PM’s fleet nearing its best-before date
Replacements for aging planes not expected until 2028-29, documents say
OTTAWA—The fleet includes Canada’s “flying Taj Mahal.” But now that the government is keen on replacing its five aging tanker and transport jets — used for the prime minister’s international jaunts as well as military operations — documents say replacement planes aren’t expected to be ready until 2028 or 2029.
That’s as much as two years after the current life expectancy of the planes.
Is that a problem? Canada’s fleet of Airbus CC-150 Polaris planes is already more than 30 years old, and the Department of National Defence confirmed Tuesday that the life expectancy of these aircraft is March 2027. Yet after starting the years-long process to replace the planes in December, documents recently tabled in Parliament state the Canadian Armed Forces “anticipates that this new fleet will achieve initial operational capability in 2028-29.”
Two of the planes are used for air-to-air refuelling, and the other three can transport dignitaries, troops or military equipment.
Responding to questions by email, National Defence spokesperson Jessica Lamirade told the Star the military will push for a quicker turnaround on the new planes — expected to cost between $1 billion and $5 billion — and suggested the current fleet from the 1980s could last longer if handled properly in the coming years.
She said requests for proposals should go out in late 2021 or early 2022, and that the contract to procure the planes will be awarded in the 2022-23 fiscal year.
“While initial operating capability is currently anticipated for 2028/29, we will be working with industry to identify opportunities and efficiencies to accelerate that timeline where possible,” Lamirade said.
“We are confident that with continued inspections and maintenance, the CC-150 Polaris fleet can continue operating in its current capability until the new fleet is delivered.”
André Deschamps, a retired general who was Commander of the Royal Canadian Air Force from 2009 to 2012, said the military can “probably” extend the fleet’s lifespan beyond 2027, but that it will likely get more expensive and challenging to keep the old planes in working condition.
“You cost-avoid by buying a new airplane before you get to a point where you spend piles of money on old ones,” he said, comparing the situation to
dumping money into an old car with parts that are harder to get.
“There’s a cost efficiency curve that you’re trying to beat usually when you do aircraft replacement,” he added. “When you get on the other side of the curve, you’re just pouring money into old airplanes.”
John Gradek, an aviation expert and lecturer at McGill University, pointed out that the fleet will be almost 40 years old in 2027, and that the planes have already shown problems that come with age. In December 2019, for example, an engine problem on one of the planes was discovered after Trudeau flew it to the United Kingdom to attend a NATO summit. And that was after the aircraft the prime minister typically uses — CC-150 (01) — was damaged and grounded two months earlier,
when it rolled into the wall of a hanger at the Canadian Forces Base in Trenton, Ont. and “suffered significant structural damage to the nose and right engine cowling,” according to Lamirade, the national defence, spokesperson.
It took more than a year for repairs to be finished, and the plane isn’t expected back in service until March, she said.
“This is no longer a ‘Taj Mahal.’ This airplane — it’s like a flying outhouse, in my opinion,” Gradek said, referring to Jean Chrétien’s famous quip to describe the new government plane when he was opposition leader in the early 1990s to describe the CC-150 in the fleet outfitted to transport the prime minister and other VIPs.
“The maintenance crews and the flying crews have done a great job of keeping this airplane
airborne,” Gradek added. “Unfortunately, it is getting long in the tooth and it’s long beyond its best-before date.”
But the CC-150s aren’t just used to shuttle political leaders around the world. As Deschamps — the retired general — explained, that is more of a “side job.” The fleet is primarily used to move military supplies and troops, and two of the five planes are equipped as tanker jets that can refuel other aircraft in the air.
That job makes the planes “truly a strategic asset for Canada,” Deschamps said, describing how the tankers are crucial to ensure Canadian jets can stay in the air long enough to patrol the far reaches of the Arctic as part of Canada’s North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD) responsibilities.