It’s the airplane of the future. It’s still grounded.

The durability problems affecting jet engines have hit this aircraft hard, forcing airlines to cancel flights and ground crews. RTX-owned Pratt & Whitney has said that many of its PW1500G turbofans, which were supposed to last 20,000 flight cycles, should be sent to the shop at 5,000. Some are being sent in before 600 cycles. According to August estimates by analytics firm IBA, 15% of global A220s are grounded and another 42% are of the age that suggest inspections have happened or are due.

The A220 should be the pride and joy of the aerospace industry. It is the only “clean-sheet" single-aisle plane built in recent years—the A320 and Boeing 737 designs go back to 1986 and 1966, respectively—and was a bold attempt by Canadian manufacturer Bombardier to break the commercial-jet duopoly.

When it entered service in 2016, it was called the CSeries and sported a lightweight airframe full of composite materials, large windows and a redesigned cockpit. It reduced fuel burn per seat by 25% and became beloved by pilots and passengers alike.

The smaller version of the jet, the A220-100, carries between 110 and 120 passengers, allowing mainline carriers such as Delta Air Lines and Swiss International Air Lines to replace old regional planes with a more premium experience.

The larger variant, the A220-300, is in a class of its own: Its roughly 170 seats make it ideal for flag carriers in small European countries, such as Latvia’s airBaltic, that previously relied on less-efficient, shortened variants of the A320 and the 737. Startups use it to open whole-new markets for thinner, budget point-to-point routes: Breeze Airways, created in 2018 by JetBlue Airways founder David Neeleman, flies it between underserved city pairs such as Providence-Denver and Charleston-Cincinnati.

However, its development was troubled from the start. On top of delays and cost overruns, Bombardier struggled to compete in sales with two incumbents that pulled out every trick in the book. Boeing, for example, launched a dumping petition in 2017. The Canadian company went bankrupt and, despite being bailed out by the government, had to transfer control of the CSeries for a bargain price.

Orders boomed in 2018, as Airbus rebranded the plane as the A220, and then in 2022 and 2023, as postpandemic travel bounced back.

Now, cancellations are outpacing orders. EgyptAir, which flies in a hot and dusty region harsh on aircraft, got rid of its 12 A220s earlier this year. Cyprus Airways, relaunched in 2017, made a big bet by doubling its fleet with two brand-new A220s, only to see both of them affected by engine troubles.

It still took delivery of an A220 last week, leased by Florida-based Azorra, which retains confidence in the model and was the buyer of EgyptAir’s jets. Nevertheless, the Cypriot airline has stepped away from a second delivery and terminated discussions on a speculative order.

Tasos Michael, Cyprus Airways’s executive chairman, said the jet shouldn’t be sold until the problems are solved or manufacturers offer more support. “This will slow the process of the aircraft becoming more mainstream," he said.

To be sure, engine woes are widespread. The A320neo and Embraer’s E-Jet E2—likely the main competitor to the A220—have had similar problems with their geared turbofans. GE Aerospace’s engines have had some durability issues, too. Those affected are being offered some solutions: Pratt & Whitney has given a stash of surplus engines to some carriers, such as Delta and Air France. Others, such as airBaltic, also receive constant on-the-ground support from engineers.

Nevertheless, scarcity of parts and lengthy repair-shop waiting lists mean that there is no quick fix. Some of the overhauls to the A220’s engines are particularly lengthy: A whole-new combustor design won’t be rolled out until 2027. And recent experience has taught airlines to distrust timelines.

The headache for Airbus is that it needs to reach and sustain a production rate of 14 A220s a month in order to break even on them, up from about six currently. The plane could theoretically play a key role in the future: A way to take even more market share from Boeing could be to build a larger A220 variant to go toe-to-toe with the 737 and replace the A320neo for something more optimized for the booming medium-haul market. But it is hard to devise a strategy around a jet that is experiencing engine problems and uncertain demand.

Eventually, the quality of the design may trump everything else. Still, the A220 epitomizes the predicament of a Western aerospace industry that has sometimes been overly reliant on refitting old technology. Even when companies get the product right, getting it to take off has been a struggle.