Air Canada New Aircraft Are Delayed

Air Canada has become the latest airline to be forced to confirm delays in acquiring its next-generation aircraft.

The Canadian flag carrier is renewing its fleet, focusing on growth as a core strategy, and making other strategic shifts.

As a result, Air Canada expects to deliver multiple new aircraft types to elevate its single-aisle and widebody fleet.

Notably, the airline is excited about the prospects of taking on the Boeing 787-10 and the next-generation Airbus A321XLR. Each of these jets pushes the boundaries in its respective family and is part of Air Canada’s plan moving forward.

Unfortunately, upon publishing its first quarter results, the delayed entry into service of the above-mentioned next-generation aircraft was also confirmed.

Under revised forecasting, the first delivery of the Airbus A321XLR, confirmed during a quarterly earnings call, will come months later than expected. It will now enter scheduled passenger operations in 2026.

Furthermore, the addition of the 787-10 will be delayed to 2026, as the airline attempts to find ways to mitigate delivery delays stemming from Boeing’s woes internally.

The A321XLR and 787-10 are integral to the airline’s future. Orders for 18 Dreamliners and 30 XLRS are placed, with options for both possible should the company wish to activate them at a later date.

Moreover, especially for the A321XLR, its importance cannot be understated, considering the decision to shift all 737 MAX jets flying with the mainline carrier to the Air Canada Rouge division in the coming years, which will transform the single-aisle fleet across the Group.

This decision puts greater emphasis on the requirement for the A321XLR to fill the role of the MAX while also a greater reliance on the popular regional single-aisle type in the Airbus A220 with the flag-carier has championed usage of for some time.

Air Canada Not Alone In Struggles

Unfortunately, Air Canada isn’t alone in battling to acquire new-gen types from Airbus and Boeing as delays continue to balloon.

While some airlines have been fortunate enough to see delays begin to end and the deliveries of their planes facilitated, not all have had the same fate.

Air Canada joins a list of airlines feeling the pressures of what was meant to be week-long delays turning into month-long delays and, for some, over a year of waiting for new planes to join the fleet.

During this prolonged period of waiting, the airlines’ growth targets, which were likely outlined at the purchase of the plane, have not been possible to follow through on.

In some cases, this has also caused a greater reliance on older-generation aircraft, which have substantially higher associated operating and maintenance costs.

Whereas for someone like Air Canada, the inability to acquire new-gen planes stunts its possible growth plans in markets it has wanted to launch but may not have had the capacity to make this a reality.

Either way, the flag carrier must exercise a degree of patience. These planes will still be hugely important to the future of the operations, but the process of taking on the jets has become more trying than first imagined.