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Grounding of 737 Max - Effect on AC incl OMNI 767 lease

Old Mar 12, 2019, 11:26 am
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Last edit by: yyznomad
Latest updates from aircanada.com
Originally Posted by https://www.aircanada.com/ca/en/aco/home/book/travel-news-and-updates/2019/737-airspace-closure.html
If you currently have a reservation for a flight between now and September 02, 2019 that was scheduled to be operated by a Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, we've implemented a policy that makes it possible for you to make voluntary changes to your itinerary within three (3) weeks of your original travel dates.
Read below for more details.

Air Canada Timetable Effective June 27, 2019 to September 29, 2019 (AC's link: https://services.aircanada.com/porta...metable-en.pdf)
Air Canada Timetable Effective June 20, 2019 to September 22, 2019
Air Canada Timetable Effective June 13, 2019 to September 15, 2019
Air Canada Timetable Effective June 6, 2019 to September 8, 2019
Air Canada Timetable Effective May 30, 2019 to September 1, 2019
Air Canada Timetable Effective May 23, 2019 to August 25, 2019
Air Canada Timetable Effective May 16, 2019 to August 18, 2019
Air Canada Timetable Effective May 9, 2019 to August 11, 2019
Air Canada Timetable Effective May 2, 2019 to August 4, 2019
Air Canada Timetable Effective April 25, 2019 to July 28, 2019
Air Canada Timetable Effective April 18, 2019 to July 21, 2019
Air Canada Timetable Effective April 11, 2019 to July 14, 2019
Air Canada Timetable Effective March 28, 2019 to June 30, 2019



May 29, 2019
If you are travelling within the next 72 hours, call:

1-833-354-5963

If you booked through a Travel Agency, please call them for immediate assistance
In compliance with Transport Canada's safety notice closing Canadian airspace to Boeing 737 MAX aircraft operations, Air Canada has grounded its 24 737 MAX aircraft until further notice.Air Canada is now updating its May, June and July schedule to further optimize its fleet and re-accommodate customers. Because the timeline for the return to service of the 737 Max is unknown, for planning purposes and to provide customers certainty for booking and travel, Air Canada is removing all 737 MAX aircraft from its schedule until at least September 02, 2019. A summary of schedule changes for April is posted below in the following question and answer: "What is Air Canada doing to reschedule customers?". Additional schedule changes will be posted as warranted.
  • Air Canada's cancellation and rebooking policies are in place with full fee waiver for affected customers.
  • We are working to rebook impacted customers as soon as possible.
  • Given the magnitude of our 737 MAX operations which on average carry nine to twelve thousand customers per day, customers can expect delays in rebooking and in reaching Air Canada Call Centres.
  • If you are travelling within the next 72 hours, please call the number at the top of this page.
  • If you booked through a Travel Agent, you may contact them directly for assistance.
We appreciate our customers' patience as we work to get everyone on their way.

If you'd like to make other plansIf you currently have a reservation for a flight between now and September 02, 2019 that was scheduled to be operated by a Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, we've implemented a policy that makes it possible for you to make voluntary changes to your itinerary within three (3) weeks of your original travel dates.If you are impacted by this policy, you may contact Air Canada Reservations (1-888-247-2262). If you are travelling in the next 72 hours, please call Air Canada Reservations number at the top of this notice. If you purchased your ticket with AeroplanExternal site which may not meet accessibility guidelines., or Air Canada Vacations or your travel agent, please contact them directly.

****

March 19, 2019

UPDATED - INFORMATION ON IMPACTED ROUTES


**********

UPDATED - Air Canada Responds to Transport Canada's Closure of Canadian Airspace to the Boeing 737 MAX Aircraft

https://www.aircanada.com/ca/en/aco/...e-closure.html

March 19, 2019

If you are travelling within the next 72 hours, call:

1-833-354-5963

If you booked through a Travel Agency, please call them for immediate assistance

In compliance with Transport Canadas safety notice closing Canadian airspace to Boeing 737 MAX aircraft operations, Air Canada has grounded its 24 737 MAX aircraft until further notice.

Air Canada is now updating its April and May schedule to further optimize its fleet and re-accommodate customers. Because the timeline for the return to service of the 737 Max is unknown, for planning purposes and to provide customers certainty for booking and travel, Air Canada is removing all 737 MAX aircraft from its schedule until at least July 1, 2019. A summary of schedule changes for April is posted below in the following question and answer: What is Air Canada doing to reschedule customers?. Additional schedule changes will be posted as warranted.
  • Air Canada's cancellation and rebooking policies are in place with full fee waiver for affected customers.
  • We are working to rebook impacted customers as soon as possible.
  • Given the magnitude of our 737 MAX operations which on average carry nine to twelve thousand customers per day, customers can expect delays in rebooking and in reaching Air Canada Call Centres.
  • If you are travelling within the next 72 hours, please call the number at the top of this page.
  • If you booked through a Travel Agent, you may contact them directly for assistance.
We appreciate our customers' patience as we work to get everyone on their way.

If you'd like to make other plans

If you currently have a reservation for a flight that was scheduled to be operated by a Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, we've implemented a policy that makes it possible for you to make voluntary changes to your itinerary within three (3) weeks of your original travel dates.

If you are impacted by this policy, you may contact Air Canada Reservations (1-888-247-2262). If you are travelling in the next 72 hours, please call Air Canada Reservations number at the top of this notice.

If you purchased your ticket with Aeroplan, or Air Canada Vacations or your travel agent, please contact them directly.


*********
March 13, 2019

Air Canada confirmed today that it will comply immediately with Transport Canada's safety notice closing Canadian airspace to Boeing 737 MAX aircraft operations until further notice.

Air Canada's cancellation and rebooking policies are in place with full fee waiver for affected customers. We are working to rebook impacted customers as soon as possible. Given the magnitude of our 737 MAX operations which on average carry nine to twelve thousand customers per day, customers can expect delays in rebooking and in reaching Air Canada Call Centres. Priority will be given to customers travelling within the next 72 hours. We appreciate our customers' patience.

If you'd like to know what type of aircraft you are flying on, simply retrieve your booking from the My Bookings tab, then click on the 'Details' link in the Flight Details section. We also advise you to check the status of your flight before heading to the airport.

We fully support Transport Canada's decision and will continue to work with them towards a resolution of this situation as soon as possible.

Alternate Travel Plans
If you currently have a reservation for a flight operated by a Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, we've implemented a policy that makes it possible for you to make voluntary changes to your itinerary within three (3) weeks of your original travel dates.

If you are impacted by this policy, you may contact Air Canada Reservations (1-888-247-2262).

If you purchased your ticket with AeroplanExternal site which may not meet accessibility guidelines., or Air Canada Vacations or your Travel agent, please contact them directly Some questions you may have are below with our answers, but if you can't find what you need, contact us at 1-888-247-2262, or reach out to us on on FacebookExternal site which may not meet accessibility guidelines. or TwitterExternal site which may not meet accessibility guidelines..

How many Boeing 737 MAX aircraft does Air Canada have?
Air Canada has a fleet of 24 Boeing 737 MAX-8 aircraft, which have been in operation since 2017. We have a total fleet of 400 aircraft (including 24 737MAX), comprising Air Canada mainline, Air Canada Rouge and Air Canada Express aircraft.

Where do the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft fly to?
These aircraft operate flights across North America, to Mexico, the Caribbean, Hawaii, as well as from Atlantic Canada to London Heathrow.

How many Boeing 737 MAX flights are there each day, and how many passengers are affected?
We typically operate approximately 75 Boeing 737 MAX flights daily out of a total schedule of approximately 1,600 daily flights system-wide, representing less than six percent of our total flying.

We have a total fleet of 400 aircraft (including 24 Boeing 737 MAX), comprising Air Canada mainline, Air Canada Rouge and Air Canada Express aircraft.

What is Air Canada doing to reschedule customers?
We are making adjustments to our schedule to minimize the disruption to customers as much as possible, by optimizing the deployment of the rest of our fleet and looking at alternative options, including accommodating customers on other airlines.

As an example of some of our adjustments to Boeing 737 MAX flights cancelled, we have re-scheduled widebody aircraft to serve Hawaii starting today, March 13. Some flights will operate as scheduled with mainline or Air Canada Rouge aircraft, such as on Montreal-Martinique and Montreal-Guadeloupe. Other routes, notably Halifax-London and St. John's-London are cancelled in the short term, with customers being re-routed through our Montreal and Toronto hubs.

What should I do right now?
As changes are finalized in our flight schedule, customers whose flight times or flight numbers have changed can expect to receive an email detailing their updated itinerary. This information is also available in My Bookings on the Air Canada App.

If you are travelling soon, you can also contact us or your travel agent. Please understand that priority is being given to customers travelling within the next 72 hours.

We have also put in place a rebooking policy, space permitting, and without additional fees for affected customers. Given the magnitude of our Boeing 737 MAX operations, which on average carry nine to twelve thousand customers per day, customers can expect delays in rebooking and in reaching Air Canada's Call Centres.

Where can I go to for more information?
If you would like to know what type of aircraft you are flying on, simply retrieve your booking from the My Bookings tab, then click on the 'Details' link in the Flight Details section.

If you are travelling soon, you can contact us, reach out to our social media teams on FacebookExternal site which may not meet accessibility guidelines. or TwitterExternal site which may not meet accessibility guidelines., or call your travel agent.

We also advise you to check the status of your flight before going to the airport.

We thank all of our customers for their patience.

Will Air Canada cover my out-of-pocket expenses such as additional accommodation costs that I may incur as a result of these disruptions?
Our normal protocol for irregular events which are out of our control is in effect. We are regrettably unable to reimburse for such expenses.



****


MONTREAL, March 13, 2019 /CNW Telbec/ - Air Canada confirmed today that it will comply immediately with Transport Canada's safety notice closing Canadian airspace to Boeing 737 MAX aircraft operations until further notice.

Air Canada's cancellation and rebooking policies are in place with full fee waiver for affected customers. We are working to rebook impacted customers as soon as possible but given the magnitude of our 737 MAX operations which on average carry nine to twelve thousand customers per day, customers can expect delays in rebooking and in reaching Air Canada call centres and we appreciate our customers' patience.

Customers are further advised to check the status of their flight on aircanada.com prior to going to the airport.

We fully support this decision and will continue to work with Transport Canada towards resolution of this situation as soon as possible.


SOURCE Air Canada

For further information: Isabelle Arthur (Montral), [email protected], 514 422-5788; Peter Fitzpatrick (Toronto), [email protected], 416 263-5576; Angela Mah (Vancouver), [email protected], 604 270-5741; Internet: aircanada.com

https://aircanada.mediaroom.com/2019...7-MAX-Aircraft




https://www.aircanada.com/ca/en/aco/...to-london.html

Originally Posted by ac.com
Information on Air Canada Halifax-London and St. Johns-London service

March 12, 2019

Due to the UK's Civil Aviation Authority banning all Boeing 737 Max aircraft operations in the U.K. Air Canada has cancelled the following flights:

AC 860 Halifax London-Heathrow on March 12
AC861 London-Halifax on March 13
AC822 St. Johns-London on March 13
AC823London-St. Johns on March 14

We are working to rebook impacted customers as soon as possible through our Montreal, Toronto and Ottawa hubs.

Affected customers may contact Air Canada Reservations to change their flights to another date free of charge.

As well, due to anticipated call volumes, customers can expect delays reaching Air Canada call centres, so we appreciate our customers patience.

Air Canada will provide updates as more information becomes available.
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Grounding of 737 Max - Effect on AC incl OMNI 767 lease

Old Mar 13, 2019, 11:17 am
  #211  
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Originally Posted by Stranger
But those would have arrived after the grace period given in the ban. No such a thing here apparently. As of yet at least.
Apparently, it depends on the ban etc. EASA mentioned here


QUOTES:

"The various grounding decisions are a mystery to me. Last night, a pair of Smartwings 737Max aircraft failed to complete their flights to Prague. One diverted into Tunis while the other returned from Turkish air space to its origin in Dubai. I made the assumption then that this maybe because they were not going to be allowed into European air space. Now, this morning, I see another Smartwings 737Max en route from Vilnius to Prague.
I also noticed that despite the ban from Indian air space, there was more than one Spicejet 737Max in and around India and this morning there was another couple of them heading for Indian airports, including 1 domestic flight. When is a ban not a ban?"

"Without passengers they can fly anywhere anytime I believe ?"

"Not correct - you need to look at the directives that have been issued by each specific State or bloc, relating both to the aircraft type and to use of the States' airspace by those types."

"The EASA ban allows for 3 re-positioning flights, without passengers, to allow the planes to be in a position to work on any modifications required."

"The EASA restriction, as I noted several posts back, does not apply to positioning flights back to base, only to commercial services."

"The EASA directive bans the type from taking off landing or Entering EU airspace with or without passengers."


https://www.pprune.org/rumours-news/...africa-50.html
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Old Mar 13, 2019, 11:21 am
  #212  
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Looking at a few destinations: FDF, PTP and the routes are now not bookable on the AC website.

Some other 737 routes like YUL-SFO are still appearing to be purchased.
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Old Mar 13, 2019, 11:25 am
  #213  
 
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Garneau said that flights already in the air would be allowed to land in Canada.
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Old Mar 13, 2019, 11:26 am
  #214  
 
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Originally Posted by HerpaYvr
Well this is not looking good for my PSP flight on the weekend? With 24 Max's in service that is a lot of jungling around!
Quite literally, if they have to bring in Embraer aircraft to cover the now-grounded MAX runs.
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Old Mar 13, 2019, 11:27 am
  #215  
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Originally Posted by shadowspar
Quite literally, if they have to bring in Embraer aircraft to cover the now-grounded MAX runs.
Don't the embraer flights have significantly less seats though?
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Old Mar 13, 2019, 11:27 am
  #216  
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Originally Posted by kjnangre
I expect they'll work out those details in the coming days. No real rush, the planes can't go anywhere once they get home (I know, they can pull forward maintenance in some cases)
Would there currently be and AA/WN MAX 8 or UA MAX 9 aircraft currently in Canada? If so, it sounds like they're stuck there, at least for now.
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Old Mar 13, 2019, 11:29 am
  #217  
 
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Originally Posted by YOWCDNFF
Pure speculation at this time, but AC does not appear to have that many spare aircrafts, especially narrow-bodies. ...Not sure if the regionals have some extra capacity that could be redeployed - and how easy this would be...
Originally Posted by Simon
I think you can be fairly sure that Rapidair will continue as per normal.
The DH1s that Jazz is putting out to pasture haven't actually gone to the scrapyard yet, right? Hopefully AC can deploy these on YYZYOW and YYZYUL to free up frames for other routes.
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Old Mar 13, 2019, 11:48 am
  #218  
 
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So I am scheduled on a max April 12 YEG to YYZ (on the way to AMS). Would it be wise to Move to earlier a320 flight or will things be resolved within a month
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Old Mar 13, 2019, 11:50 am
  #219  
 
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Originally Posted by Eternity000
If AC cancels a flight due to this what is their financial responsibility to passengers who can't make it to their destination? Wondering if I should look for alternatives for my Sunday flight to Martinique.
Just spent an hour on hold with AC customer service since I'm on 954 tomorrow morning that's showing as cancelled. Apparently they're bringing in an Air Georgian plane to take over the route and the flight number will be GGN 1190. Can't find any info on the flight yet, but I'm sure it'll slowly update since the change just happened. CS assured me that the flight would be taking off on time from YUL.

You may have the same issue with the Sunday flight.

I'm hoping you get on your flight as well since I'm on the same plane back home.
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Old Mar 13, 2019, 11:52 am
  #220  
 
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Originally Posted by chrismtl
Just spent an hour on hold with AC customer service since I'm on 954 tomorrow morning that's showing as cancelled. Apparently they're bringing in an Air Georgian plane to take over the route and the flight number will be GGN 1190. Can't find any info on the flight yet, but I'm sure it'll slowly update since the change just happened. You may have the same issue with the Sunday flight. CS assured me that the flight would be taking off on time from YUL.
It's flight AC1990, which will be operated by a rouge A321. Sometimes the website shows rouge flights as Air Georgian erroneously, since they all use the ZX airline code.
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Old Mar 13, 2019, 11:58 am
  #221  
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IMO Air Canada should have decided on their own to ground the 737MAX if at minimum to appease public concerns.

It would have given them better public perception. Bad PR move on AC 's part.
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Old Mar 13, 2019, 12:11 pm
  #222  
 
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Originally Posted by Stranger
Neither the press or the TC announcement mention a provision for ferrying planes back to Canada. Which they did in the UK and the EU.
This tweet from Tom Podolec suggests that ferry and repositioning flights are still permitted:
​​​​​​​
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Old Mar 13, 2019, 12:14 pm
  #223  
 
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Anyone have experience with longer-haul rebooking yet? (Not in the YYZ-YOW-YUL triangle...) I’m currently in SXM with a return flight on Saturday. I called AC shortly after the news broke and they weren’t sure what to do yet.

I’m guessing at this point it’s wiser to request re-booking via alternate carriers ASAP vs waiting for them to find an unlikely spare aircraft. I guess if they operate the flight after all, I can always switch back...
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Old Mar 13, 2019, 12:16 pm
  #224  
 
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Aeroplan Flight on 737 Max

I am scheduled on a reward flight on March 18 on AC 552 YVR to LAX on a 737 MAX. Hoping Aeroplan will waive cancellation fees and refund full points. Not sure if it is connected to the grounding issue and increased website demand, but the Aeroplan site is down for maintenance. I have gone ahead and rebooked on a paid fair to LAX on a 320. Anyone seen anything from Aeroplan on its response to the grounding? Clearly alternate reward flights won't be available.
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Old Mar 13, 2019, 12:19 pm
  #225  
 
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Originally Posted by marke190
This tweet from Tom Podolec suggests that ferry and repositioning flights are still permitted:

https://twitter.com/TomPodolec/statu...72163284897793

Indeed, according to Fligthtradar24 AC760 (SFO-YUL) is already cancelled, however there's a new AC7054 (SFO-YHZ) already listed to depart at the same time. I would assume this is a ferry flight, as not a usual route (and interesting that they are ferrying a frame to YHZ, but I suppose they'll now also be scrambling for hangar space).
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