Air Canada is to expand its hushkitting programme to keep its older and noisier aircraft in service beyond the USA's final Stage 3 noise compliance deadline of 31 December, 1999. The carrier will use the refurbished McDonnell Douglas (MDC) DC-9s to expand services to the USA.
When the airline selected the 112-seat Airbus A319 as its DC-9-30 replacement in 1994, it also elected to hushkit 15 of its MDC twinjets and sell the rest. The airline will receive the last of the 35 A319s it has on order during 1998.
Since that decision, Air Canada's transborder services have been expanded dramatically under the new liberalised USA-Canada air services pact. The increased operations has required the airline to rethink its DC-9 phase-out plans and now intends to retain additional aircraft to supplement the A319s and Canadair Regional Jets.
The carrier now plans to hushkit up to 27 92-seat DC-9s before the 1999 deadline. It has just begun installing the ABS Partnership Stage 3 kits, and kit deliveries will be completed in August 1999. The airline has not yet determined how long it will continue to operate the modified DC-9s.
Source: Flight International
