Liberal (Minority/Majority) Government 2025 - ???

[YZT580]

Ah. Replacement. I thought this was a supplement to current fleets.

Likewise. With the scarcity of airframes I can't see anyone divesting of a serviceable a/c. Maybe sideline them as backups but certainly not disposal. I haven't read where they are replacing any of the current airframes. I wonder though about the phrasing of the joint statement where they mention the purchase and procurement of a/c and equipment from both Canada and Europe. Is there efforts being made to entice DE Havilland into establishing a second assembly line somewhere in Europe or am I reading more into it than I should?

 

[Halifax Tar]

Some goodish news.

Canada posts $5.36B deficit for first five months of 2026-27 fiscal year

The federal government posted a deficit of $5.36 billion for the first five months of its 2026-27 fiscal year.

www.ctvnews.ca

This is good.

 

[lenaitch]

Likewise. With the scarcity of airframes I can't see anyone divesting of a serviceable a/c. Maybe sideline them as backups but certainly not disposal. I haven't read where they are replacing any of the current airframes. I wonder though about the phrasing of the joint statement where they mention the purchase and procurement of a/c and equipment from both Canada and Europe. Is there efforts being made to entice DE Havilland into establishing a second assembly line somewhere in Europe or am I reading more into it than I should?

I suspect that the argument would be similar to what people say about assembling military aircraft in Canada; 25 airframes isn't much of production run. It's a niche aircraft and the reason BBD closed its line was because everybody who wanted one had one - until they wanted more.

 

[foresterab]

Likewise. With the scarcity of airframes I can't see anyone divesting of a serviceable a/c. Maybe sideline them as backups but certainly not disposal. I haven't read where they are replacing any of the current airframes. I wonder though about the phrasing of the joint statement where they mention the purchase and procurement of a/c and equipment from both Canada and Europe. Is there efforts being made to entice DE Havilland into establishing a second assembly line somewhere in Europe or am I reading more into it than I should?

As I understand it from reading the Federal news releases is that there may be a second line started up here in Canada to accelerate the delivery schedule. I believe Viking is also looking at more than just the CL-515 production as they also have the rights to all the old De Havilland product lines (Twin Otters, Buffalos, Beavers etc.) and have been producing a small number of new airframes.

There is a capacity difference between the CL-215 and -415...but even the -415 airframes are a minimum 10 years old and up to 23 years. It's also high stress flying (i.e. hard on airframes) so I'm sure there's a small fleet of aerospace engineers looking at structural aspects and maintanaince schedules for things like wing spars.

The CL-215's started in 1966...that means some are 60 years old...and the newest airframe is 36 years old. That's a ton of miles.

CL-215ST are an odd mix of original CL-215's that have undergone full re-builds and would be considered "newer" airframes than the original construction date. Quebec, Saskatchewan and Alberta have these models for example.

I'm honestly not sure if they are replacements or new capacity...but the age of aircraft has me leaning towards replacement especially as we're looking at another 5+ years before the Canadian orders start coming off the line due to Canadian provinces being slower to place orders than Europe.

 

[dapaterson]

A slow sustained line of 4/year would mean a fleet of 100 being retired at the 25 years point. (Or taken on my some of the more adventurous and creative small operators).