United Airlines will pull its 14 Boeing 737 Max aircraft from its schedules through 4 June as the US Federal Aviation Administration's safety review of the grounded aircraft extends into 2020 and carriers remain uncertain when those fleets could be cleared to return to service. The Chicago-based carrier had previously removed the Max from its schedule through 4 March. The airline has 14 737 Max jets in storage, with 144 more of the type on order, according to Cirium fleets data. In total, United Airlines has 764 aircraft of various types in service. American Airlines and Southwest Airlines, which have extended cancellations of their Max fleets through April, have removed the aircraft from their schedules one month at a time. United's announcement departs from that month-by-month cancellation trend. The airline will cancel up to 108 flights per day through June during the grounding, said United spokesman Frank Benenati on 20 December. The extended cancellation will help the network team plan the year ahead, he says. "By moving the return to service date back more than just a month, as we have done previously throughout 2019, it allows us to have more certainty by providing our customers and our operation a firmer and more definitive timeline," Benenati says. "We will better help our customers by reducing the number of our passengers we need to reassign to a new aircraft or rebook on a different flight."

Source: Cirium

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