It is rare for CEOs of competing airlines to be passengers on the same flight. But, that’s exactly what happened June 3, 2016, on SWISS Airlines’ flight BBA505, from Dublin to Zurich. The reason? All of these individuals wanted to be part of the last test flight of the CS100, Bombardier Aerospace’s new medium-range jetliner. On July 15, the 133-passenger plane made its first commercial flight, from Zurich to Paris.
The flight came 11 years after Bombardier began a feasibility study for a new narrow-body (five seats abreast), twin-engine jetliner—and eight years since the company announced that a major airline (Lufthansa) was interested in purchasing several (60) of the aircraft. Assembly of the CS100 began in 2012, and its first test flight took place on Sept. 16, 2013.