Hundreds of Air Canada employees have been working for years behind the scenes, planning meticulously for every detail and possibility ahead of the arrival of the newest member of our fleet, the Airbus A220-300.

After the order in 2016 for 45 A220-300s (with options on 30 more), the small army quickly went to work examining every aspect of our operations to ensure a seamless integration when our first aircraft arrives later this year.

“Introducing a new aircraft into the Air Canada fleet takes a tremendous amount of teamwork. Within flight operations, we’ve got multiple groups training within the fleet.,” said Rob Latter, the Chief Pilot for the A220. “We also are closely coordinating with other departments within Air Canada, such as maintenance, in-flight, cargo and ground operations, ensuring that everybody is on the same page throughout the introduction.”

The network planning team has also been eagerly awaiting the A220, which will open new markets for Air Canada and allow us to strengthen our current North American Network, including new routes like Montreal-Seattle and Toronto-San Jose, California.

“For many reasons, we believe this aircraft has the capability to be a game-changer for our airline. The A220 has the similar economics as a larger airplane, but with a smaller capacity better suited to many markets,” said Mark Galardo, Vice Present of Network Planning at Air Canada. “The A220 will allow us to grow our leadership in the North American market, consider new routes and expand frequencies on existing routes. There is simply no aircraft of this size that rivals the A220.”

Latter believes all the hard work in integrating the A220 into the fleet will pay off, both for our passengers and our dedicated employees.

“This aircraft is going to be an excellent aircraft for Air Canada. I think the passengers and the crew working on the aircraft, the flight crew and the in-flight crew, are going to enjoy its spaciousness. The cutting edge technology of the aircraft,” Latter said.

“And the fact that it is a Canadian aircraft means a lot to anyone working at Air Canada.”