By Kenneth I. Swartz | February 26, 2015 Estimated reading time 2 minutes, 30 seconds.
When Air Canada announced a firm order for 61 new Boeing 737 MAX single-aisle jets in December 2013, many believed the Airbus era at the national carrier had peaked.
In fact, the opposite is true, with Air Canada scheduled to add five additional Airbus aircraft (three A320s and two A321s) this year. The aircraft will provide interim lift until the 737 MAX jets are ready.
When Air Canada first announced its 737 MAX deal, it revealed that “the agreement with Boeing provides for Boeing to purchase up to 20 of the 45 owned 97-seat Embraer E190 aircraft currently in Air Canada’s fleet.”
A total of 13 Air Canada E190s will be retired in 2015 and seven in 2016, according to the latest fleet plan published in Air Canada’s 2014 year end report.
To fill the gap, the first two leased 146-seat A320-214s arrived in Canada recently, on lease from Macquarie Aviation Capital of Ireland. They last flew with Thomas Cook Airlines of Belgium.
In 2015, Air Canada will also add two 251-seat Boeing 787-8 and three 298-seat 787-9 wide bodies and withdraw four Boeing 767-300ERs from the mainline fleet.
During the year, the Air Canada fleet will shrink from 172 to 165 aircraft. The Air Canada rouge fleet will grow from 28 to 36 aircraft, with the addition of two leased Airbus A321s and six Boeing 767-300ERs transferred from Air Canada.
The outlook for the next three years sees the combined Air Canada and Air Canada rouge fleet expanding from 200 aircraft in 2014 to 225 by the end of 2017, even with the E190 retirements.
The growth will come with the delivery of six leased Airbus A320s and A321s, and 28 new Boeings to Air Canada, including the first two Boeing 737 MAX aircraft in 2017. Twenty-six wide-body jets (two Boeing 767-300ERs, two 787-8s and 22 787-9s) will also be added.
During the same period, Air Canada rouge will add 17 former Air Canada 767-300s and introduce five leased Airbus A321s.
