Air Canada is proceeding with plans to launch it’s new LCC (Low cost carrier) said Air Canada CFO Michael Rousseau,  with a branding announcement expected to come “within a couple of weeks”, operating routes to Europe that currently aren’t cost competitive for Air Canada and to allow it be more competitive on Caribbean and some U.S. destinations. Air Canada studied several different models around the world.

The Air Canada CFO Michael Rousseau said “The model will be 100 percent (owned), separate leadership.It will have a separate management group because we want to ensure that we maintain the low-cost mentality.”

The yet un-branded LCC from next year plans to gradually build up it’s fleet to 30 Airbus A319s and 20 Boeing 767-300ER’s, with plans to increase seat capacity by 20% from 225 to 275 on the Boeing 767 fleet to drive profitability. Air Canada is hiring 200 new staff for the LCC including 150 cabin crew and 50 pilots.

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