Air Canada to get first 787
Larger Boeing plane will help bottom line; to be used on Toronto-Tel Aviv flight
They will be four years late but still well worth it, according to Ben Smith.
Air Canada’s executive vice-president and chief commercial officer said Wednesday that the airline will receive its first Boeing 787 in March and will deploy it on the first permanent route, Toronto-Tel Aviv, on July 2.
In between, it will fly “proving missions,” flights of various distances and duration, including the MontrealToronto run, as the airline learns the aircraft’s characteristics and starts to incorporate it into its fleet.
Air Canada does not seem to be worried about the recurring problems that have plagued the so-called 787 Dreamliner, principally with its lithium-ion battery.
The 37 Boeing 787s Air Canada bought in early 2005 were originally due to be delivered in 2010. The carrier won’t say how much it’s seeking in rebates or other form of payment from Boeing for the four years’ delay.
Indeed, Smith sang the aircraft’s praises, saying it will allow the Montreal-based air- line to be “much more competitive,” Smith said. “It’s replacing the Boeing 767, an older and inefficient aircraft, and allowing us to look at new routes that were not viable for us before getting this aircraft.”
Currently, Air Canada operates Toronto-Tel Aviv with 30-year-old B767s.
“It’s a special long-range model with a crew-rest facility on board that reduces the seat count from 211 to 191. So now we’re going from 191 to 251 seats (with the 787): that’s 60 more seats, including a premium economy section, so your revenue potential is significantly larger. In addition, the fuel burn is much lower. So it’s a combination of operation-cost efficiencies and revenue increase potential that will make for better margins,” Smith said. He wouldn’t give precise estimate figures, but added that savings “are going to be big.”
“Now, we fly Toronto-Tel Aviv daily in summer and three times a week in winter. I believe we’ll be able to work our way up to daily yearround with this aircraft.”
He wouldn’t say which permanent routes will come after Toronto-Tel Aviv, but added that they will be announced soon. After the first delivery in March, Air Canada will receive five 787s in 2014, and between six and nine a year after that “until we have them all.”
Seat pitch — its size and legroom — will be the industry standard, Smith noted, “like Air France-KLM, Lufthansa, British Airways, Swiss, and others.”
The seat may not be bigger than on existing Air Canada airplanes, but he said that the 787 seats have been redesigned to lessen the obstruction in front of passengers’ knees, so “it’s a moot point to have a bigger pitch.”
Passengers willing to pay higher fares in economy can choose bulkhead rows with more legroom or premium economy, a separate section.
“They are very reasonable add-ons,” Smith said.
Standard fares are not expected to increase.
The airline’s new Rouge low-cost division to sun destinations and Europe are so far “exceeding expectations,” he added.
As for Canada Jetlines Ltd., a Vancouver-based ultra-lowcost carrier that some business people are weighing, Smith said that “it’s hard to say whether it will be a threat.”
“We consider all competition seriously. But they haven’t officially launched yet. They talk about potential airplanes, potential routes, a potential start, potential amounts of money, potential this, potential that.”
“Nothing’s real yet.”