Dear players!
We would like to share with you the first details about the new aircraft carrier gameplay and even show you a prototype. Before continuing, we would like you to keep in mind that all the information here is preliminary and some elements like progression, commanders skills, modernization are not yet available. The final version of this updated class will depend on the data we are going to collect and analyse at all stages of our testing.
Reasons and goals of changes
Aircraft Carriers in World of Warships were always different from any other ship class because of their specific game control. It was needed to bring diversity to the game and to highlight their unique role in a battle and real life. However, over time, it had become clear that their exceptional role causes several issues such as:

High difficulty in mastering and because of it – an excessive gap between experienced players and beginners who may be excluded from a battle without a chance to do something about it.
As a result, low class popularity and no stable presence in battles.
Nevertheless, there was an excessive impact on a battle because of the several reasons:
possibility of scouting using several squadrons interfering with destroyers, detecting the enemy team and actually blocking initiatives and unexpected maneuvers.
possibility of dealing critical damage to almost any target in a short period of time, especially on high levels;
Combination of aircraft carriers’ features and AA defense working mechanics resulted in a situation where it’s impossible to shoot airplanes down (for example, average destroyer chased by a squadron) or quite the opposite case where planes can be destroyed immediately (Des Moines with full AA defense set). Shooting down several planes has almost no impact on a game. Moreover, confrontation between an aircraft carrier and its target comes down to “AA Defense Fire” activation and attempts to maneuver which are easy to counter using several squadrons.
Counterintuitive difference between automatic and manual attack which work very differently, and doesn’t imply any smooth skill growth suggesting a very “high bar” instead.
The main gameplay doesn’t look attractive to most of the players because its main feature is managing several squadrons with a top down, 'bird's eye' view . In other words, the gameplay is “cut off” from a main battle and fixed on micromanagement.
Moreover, there is a big question when it comes to “AA defense ships” and “AA defense sets”: if there are not enough aircraft carriers and its playerbase isn’t stable, why spend your modernizations, skill points and consumables on AA defense.

These issues had been considered in different periods of time due to your feedback, and we tried to find a solution using partial changes and upgrades. However, at some point it turned out that we needed some integrated approach and “rebooting” the whole class using an innovative concept which will consider all initial issues and challenges. That’s what we would like to achieve:

Adequate “complexity curve” of aircraft carriers which implies smooth skill growth;
Enjoyable gameplay that will:
Be attractive for most of the players;
Give more space for resourcefulness of aircraft carrier and its targets as well;
Create a balanced, integrated class that will enrich the game without ruining it for others;
Increase aircraft carriers’ popularity and enhance AA defense ships.

Main differences of the new concept
The Squadron is still the main combat unit for aircraft carrier players, the only difference is that you control only one at a time. This decision will solve several issues like excessive spotting and damage potential, and too much micromanagement that can be mastered only by a minority of players. This raises the question: will it be entertaining to play with only one squadron?” The answer is positive here because now it’s a direct squadron’s control:

In our new concept you can control your squadron directly using WASD keys or mouse. There are options for speeding up and slowing down (forcing engines or shifting to planning) when turning.
Player will maneuver among explosions of AA defenses shells while attacking a ship and choose the right moment and direction to launch torpedoes, bombs or rockets (more info about that below);
An attacks success will depend on the player’s skill. The player will have the ability to plan their moves and due to that increase the attacks efficiency. For instance, if you plan and start an attack run with torpedo bombers in advance, the torpedo spread will be narrower, in contrast to a rushed attack, when your target is too close, then the spread will be wider;
Player uses only several planes instead of a whole squadron while conducting an attack. Upon attack completion, the aircraft that have expended their payloads go back to the aircraft carrier automatically. This allows players to have several attacks using one squadron, select different targets or eliminate one target with several attacks.
When a squadron is used up, another selected one takes off instantly and player will shift between them without any extra waiting;
All squadrons are focused on damaging ships: torpedo bombers, bombers are well known among our players, but we plan to add attack planes equipped with aircraft rockets;
Fighters will become an ability: player will be able to call them on a squadron’s position and after some time they will come for patrolling. Spotting enemies’ planes they will try to draw them into battle and destroy them. Fighters’ direct control hasn’t been planned because we would like you to focus your attention on ships attack not other planes.
Aircraft Carriers can no longer become 'de-planed' and redundant. According to our new concept, your reserve of planes is unlimited. However, throwing them into combat thoughtlessly and recklessly will increase the preparation time for the next flight.

AA defense workings
After adding new gameplay and direct control of a single squadron, we also wanted to implement improvements to the operation of AA defense. Current mechanics can just basically identify plane loss in a kill zone with some probability. Our new concept has some essential differences:

Every plane has its own HP, they can be damaged and shot down individually;
Planes entering the zone of close range AA defense (consisting of mostly machine guns) will be guaranteed to suffer significant damage.
Long and medium range AA defense will aim at planes and automatically fire at them. For the player it will be obvious that some zones of AA defense are better not to fly into. As the players planes fly into those areas, they will be likely to receive some damage.
Instead of the previous click on enemy’s squadron (that put priority on it), players will be able to shift between left and right sectors of AA defense. The selected AA defense sector gets a fire intensity increase whilst the other sector sees it decrease. Thus, player can face enemies‘ planes with a hail of fire from one side but the other side will be more vulnerable for the attack; it's worth mentioning that switching sectors is a very important tactical element because it may take tens of seconds.

To learn more about new concept in attacking ships watch the video below:
https://youtu.be/ReLOCxKzl6I
Plans for testing, development and transition
We understand that after receiving this information you may have a lot of questions and concerns. To clarify at the start: more details could be discussed later as we’re getting closer to the final implementation. For now, let’s discuss some of them.
What about consumables, level up, modernization, diversity and everything?
The main goal now is to test the gameplay’s basis and the concept itself. We will definitely continue our development on that case and be sure that you’ll get a lot of options for diversity and many tactical moves.
So everything is being changed but I can’t even test or affect these changes?
You can. We have decided to have a closed testing to make sure that everything works correctly without technical difficulties. During our beta testing we together plan to improve the gameplay, implement some partial improvements and prepare for the release.
When will it be available?
We know that most of you have been waiting these changes literally for years. However, we hope you understand that this is a global and a pretty risky task, not just changing several lines in TTC. We want to be sure that our new gameplay is enjoyable for majority, suits the game and causes no technical issues. So the answer here is pretty honest – you’ll be able to see these changes, when everything is ready.
What if I wouldn’t like these changes? I bought premium aircraft carriers, leveled them up.
We are fully aware how serious these changes are. There is no need to go into detail now, but you can be sure that you’ll have an opportunity to abandon your current aircraft carriers as premium ships and leveled up ones and get an appropriate replacement.In conclusion, we would like to thank all our players who have shared their feedback with us, played aircraft carriers despite all the issues and everybody who’s ready to help us to improve our game. We have absolutely no doubt that with your support we’ll “reboot” this pretty challenging class, make it more popular, interesting, balanced and bring more diversity to the gameplay. See you soon in the air!
FAQ
Here is the list of possible questions that may occur after this announcement. We hope that our answers will clear the air around them!

Will be tactical screen available in the new concept?
— Yes, as for any other ship class.

Will you save the number of planes in squadron for different nations?
— We are still working on that question, we hope that testing results will help us with that.

Do I need to press extra buttons to get back to the base?
— No, but it's worth mentioning that only planes that are used up return to the base.

Will you change matchmaking because of these changes?
— We think about adding several aircraft carriers to the battle from each side, but this idea should be tested first.

Will you rework commanders skills?
— We will probably rework commanders skills.

Can I launch, for example, a torpedo squadron and fighter squadron and switch between them as needed?
— No, you can control only one squadron at a time.

Will we be able to customize how many squadrons of each type we have? How many planes are in each squadron etc?
— No, because it's a part of the game balance and it will be set.

Can I help in testing?
— Of course! Stay tuned and don't miss our news about the beginning of the public test.

How will the skill required increase as you progress up the tiers?
— On every tier planes speed will increase so as the power of AA defense fire. The number of planes in squadron will change from tier to tier. Moreover, ships under attack will be able to switch between AA defense sectors creating zones of AA defense attack. This will result in development of more complex maneuvers and tactical decisions in managing your squadron's attack, because chances of receiving significant damage and dealing it to your enemies will increase relatively.

How does spotting work - any changes for fighter ability, returning planes, visual indicators?
— According to our new concept, aircraft carriers use only one squadron at a time and that decreases the spotting area. In addition to that we will add more changes. For example, which planes should spot torpedoes and when? We'll need to figure this all out during the testing.

What about damage output (alpha vs damage per time)?
— Our changes will bring more balance to ships under CV's attack when they will receive a chance to fight back and survive on any tier. Aircraft carriers will be able to knock out their opponent in several attacks or destroy it with alpha-strike.

XP & credit income changes?
— We change the role of aircraft carriers in a battle but XP and income will have the same principle as for any other ship class.

How is the consumable defensive AA affected by this?
— It will be reworked but we will be able to provide more details only after testing.

Any additional rework for non-CV AA planned (effects, skills, balance for e.g. cruisers)?
— AA defense mechanics will be changed however, but AA sets for ships stay the same.