Originally Posted by Deathray

There are plenty of carriers that operate both the 777 family and the A350 family in volume (SQ, QR, AF, TG, CX to name a few - LH is the launch customer for the 777X and operates plenty of 350's). Fleet commonality doesn't seem to be the driving factor for a lot of airlines these days. After some of the fallout from the Boeing issues, it wouldn't surprise me if more large carriers actively look to diversify to both manufacturers. AC itself operates the 737 Max, A220 and just placed an order for the 321XLR (not to mention the legacy fleet).

All that being said, I'd be surprised by any orders for the A350 family soon. To necessitate that, AC will either need the desire to expand their high lift routes (ie 351 sized), to wait for their existing high capacity fleet to age out or to increase premium loads. From what I can recall of most of their MD&A, a lot of focus was on earnings per seat mile, efficiency and partnerships rather than growing high capacity lift. From what they have been doing, it looks like they find the 789/781 easier to operate and fill rather than trying to compete for more volume.

I suspect part of it is that AC already runs pretty dense configurations. Im not sure that any other carriers in *A run their 77W configured for so many passengers with such a small premium loadout (even the 40J is quite dense). I would much rather see AC move to a higher premium load model with fleet updates but I'm not holding my breath. I suspect premium yields are pretty good right now but Canadian businesses aren't known for taking very much risk.
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