, like I
would on a 737.
The airplane itself is ridiculously quiet as well, it really does feel like a mini Dreamliner
in that respect.
The seat pitch in standard Economy though, while a little on the small side, isn’t
unexpected, so if you’re above average height like me, I do highly recommend you book one
of the 20 “preferred” seats on this aircraft.
If not, standard seats won’t be too bad.
While the in-flight entertainment isn’t a new system to Air Canada, having introduced
it on the 737 MAX in 2017, I think it’ll be a great system for the next few years.
The crew on this flight were excellent as well, service wise it was very similar to
other Air Canada flights, but you could tell they were very excited to be there today.
So, despite some of the downsides, Air Canada’s Airbus A220-300 is still a remarkably comfortable
aircraft, and a much needed update for their narrowbody fleet.
With a few improvements, it could be even better, but as it stands, the A220 is still
a very nice experience.
I really enjoyed flying it, and it was a privilege to be a part of this history making flight today.
And of course, I had to take a look at the flight deck before I left!
Thank you very much for watching this special trip report with Air Canada!
As always, if you enjoyed the video, please leave a thumbs up, consider subscribing if
you’re new, and I’ll see you next time.