The US Department of Transportation (DOT) has issued a permit to Air France to wet-lease aircraft to KLM Royal Dutch Airlines on the Amsterdam Schiphol-New York JFK route. According to an agency filing, aircraft operated by Air France can be deployed on KLM's JFK route between July 1 and October 31.

It is unknown whether KLM intends to exercise its rights to wet-lease Air France equipment. The ch-aviation schedules module currently shows that the flights between Amsterdam and New York will be operated by the Dutch carrier's in-house fleet from the beginning of July until the end of October.

ch-aviation asked both companies for comment, but they were not immediately available.

KLM is currently facing a temporary widebody aircraft shortage due to the grounding of seven B787s. It expects the fleet problems to persist for several more weeks and could cancel a certain number of long-haul flights, the Dutch aviation news site Luchtvaartnieuws reported citing the carrier's spokesperson.

Should KLM choose to wet-lease jets from Air France, it will have numerous widebody types to choose from. According to the ch-aviation fleets module, Air France operates eleven A330-200s, thirty-seven A350-900s, eighteen B777-200ERs, forty-three B777-300ERs, and ten B787-9s.

KLM's widebody fleet consists of eleven B787-10s, thirteen B787-9s, six A330-200s, five A330-300s, fifteen B777-200ERs, and sixteen B777-300ERs.