By Brent Jang | October 15, 2013 Estimated reading time 7 minutes, seconds.
Adding new long-haul international aircraft to Air Canada’s fleet is a dream that is getting ever closer to reality.
Air Canada is slated to start taking delivery of new Boeing 787 Dreamliners next March, nearly nine years after the airline placed its initial order.
Back in April 2005, the country’s largest carrier placed an order for 14 of the wide-body planes. It subsequently added 23 more to the order, for a total of 37.
“We have six coming next year (2014),” Air Canada chief financial officer Michael Rousseau told analysts during a CIBC institution investor conference.
Another six Dreamliners are due to arrive in 2015, then “seven or eight” in each of 2016, 2017 and 2018, Rousseau said. The final 787s are to be delivered in 2019.
Rousseau said operating the 787s will result in cost savings for Air Canada, because the Dreamliners are estimated to have a cost structure that is 29 per cent lower than the Boeing 767s currently being used by the airline.
The Boeing 787s will work well on routes that are “thinner” from a passenger demand perspective, said Robert Kokonis, president of airline consulting firm AirTrav Inc. “The aircraft will enable airlines to open up routes that previously would have been subpar, uneconomic performers had they been operated with larger, older aircraft,” he said.
Using a smaller, more fuel-efficient jet that travels long distances will mean that Air Canada will be able to look at new destinations and beef up service on existing routes. The Dreamliner offers consumers wider seats and aisles, as well as larger windows, than comparably-sized aircraft.
Toronto-Delhi, Vancouver-Delhi and Calgary-Beijing are examples of city pairs that could make sense for 787 service from Canada, Kokonis said.
“Air Canada has tried India multiple times before; via Pacific, via Atlantic, and once non-stop. None of the attempts have worked because the very long distance and generally lower-yield traffic profile did not work well,” he said.
Tapping into new overseas markets deemed too small for Boeing 777s will also be part of the strategy in deploying the 787s for non-stop service. Secondary markets are seen as possibilities, including Mumbai, Guangzhou and Johannesburg.
Air Canada is expected to focus initially on 787 flights departing from Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal. Eventually, service could be extended to Ottawa, Halifax, Calgary and Edmonton.
Development of the Dreamliner project has faced a series of production delays over the years. Earlier in 2013, there were problems with lithium-ion batteries overheating, which led to the grounding of 787s for more than three months by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration.
Boeing emphasized that it worked hard to solve battery and electrical system issues, and customers such as British Airways have indicated that the plane manufacturer responded to fix problems.
“We have every confidence in Boeing, and we work very closely with them to make sure concerns are addressed rapidly,” said John McDonald, North American vice president of marketing at British Airways. In September, British Airways began operating the 787 on its route between Toronto and London’s Heathrow Airport.
Roughly half of the Dreamliner’s main structure, notably the fuselage and wings, consists of lightweight composite materials. That allows the plane to burn less fuel.
Several major parts are made in Winnipeg, including doors for the main landing gear. Boeing’s Winnipeg operation belongs to a worldwide supply chain involving dozens of companies that ultimately feed into the 787 assembly plant at Everett, Wash., north of Seattle.
Air Canada’s Rousseau said the Montreal-based airline has high hopes for the Dreamliner, though he cautioned that he didn’t want to make specific route announcements yet due to competitive reasons.
The majority of Dreamliners on order are expected to replace Air Canada’s less-efficient Boeing 767s on many existing routes, analysts say. About 30 Boeing 767s are to be gradually transferred to Air Canada’s new discount Rouge operation in the coming years, including a dozen 767s to Rouge by the end of 2015.
Boeing flew the longer 787-9 on its maiden test flight in September in Washington state. The first flight for the 787-8 came in late 2009. The fuselage in the 787-9 is six metres longer than in the 787-8. The launch customer for the longer version will be Air Zealand in mid-2014. At the end of September, there were 388 worldwide orders for the longer version, or 40 per cent of total global orders for Dreamliners.
Air Canada is scheduled to receive 15 Boeing 787-8s and 22 787-9s. The Boeing 787-8s seat between 210 and 250 passengers, while the stretched 787-9s have room to carry 250 to 290 people.
Air Canada confirmed orders for 10 Boeing 787-8s and four 787-9s in 2005, and then placed subsequent orders in 2007 for another five Boeing 787-8s and 18 787-9s. The airline’s 787 models will have engines supplied by General Electric.
Boeing has developed guidelines that clear the way for a pilot with 777 experience to switch over to the 787 after five to 20 training days, plus passing an oral exam.
“This is because of the high level of commonality between the two airplane types,” said Boeing spokesman Jim Condelles. “From an operational standpoint, the flight decks are very similar. A 777 pilot could intuitively fly a 787 quite easily.”
Officials at the Air Canada Pilots Association point out that hourly pay rates are the highest for the Boeing 777, though the compensation grid can get complex with overseas pay and other factors. Some pilots who will gravitate to flying the 787 might do so for the experience of servicing certain international markets.
“Boeing provides initial pilot training for all 787 operators. Once past that initial block of training, airlines have a choice to continue training with Boeing or to train their crews on their own,” according to Boeing.
