Airbus announced that the airline, its largest A220 customer, had ordered another ten A220-300s. This deal is the airline’s fourth reorder.
The deal strongly signals AirBaltic’s ambitions and that the airline is looking beyond the current GTF hiccups. When its final delivery is complete from this order, airBaltic should have 90 A220s in service.
Airbus also stated that at the end of July, Airbus had won more than 900 orders from around 30 customers for the A220, of which around 350 have been delivered. The A220 is already in successful service, with more than 20 operators worldwide on 1,400+ routes. Industry observers will notice the size of the backlog and the slow delivery rate to date.
The aircraft’s performance is impressive. It always was, even as the C Series and range improved once Airbus took over the program. The challenge back then was the supply chain – before the pandemic. The challenge remains the supply chain.
Airbus plans to drive delivery rates to 14/month, but it is far, very far from that number.
One key reason the C Series didn’t catch on the way it might have was concerns with Bombardier’s ability to deliver at rates typically expected from the duopoly. It turns out those concerns were accurate. Airbus has a second FAL for the A220 in Mobile, which clearly helps.  But it does not look like it’s enough to get delivery rates that meet what is required.
While the deal with airBaltic is to be celebrated as good news, it is important to have perspective on what the A220 program is doing. airBaltic’s loyalty is welcomed, but progress on accelerating deliveries is arguably more important. Airbus must do something to get higher rates.
While the program has a big backlog, it does not have a monopoly. Its competitor’s key advantage now is faster deliveries, and you can be certain that point is being made in every campaign where they compete.
