Air Canada’s 2013 fleet plan includes adding 777s, transferring E-175s

Air Canada 777. Courtesy, AC

Air Canada (AC) announced a 2013 fleet plan that includes the addition of two Boeing 777-300ERs and the transfer of 15 Embraer E-175s to a regional carrier.
The 777-300ERs, which will be the 19th and 20th 777s to join AC’s fleet, will arrive in June and September, respectively, of next year. Boeing said earlier this year that AC had ordered three more 777s. According to AC, it currently operates 56 widebody aircraft.
“The arrival of these new Boeing 777s, along with the [first of AC’s 37] 787 Dreamliners in 2014, will allow us to introduce new routes at the mainline carrier and release aircraft from our existing fleet to our new low-cost leisure carrier,” president and CEO Calin Rovinescu said in a statement. AC confirmed last month it will launch a low-cost carrier (LCC) in 2013; the subsidiary carrier’s fleet will eventually have 20 767s now operating in AC’s mainline fleet (ATW Daily News, Sept. 19).
AC said it will need to hire more than 1,100 employees over the next 12 months: 900 for the mainline carrier and 200 flight attendants/pilots for the unnamed LCC.
Additionally, AC plans to transfer 15 E-175s to Sky Regional Airlines, which will operate the aircraft through a capacity purchase agreement under the Air Canada Express brand. “The aircraft will continue to be operated on short-haul regional routes, primarily from Toronto and Montreal to destinations in the northeast United States,” AC said. “The transfer of the 15 regional aircraft is expected to be made between February and June 2013.”
Sky Regional has operated Air Canada Express flights between Toronto City and Montreal Trudeau since May 2011.