Air Canada
is the largest airline in Canada. Its roots date back to 1937 when Trans-Canada Air Lines was founded. Today, the carrier’s fleet has grown to more than 250 aircraft, and Air Canada has another 93 on order.

Air Canada Jetz Airbus A320 Landing In Toronto

Photo: Air Canada

The airline operates Boeing and Airbus widebodies and narrowbodies. According to data from ch-aviation, there are 27 Airbus A320s in the fleet, five of which are wet-leased. Four A320s in Air Canada’s fleet used to fly for Alaska Airlines, and previously, Virgin America.

Data from Cirium, an aviation analytics firm, shows Air Canada has more than 7,500 A320 flights scheduled for next month. The airline offers more than 1.2 million seats on these planes. The busiest A320 route in January is from Montréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport (YUL) to Toronto Pearson International Airport
(YYZ).

On its busiest days, the route has eight daily roundtrips, and more than 50,000 seats are available in both directions in January. The second-busiest A320 route in January is from Toronto to Ottawa International Airport (YOW), with up to seven daily roundtrips.

Related

Past & Present: Examining Air Canada’s Various Subsidiary Airlines

The Canadian flag carrier has many strings to its bow.

1

C-FCQD

Formerly N632VA

C-FCQD was manufactured in May 2007. On June 12, 2007, Airbus delivered the Toulouse-manufactured A320 to Virgin America
. The A320 was registered as N632VA and was in Virgin’s fleet until January 2018.

In 2018, Alaska Airlines
completed the merger with Virgin America and began to operate Virgin’s former aircraft. Data shows that the A320 was in Alaska’s fleet until March 26. The following day, it was picked up by Air Canada and registered as C-FCQD.

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Photo: Tomás Del Coro | Flickr

According to ch-aviation, this aircraft has 150 seats in a two-cabin configuration. There are just eight first class seats up front and 142 in the back. Seats are not equipped with inflight entertainment screens, but do have in-seat power.

As of September 30th, the A320 had nearly 47,000 flight hours. With more than 15,000 life cycles, the average flight length for this plane is three hours and seven minutes. The average daily utilization is seven hours and twenty-four minutes.

In recent days, C-FCQD has flown several domestic and international routes. Some of them are listed below:

  • Vancouver – Phoenix
  • Phoenix – Vancouver
  • Vancouver – Calgary
  • Calgary – Vancouver
  • Vancouver – Edmonton
  • Edmonton – Vancouver
  • Vancouver – Edmonton
  • Edmonton – Vancouver
  • Vancouver – Kelowna
  • Kelowna – Vancouver

In the past few days, the longest flight this aircraft operated was from Phoenix to Vancouver, which was three hours and five minutes. Flights from Vancouver to Kelowna are less than 40 minutes.

2

C-FCQX

Formerly N847VA

C-FCQX is a 13-year-old A320 that was delivered to Virgin America in late 2011. Data shows the plane’s first flight was on December 5th, and 16 days later, it was delivered to the airline. Like the first plane on this list, C-FCQX was in Virgin’s fleet until January 2018.

When the plane was in Virgin’s fleet, and then Alaska’s, it was registered as N847VA. Alaska retired the A320 in May, and it was quickly transferred to Air Canada’s fleet. The registration was then changed to C-FCQX.

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Photo: Tomás Del Coro | Flickr

According to planespotters.net, the plane was stored in Oakland during the COVID-19 pandemic and was withdrawn from use in January 2023. After that, the plane was stored at several airports, including Victorville, Greensboro, and Spokane. It was then ferried to Kelowna in June.

Like the first plane on the list, C-FCQX has 150 seats in a two-cabin configuration. In first class, seats are set in a 2-2 configuration, and in economy, in a 3-3 configuration. Ch-aviation shows that the plane does have WiFi connectivity.

As of September 30th, C-FCQX had nearly 37,000 flight hours. With 12,454 flight cycles, the average flight length for this plane is two hours and fifty-eight minutes. Annually, the plane has an average of 970 cycles. On a daily basis, the plane is used for nearly eight hours.

Below are some of the flights the A320 has operated since Christmas Eve:

  • Los Angeles – Vancouver
  • Vancouver – San Francisco
  • San Francisco – Vancouver
  • Vancouver – Kelowna
  • Kelowna – Vancouver
  • Vancouver – San Francisco
  • San Francisco – Vancouver
  • Vancouver – Las Vegas
  • Las Vegas – Vancouver
  • Vancouver – Los Angeles
  • Los Angeles – Vancouver

One peculiar thing that Flightradar24 shows is that the A320 operated a passenger flight to Boeing Field in Seattle. According to data from Cirium, the only airline providing scheduled passenger services at that airport is Kenmore Air. But the data shows that there was another flight from Vancouver recently.

3

C-FCZF

Formerly N637VA

This A320 is the second-oldest of the four ex-Alaska Airlines/Virgin America A320s. C-FCZF first operated by Virgin America and was delivered to the carrier on April 14, 2008. The first flight was on March 21, 2008.

The plane was made in Toulouse, France, and is powered by the CFM International CFM56 engines. Like the other planes, Virgin operated the A320 until January 2018. Alaska Airlines took over operations of the aircraft through the merger, and the tail number under both airlines was N637VA.

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Photo: Aero Icarus | Flickr

When Air Canada began operating the plane in 2024, the tail number was changed to C-FCZF. In the last few years, the plane was in Alaska’s fleet, before being removed from service and stored at several airports. C-FCZF was first stored in May 2020 in Oakland, and in November 2021, was moved to San Antonio. In December, the aircraft returned to service and was then stored again in Victorville in January 2023.

After being in Victorville, the plane was moved to Greensboro and then Lake City, Florida. On February 9, 2024, the A320 was flown to Kelowna to begin operating for Air Canada.

According to ch-aviation, the A320 had 46,556 flight hours as of September 30. With 15,492 lifetime flight cycles, C-FCZF’s average flight time has been three hours and one minute. Annually, the plane has averaged 2,814.33 hours.

From May to September, the plane has flown more than 140 hours per month with Air Canada. A breakdown per month is available below:

  • May – 141 hours
  • June – 219 hours
  • July – 228 hours
  • August – 224 hours
  • September – 206 hours

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Christmas Gift: Air Canada Signs For 5 More Airbus A220s

Air Canada continues to further its relationship with Airbus following its commitment for 5 more A220s.

In 2022, Alaska flew the plane for 11 of the 12 months, with monthly flying time ranging between 119 hours and 222 hours. A breakdown of 2022 is below:

  • January – 216 hours
  • February – 153 hours
  • March – 0 hours
  • April – 222 hours
  • May – 208 hours
  • June – 153 hours
  • July – 178 hours
  • August – 120 hours
  • September – 191 hours
  • October – 119 hours
  • November – 192 hours
  • December – 219 hours

In the last few days, this plane has been used for several longer flights, some of which are listed below:

  • Las Vegas – Vancouver
  • Vancouver – Las Vegas
  • San Francisco – Vancouver
  • Vancouver – San Francisco
  • Los Angeles – Vancouver
  • Vancouver – Los Angeles
  • Phoenix – Vancouver
  • Vancouver – Phoenix

4

C-FCYX

Formerly N853VA

C-FCYX is the youngest of the four ex-Alaska planes. It was ordered by AWAS, a lessor that merged into DAE Capital, in January 2008. According to ch-aviation, the aircraft’s first flight was in February 2012, and delivery took place on March 2, 2012.

Though AWAS ordered the aircraft, it was part of Virgin America’s fleet from when it left the factory in France. While operating in the US, the plane was registered as N853VA. In 2024, Air Canada registered the plane in Canada as C-FCYX.

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Photo: Adam Fagen | Flickr

C-FCYX was not stored during the early onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Planespotters.net data shows it was withdrawn from use in October 2022 and stored in Victorville until November 2023. In November, it was moved to Greensboro, where it remained until March 2024.

In March, the plane went to Lake City until April 14th before returning to Greensboro. In May, the plane was ferried to Kelowna.

As of September 30th, C-FCYX had 36,043 flight hours, averaging 2,849.40 annually. Over its lifetime, the average flight cycle is two hours and fifty-one minutes, and the daily utilization is seven hours and forty-nine minutes. The number of flight hours per month since May is available below:

  • May – 4 hours
  • June – 23 hours
  • July – 236 hours
  • August – 218 hours
  • September – 248 hours

From August 2021 to October 2022, Alaska heavily used the plane. The breakdown is below:

  • August 2021 – 219 hours
  • September 2021 – 224 hours
  • October 2021 – 227 hours
  • November 2021 – 237 hours
  • December 2021 – 202 hours
  • January 2022 – 217 hours
  • February 2022 – 3 hours
  • March 2022 – 144 hours
  • April 2022 – 155 hours
  • May 2022 – 245 hours
  • June 2022 – 210 hours
  • July 2022 – 182 hours
  • August 2022 – 225 hours
  • September – 200 hours
  • October – 217 hours
Alaska Airlines Airbus A320 Pride Livery

C-FCYX has been used on some shorter flights than the other planes on this list. A list of some of the recent flights are below:

  • Vancouver – Calgary
  • Calgary – Vancouver
  • Vancouver – Kelowna
  • Kelowna – Vancouver
  • Toronto – Ottawa
  • Ottawa – Toronto

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