A rare opportunity to fly Air Canada's all-business-class 'Jetz'

Well, here's one way to avoid having passengers in the middle seat — swap in a plane that doesn't offer a single middle seat onboard.

Last year, I had a very special opportunity to fly on an "Air Canada Jetz" Airbus A319, operated by the charter arm of Air Canada, which most often uses its fleet of three all-business-class planes to ferry professional athletes throughout the country, and to and from events in the U.S.

In my case, Airbus chartered the aircraft to ferry journalists between three of its North American manufacturing sites, from the A220 facility in Montreal to Airbus Helicopters in Columbus, Mississippi, and, finally, to the Airbus final assembly line near Mobile, Alabama.

I never expected to see the carrier add its all-biz plane to regular flights just a year later, but here we are, in the midst of a pandemic that's completely eliminated the market for a charter Airbus A319. As a result, Air Canada is once again selling seats on its Jetz planes directly to customers, with the aircraft operating domestic and international flights beginning Dec. 12.

Here's where you can expect to find these special 58-seater A319s:

To easily identify "Jetz" flights, head over to Air Canada's website and search for one of the routes listed above. If one of the resulting flights excludes pricing for economy, there's a good chance that's the leg operated by this special all-biz plane. From there, simply look for a flight number beginning with "12" to confirm.

You can also identify the Jetz A319 by the below seat map, with 58 seats in a 2-2 configuration, as seen on ExpertFlyer. (ExpertFlyer is owned by the same company as The Points Guy.)

Some flights are also available to book through Air Canada's Aeroplan program, with redemptions starting at 25,000 miles each way.

You can transfer points to Aeroplan at the following rates:

American Express Membership Rewards: 1:1
Capital One: 2:1.5
Marriott Bonvoy: 3:1 (with a 5,000-mile bonus for every 60,000 points transferred)

I'm seeing less availability through partner programs, though there are some flights with partner award space. If booking via United MileagePlus, expect to redeem at least 27,500 miles each way.

On Jetz charter flights, customers can choose to add special amenities, posh catering and more, though you're unlikely to find an onboard experience anywhere near as luxurious as what I experienced during our day-long Airbus tour.

With two free checked bags, speedy boarding and deplaning, and far fewer flyers onboard, a Jetz flight could certainly be a good option for Canadians looking to travel within Canada, or on flights to the U.S. and beyond.

Depending on how long the service remains in place, it might be out of reach of U.S.-based flyers, though — the border remains closed to nonessential travel, and it's not yet clear when Canada may begin welcoming business and leisure travelers again.