With the impending return to the skies of Boeing’s troubled 737 Max airliner, Air Canada plans to hire 350 pilots next year. The airline currently has 24 737 Max airplanes, with 12 more that were slated for delivery by the middle of 2019. Those aircraft have been manufactured but remain undelivered. The 36 aircraft represent about 24 percent of Air Canada’s narrow-body fleet.

Fourteen more 737 Maxes were planned to be delivered by mid-2020, but the delivery of those may be delayed.

“This is a process that will indeed be gradual. This is not an overnight process,” Air Canada CEO Calin Rovinescu told industry analysts and investment analysts in a conference call earlier this week. Rovinescu added that, once the 737 Max airspace ban is lifted, it could take up to a year to get all 50 of the affected aircraft in operation.

Air Canada’s 737 Maxes have been removed from Air Canada’s schedule until at least February 14, 2020.

Photo credit: Air Canada