AC in talks to lease five AC 777LRs from AI
 

Let the guessing games begin. Where would they fly?

Guangzhou?
India?
Johannesburg?
Tel Aviv (763 Upgauge)?

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And will they have purple interiors?

Will they come with the current 8 AI first class seats which will of course be strictly reserved for AC employees and/or friendly politicians.

Kinda ironic, the two likeliest airlines to next declare bankruptcy... As noted, AI is getting its 787s next month, too bad AC can't get those ahead of its own trench in the Boeing queue.

If you read the link, they would be 777-200LRs. Would this be in lieu of, or in addition to, the 5 777s now on order from Boeing?

Not too bad - every second of 787 delay discounts them for AC. I bet the bean-counters appreciate the delayed payments, even if the route-expansion-team doesn't! :)

Can AC also wet lease SQ stewardesses?

probably a temporary replacement of 333 and 767, before the 788 arrives?

AI may be better off leasing the 787's to AC. That will improve their finances and the Indian Govt. will have to spend less in the subsidies.

If AC uses these to add routes (possibly they want these to retire 763s?), I would say Guangzhou is top of the list. I strong doubt AC will return to India given the economics of it. JNB is unlikely, since I think LH would object. A TLV upguage would make sense.

How about this as a new route: YYZ-LOS? YYZ-DXB?

Let's just hope they do not add capacity to Europe.

Don't think they could do DXB from a political standpoint. They've been spending much energy the last few years convincing the government that there is no demand for DXB in an effort to limit the amount of service UAE-based carriers have to YYZ (and other Canadian airports). This would completely undermine their own argument.

Somebody else picked up on the 3 77W option conversion at the end of Q1. Combined with the Q4-2011 conversions there are now 5 77W comming to AC.

Big question is whether these are for AC or will AC flip the airplanes for a quick profit. Boeing likely gave AC a geat deal on the 77W as 787 delay compensation.

There are a couple of options open to AC:
1) Use both the 77W and leased 772LR to replace the 333.
2) Use new aircraft for route expansion.
3) Use the new aircraft on existing AC mainline routes and quickly transfer 763s to leisure LCC to add new cities to the LCC.

Another question is whether the J-pod in the 763 is an exact replica of the J-pod in 77W? If so, then AC could transfer 763s to the LCC, pull out the pods and put them into 77W.

Guangzhou and India are unlikely until the 787 arrives. TLV upguage is somewhat likely however a couple more foptions are available. Upguage YYC-FRA is a strong possibility.

Here is the go long strategy. LH pulls out of Canada and hands the market over to AC. This would entail AC going onto YVR-FRA with 77W, YYC-FRA up to 77W, YYZ-FRA transfer of 1 frequency, YYZ-DUS with 763, YUL-MUC with 77L or 333. With AT++ in place there is no reason for both airlines to serve the market equally, further it appears that LH has discovered that Canada cannot sustain F class and AC J is better (more saleable) than LH C.

If these aircraft had been used for some time by AI , I would be very concerned about the maintenance. AI is hardly at the forefront of equipment upkeep and servicing. Perhaps I can be accused of hyperbole, but if there were ever to be an infestation of an aircraft by vermin I would expect it on AI (and PIA) equipment.