Air Canada transferred the first of 45 retrofitted Boeing 737 Max aircraft to leisure subsidiary Rouge and opened a new crew base in Vancouver on 5 March.
The Montreal-headquartered carrier confirms the first Air Canada Rouge 737 Max 8 has entered service, after disclosing in November that it planned to transfer its entire fleet of latest-generation 737s to Rouge.
Meanwhile, Rouge’s fleet of Airbus A320-family jets is transitioning to Air Canada’s mainline fleet, and its retiring its ageing A319s. Rouge will be left with an all-737 fleet.
The fleet-transfer process, which includes cabin upgrades to 737s, is expected to be completed by year-end.
”This investment directly supports more sun and leisure flying from Western Canada, such as the recently announced return of winter service from Calgary to Cancun and Puerto Vallarta,” the airline says.
The Rouge Max 8s will be configured with 177 seats, including 12 in business class, 18 “preferred extra legroom” economy seats and 147 economy seats – all with in-seat entertainment and free wi-fi for loyalty programme members.
Air Canada is embarking on a major fleet renewal programme guided by chief commercial officer Mark Galardo. In addition to the narrowbody transfer underway at Rouge, the carrier recent ordered eight Airbus A350-1000s, on top of 14 Boeing 787-10 Dreamliners expected to begin entering service this year.
It also recently shared a video of the first Air Canada A321XLR taking flight after rolling off Airbus’ production line in Hamburg. The carrier expects deliveries of those longer-range narrowbodies to begin this spring.
Also this year, interior retrofits will start rolling out across Air Canada Express-branded regional jets operated by regional partner Jazz.
