Let's say that, with some other changes, that there is a potential for 50 Boeing 717's to be placed in Air Canada in a "knock out" deal. If Airbus were to place A318's, the number would be maybe a split with A319 and CRJ's.

I would think that what AC would do right now is take 4 or even 6 340-600's, under my theory that UA will be severely curtailing some routes, and that between US Airways and Air Canada, more traffic will codeshare. It may seem odd, but they still give quite a bit of cargo capacity.

I don't see any need for new product in the middle, and the 345's are already on the way, so I can't picture taking any smaller planes from anyone outside of the under 120 passenger range.

The 747's really stink right now. I don't know how many Singapore still have, but they have been looking to sell or lease their machines for a while. I don't see any serious opportunity to wet-lease on the horizon either, but you never know what corner of the world will see a sudden need for them.

No offence, but I suspect that Saskatchewan may be vulnerable to receive the no service model from AC. People west of SK will not want to stop there for AC's sake. Westjet operates N/S from YVR/YYC/YEG to YYZ and also has nonstops from AB to YHM. Yes there are flights that stop as well but AC will have a hard time getting business types to accept such a routing into ON and thus I suspect it won't happen. As far as the Jazz flights into SK these have been and will likely continue to endure severe cuts.

I'm not sold on the 717 option. It brings with it most of the cost issues of the 318, without any of the benefits.

And what of the 767's? I am guessing that Phase II will see all the CP birds on a one-way trip to NM. (To resolve those conflicting power plant issues). But the older -200's are getting on in years. In theory the 321's could pick up the domestic slack, and the 330's the international, but these aircraft actually bracket the 767, rather than replace it. (Hmm...)

Cash is king - it all comes down to whether or not Boeing is willing to bleed to make the deal happen. By using a one-class plane, you have a 115-117 passenger aircraft that can play in the CRJ league, as long as new working rules are in place and the pilots agree to treat it as a regional jet class product, drawing a line at say, 120 passengers.

If there is C class revenue to be made, it is still a 100 seater with a half-dozen business seats - perfect for Ottawa and other routes.

The "beloved" 767's have to stay. There is simply nowhere for them to go, and I don't see Airbus willing to buy its way in to replace them while it is exposed on the 340 orders right now.

Posted by PointWeasel: IMO when Air Canada states fleet rationalization it is about the mainline. AC will get rid of the 737's on mainline routes and probabaly transfer them all to Zip. Being a seperate entity Zip has/will have a one aircraft type fleet which in the case of Low Fare airlines is the way to go. With the supposed different cost structure at Zip, operating 737's here should be a lot cheaper then operating them on mainline.

------------------
Rewards Canada Frequent Flier Resource
Rewards Canada

Old 737's are still old 737's, no matter where you put them. They are toast.

The B717 is still relatively cheaper to operate than the A318 on short haul routes. (Likely on routes less than 500miles?)

But one thing of interest on the B717s are many of them are still owned by Boeing and not the other prominent lessors who are leasing to the airlines. I may be reading too much into it. But I thought it was worth noting... The A318 has not entered service yet...

With regards to the B767s, I believe most of the B762s are already on their way to retirement in MHV.... I think some of the older B763ERs may also be going... The A321 will likely replace the B762s for domestic and transborder. I do believe the A330-300 is a bit too big compared to the B767-300. Even the A330-200 is bigger than B767-300. But the A330-200 has become the market leader in the aircraft of its class. It is basically chewing up the competition... Milton missed an opportunity when the 3 VG/Delsey planes were parked at YUL looking for new homes... Interestingly, the A332s are one for the aircraft which seem to be very difficult to acquire in the used aircraft market...

I do agree, the B732s need to go... They are all gas guzzlers...

I do agree that AC will likely need aircraft to replace the B747-400s. But will the A340-600 be required or could they look at smaller aircraft like More A340-500 or some used A340-300s. Boeing does have some A340-300s (from SQ) that they will like to place with airlines. So far Belgium Universal Airlines and Sri Lankan Airlines have show interest in those used a340-300s. There was a time, AC was interested in acquiring them, but they shied away for some reason...

Considering the aviation market, it will be a tough call to acquire more newer aircraft. But at the same time, leasing companies will not mind leasing aircraft like the a340-600s or the A340-500s to airlines...

Not to push this off topic but will the new AC planes have PTVs in the seatbacks in Y?

I do believe the new A345s will have PTV in Y class. And I believe the A346s arriving in summer 2004 will also have them...

I know but I mean for like the CRs and maybe the A318s. Maybe they could integrate them into all of their mainline planes.

Yes, there will be PTVs in all seats on the A345s. It'll be 6.5 inch seatback screen in Y and 9.5 inch in J.

There's no need to waste money putting PTVs on those. It's not cheap to wire each plane with PTV. The mainscreen will be good enough on those short flights.

Nothing in life is cheap. Many airlines have done this SQ,Virgin,CX,SK.