The Airbus A220's Unique Fly-By-Wire System That Sets It Apart From Every Other Narrowbody

Airbus’ A220 stands out in commercial aviation because its fly-by-wire system blends philosophies rather than copying either Airbus or Boeing. The system was designed by Bombardier’s CSeries engineering team in Montreal before Airbus acquired the program in 2018. According to chief test pilot Chuck Ellis, it uses Airbus-style sidesticks and envelope protection, but pairs them with Boeing-like speed stability and a conventional manual trim requirement. That means pilots must trim for a desired speed, and retrim to change it. The article also recounts the program’s financial strain: Bombardier spent about $6 billion developing the CSeries and in 2017 gave Airbus a controlling stake after Boeing’s trade petition.