Air Canada has taken delivery of its first Airbus A220, placing the Montreal-based carrier on track to launch its first A220 revenue flights in January. Airbus announced the delivery, the first of 45 A220-300s destined for Air Canada, and released photographs of the aircraft. Air Canada will begin A220 revenue flights on 16 January between Calgary and Montreal, followed on 19 January between Montreal and Toronto, according to Cirium schedules data. The airline’s A220s will be outfitted with 137 seats, including 12 business-class and 125 economy-class seats, says Airbus. “This is a highly anticipated moment for Air Canada as we welcome this game-changing aircraft into our fleet,” the release says. “The A220 will enable Air Canada to strengthen our position on transborder and transcontinental markets and will be key to our continued growth.” With a published 3,350nm (6,200km) range, the Pratt & Whitney PW1500G-powered A220-300 will have transcontinental capability. Air Canada intends to deploy it on routes such as Montreal-Seattle and Toronto-San Jose, says the release. Air Canada is the first Canadian airline to receive an A220 and the only Canadian airline with A220s on order, according to Cirium fleets data. The Montreal-based airline plans to formally unveil its first A220 at a ceremony in Montreal on 15 January.

Source: Cirium

Norwegian is hopeful it can reach an agreement with Boeing on compensation for its grounded 737 Max fleet by the end of the year. The Scandinavian budget carrier was one of the first airlines to demand compensation from the US manufacturer over the grounding of the Max in the wake of two fatal crashes. In a video message posted on social media network Twitter in March, Norwegian's then-chief executive Bjorn Kjos said the airline would "send the bill to those who produce this aircraft", to cover the cost of deploying alternative jets on routes previously operated by the Max. Speaking on a podcast released 18 December by Norway-based investment bank DNB Markets, Norwegian's acting Geir Karlsen said that he hoped "to come to an understanding" with Boeing "before the end of the year". He expects that, in addition to compensation, the agreement will cover "a new schedule of plane deliveries". Norwegian had 18 Max jets in service at the time of the aircraft's global grounding. Cirium fleets data shows that the carrier has a further 92 Max jets on order. The airline said in July that the grounding would negatively impact its 2019 financial results by NKr700 million ($78 million). It is not yet clear when the Max will be cleared by regulators to take to the skies again. Boeing will suspend 737 production in January and Southwest Airlines has pushed the return of the Max to its flight schedule from early March to mid-April.

Source: Cirium

The holidays are officially upon us. During this year’s 18-day winter holiday travel period, U.S. airlines expect to transport 47.5 million customers, with nearly 12 million of those flying with American. The 130,000 American Airlines team members across the globe are gearing up to take care of those flying with us during the busy holiday rush that will last from Dec. 19 until Jan. 5. U.S. airlines expect 47.5 million customers to travel during this 18-day travel period. About 12 million will fly American. American Airlines expects 6,853 departures accross the globe on the 20th of December.

Source: World Airline News