Air Canada partially reverses A220 order cancellation

Air Canada (AC, Montréal Trudeau) has announced it has reversed its 2020 decision to cancel an order for two A220-300s and agreed with Boeing to accelerate deliveries of four B737-8s as it gears up for post-COVID recovery.

“We elected to proceed with the purchase of an additional two A220-300 aircraft with expected delivery in 2024. These two are part of the twelve aircraft that we have previously determined would not be purchased. This brings our A220 firm orders to 35 with three A220 aircraft scheduled for delivery in the fourth quarter [of 2021],” Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Amos Kazzaz said during the carrier’s quarterly earnings call.

Air Canada initially ordered forty-five A220-300s with a further thirty options in 2016. As the COVID-19 pandemic struck, the airline cancelled twelve firm orders (it also never firmed the options) to reduce the order to 33. Following the recent partial reversal of this decision, Air Canada’s order book for the Canadian-made jet has increased to 35 aircraft. Thus far, twenty-four A220-300s have been delivered to the airline, the ch-aviation fleets advanced module shows. It plans to take a further three A220s in 2021, six in 2022, and the remaining two in 2024.

In terms of Air Canada’s B737 MAX plans, the airline said that it would accelerate the delivery of four B737 MAX 8s into the fourth quarter of 2021, for a total of seven deliveries in 2021.

“The remaining nine MAX 8 aircraft are now expected to be delivered by the end of the second quarter of 2022, reaching a total of forty B737 MAX 8 in the narrowbody fleet,” Kazzaz said.

Thus far, Air Canada has taken twenty-six B737 MAX 8s.

“With these two aircraft types as the cornerstone of our narrowbody fleet along with our wide bodies, we will have a very cost-efficient fleet, but also one that meaningfully contributes to our Climate Action Plan ambitions. Illustrating the growing confidence we have in the recovery, the planned aircraft deliveries scheduled in the fourth quarter will be purchased with available cash,” Kazzaz underlined.

Air Canada posted a net loss of CAD640 million Canadian dollars (USD514 million) in the third quarter of 2021, broadly in line with its loss for the third quarter of 2020.