Air Canada has canceled orders for 12 Airbus A220-300s and 10 Boeing 737 MAX 8s to cut costs during the coronavirus crisis. It has also announced that it will defer other orders of Boeing 737 MAX 8 and Airbus A220-300 aircraft as well as accelerate the retirement process of 79 aircraft that it and its low-cost subsidiary Air Canada Rouge operate. This is due to the $785 million loss that it suffered in Q3 as well as an 86% drop in demand in comparison to 2019’s Q3.
At the beginning of this month, Air Canada said that it had concluded an amendment for the purchase of Airbus A220-300s which would result in the deferral of 18 deliveries planned for 2021 and 2022. The airline did likewise with 16 Boeing 737 MAX whose delivery date was between 2021 and 2023. The revised delivery date of these aircraft is unknown. In contrast to these informations, Air Canada will still take delivery of 4 A220-300s this quarter. It is also planning a 75% reduction in Q4 capacity after already having reduced capacity in Q2 and Q3 by 92 and 81.7%. Air Canada’s total order book for the A220-300 (it doesn’t operate and has no orders for the Airbus A220-100) is of 33 aircraft (originally 45), 11 of which have been delivered, 18 deferred and 4 to be delivered soon. 11th of november 2020.
Aeronews24 