Air Transat is one of the largest airlines here in Canada,
and operates an all-Airbus fleet.
All-Airbus that is, except for a single Boeing 737-800 that’s still registered to them,
as of early April 2022.
Throughout their history, Air Transat has flown multiple different aircraft types, including
aircraft like the Lockheed L-1011 and Boeing 757.
Eventually, they took delivery of some Airbus A310s and A330s, a uniquely widebody-only
fleet combination that they stuck with throughout the mid-to-late 2000s and early 2010s.
However, in mid-2013, they signed an agreement to lease four Boeing 737-800s, and started
flying these in the summer of 2014.
Since then, Transat had added a couple more 737s leased from various airlines for each
winter season, and would then return these planes each spring.
Towards the end of the decade though, Air Transat 737s seemed to become a rarer and
rarer sight.
In that way, their time with the 737 seemed to be a unique case of a carrier going from
Airbus to Boeing, and back to Airbus.
So, why did Air Transat fly 737s for just seven years, and what’s the deal with this
one plane?
Well, pre-2013, Transat’s widebody-only operation was pretty unique among North American
carriers.
However, even their smallest widebody, the A310, still carried around 250 people, which
is a bit big for certain Canadian markets, like the Prairies.
So, they, through their tour operator Transat Tours Canada, would charter some narrowbody
aircraft for these smaller markets.
Quite a few operators were chartered for these flights over the years, including Enerjet,
Canjet, Flair, and even WestJet.
All of this is mainly due to the seasonal nature of Air Transat’s operations.
According to them, they have a “greater need for narrow-body aircraft in the winter,
when Canadian leisure travelers prefer sun destinations”.
However, in a cost-reduction move in 2013, Air Transat decided to bring this flying in-house
instead, by adding those 737-800s, which were on 8-year-long leases.
With this core fleet of as many as seven 737-800s at one point, Transat entered into various
seasonal lease agreements for more 737s from Transavia France, ASL Airlines France, and
Smartwings.
It’s worth mentioning that this wasn’t the only time they’d ever flown 737s.
For a few winter seasons from 1997 to 2000, two 737-400s from Virgin Express also flew
for Transat.
As far as I can tell though, these are unrelated to this more recent 737NG era.
This newer operation seemed to work fairly well for a couple of years, and it certainly
led to some interesting hybrid liveries!
Air Transat called this their “flexible fleet strategy”, and had apparently “dual-qualified
pilots” to fly A310s or A330s for the summer months, and then switched them to fly 737s
or A321s for the winters.
This type of operation did lead to some cost savings, but ultimately, Transats 2017 order
for 10 A321neos spelled the beginning of the end for these 737s.
2017 also brought an agreement between Air Transat and Thomas Cook - a seasonal deal
to swap aircraft between the carriers, which was supposed to last for seven years.
During the winters, Air Transat would send some of its widebody A330s to Thomas Cook,
while they sent over some of their A321s.
This was also intended to support this transition to an Airbus-only fleet, and overall would’ve
simplified Air Transat’s operations and training quite a bit.
With Thomas Cook’s ceasing operations in September of 2019 though, Transat ended up
having to lease some more 737s for the winter 2020 season.
So, when… that whole 2020 thing happened, and Transat retired their A310s and suspended
operations for a couple of months, the phase-out of the 737s was accelerated.
According to Transat, they were able to terminate the leases for 4 out of the 5, at the time,
permanent 737-800s, early.
Given that, and the state of the leisure travel market, they also no longer expect to “introduce
any seasonal aircraft” going forward.
And let’s face it, the A321neo is almost certainly the best possible replacement Transat
could get for both the A310s and the 737s.
That’s especially true when it comes to recovering from the past two years.
Not only are there lower costs and greater flexibility with flying smaller aircraft,
but A321LR’s range fits perfectly into the sort of transatlantic flying that Air Transat
does.
It also allows them to fly their sun routes in the winter, again, at a lower cost than
with an A330.
Plus, the commonality of having a truly Airbus-only fleet of A330s and A321s is bound to save
Transat quite a substantial amount on training costs.
That single remaining 737-800 is parked in Toronto, and Air Transat has, and I quote,
“no intention of using this aircraft before its lease expires in April 2022.”
So, this 737 era at Air Transat may have been a brief one, but the story behind it really
demonstrates just how seasonal the Canadian airline market can be, and what challenges
that poses for leisure carriers like Air Transat.
Thank you very much for watching, and I’ll catch you next time!