Air Canada Fleet: Extending the A330’s life as MAX 8 performance delivers

ALTHOUGH AIR CANADA'S widebody fleet revamp is complete, the airline has opted to extend the life of its A330 twin aisle jets and add four more of the type to its fleet in lieu of exercising options for 787s to replace its ageing 767 jets. The company has assessed that refurbishing its A330s for specific missions will generate better returns than placing an order for new aircraft.
Air Canada marked the beginning of its narrowbody fleet restructuring at the end of 2017, after first taking deliveries of its Boeing 737 MAX 8 jets. The number of new generation narrowbodies in its fleet will grow from two at YE2017 to 18 by YE2018. The airline has not had significant issues with the introduction of its MAX 8 narrowbodies, and states that the aircraft are delivering on their cost promises.
Similarly to many global airlines, Air Canada continues to work to enlarge its numbers of unencumbered aircraft, with a target of 89 by YE2018, compared to 56 for the year prior.