Air Canada to accelerate fleet retirement

Photo by Brandon Ravelo | AeroNewsX

Air Canada has announced plans to accelerate the withdrawal of 79 aircraft from its fleet. CEO Calin Rovinescu expects it to take “at least three years to recover to 2019 levels of revenue and capacity”. The aircraft leaving the fleet are Boeing 767s, Airbus A319s, and Embraer E190s. Air Canada said that the move would simplify the airline’s overall fleet, reduce its cost structure, and lower its carbon footprint. The news came as the airline’s announced a net loss of C$1.05 billion for the first quarter, compared to a profit of C$345 million for the same period last year. Rovinescu said that Air Canada had previously recorded 27 consecutive quarters of year-on-year operating revenue growth. “Our solid January and February results gave us every encouragement that this performance would continue until the sudden and catastrophic impact of Covid-19’s onset in Europe and North America in early March”. The airline’s capacity for the second quarter of 2020 has been reduced by 85% to 90%, and third-quarter capacity is expected to be down by around 75%. Rovinescu then informed that “while the duration of the pandemic and its fallout remain unknown, it is our current expectation that it will take at least three years to recover to 2019 levels of revenue and capacity”. “We expect that both the overall industry and our airline will be considerably smaller for some time, which will, unfortunately, result in significant reductions in both fleet and employee levels. While it is not possible to predict the course of the pandemic globally or indeed the changes that will be required of the airline industry, our determination is to ensure that our company is positioned to emerge in the post-Covid-19 world as strong as possible and capitalize on the opportunities that will inevitably arise.” Rovinescu said. Air Canada also announced that passengers might receive an infrared temperature check ahead of boarding, and the airline would block the sale of adjacent economy seats until June 30. This is to prevent the spread of coronavirus.