[arcticbull]

> Playing devil's advocate for a bit, would the A220 have accumulated so many orders had it not been backed by Airbus?

Yes, totally. Delta alone had ordered 75 CS100's [1] and were deeply involved in the tariff dispute as a result. It's a unique plane -- in size class, in passenger comfort and in fuel economy. Airlines realized that and were buying it up like hotcakes. Neither Airbus nor Boeing had competitive aircraft, and neither really did Embraer. It's closer to the Sukhoi SuperJet and some of the Comacs, but reliable [2], and domestic.

The only reason Airbus got it was they offered up their Mobile, Alabama assembly plant as a way of skirting the tariffs that never materialized.

> The program was clearly in trouble when Airbus took over, which may have discouraged airlines from taking a chance on a great aircraft, but whose manufacturer ran the risk of running out of money to keep the program going.

The program wasn't itself in any trouble except for the later-ruled-illegal tariffs the US tried to impose at Boeing's request.

[1] https://news.delta.com/tags/bombardier-cs100

[2] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-02-18/mexico-s-...