Airbus A320 – A Retrospective
I first wrote about the A320 fleet three years ago in NetLetter #1324 and with current deliveries on its replacement, the Boeing 737 MAX 8, I thought that this would be a good time to have a look at the fleet’s place in Air Canada history.
The first A320 was delivered in January 1990 amidst both fanfare and controversy however, it now has become one of the longest serving fleets (28. 6 years) in company history after the DC-9 (36 years) and the B767-300 (30.2 years). There are still 42 aircraft from this fleet in service, so it most certainly will occupy second place by the time the fleet is fully replaced.
Planespotters.net lists 55 A320 aircraft delivered to Air Canada and C.A.I.L. with (as noted above) 42 still in service with the mainline carrier and of the 14 others, 8 have been scrapped (most notably Fin #214), 1 is stored (Fin #231 at Lourdes) and 5 are still active with other airlines.
Airbus introduced this innovative aircraft that featured ‘fly by wire’ technology with ‘joystick’ control that, in retrospect, challenged and changed the development of all passenger aircraft fleets that followed.
I cannot count the flights I have enjoyed on these aircraft; I hope to have a few more. Click the image for the story of the delivery of Fin #201 as published in the February 1990 issue of Horizons.