Air Canada has put its first A220 into revenue service and those flying domestically between its Montreal and Toronto hubs and other major Canadian cities will be among the first to try the new plane. The aircraft made its first passenger flight on Jan. 16 from Montreal to Calgary. The first few aircraft will bounce around Canada for a few months to get crews up to speed on the new platform. On May 4, it will become the dedicated equipment for new routes from Montreal to Seattle and Toronto to San Jose, offering the only direct flights between those cities. In unveiling the new aircraft to media last week, Air Canada took credit for helping ensure the aircraft’s future in the single-aisle airliner business by ordering 45 of the jets when other North American Airlines were waiting to see if it would succeed.
“Our order came at a crucial juncture in the aircraft’s history,” Air Canada chief executive officer Calin Rovinescu said. “As the first North American carrier to place a firm order, we helped to put the program on solid footing, encouraging other global carriers to have confidence in placing orders that the aircraft model would survive.” Bombardier CEO Alain Bellemare agreed the Air Canada order was a major boost saying it came at a crucial time. “This allowed us to re-energize the CSeries.