6of1_halfdozenofother Posted August 11 Share Posted August 11 I thought about tossing this into the Public Transit thread, but these are not public entities (they're private corporations), and the existing Travel thread is actually about travel and travel ideas (which I don't want to have hijacked - pardon the pun - due to a very specific segment of mode of travel), so a new thread it is. Both CBC and News1130 were reporting this, but since News1130's website is so much better to copy and paste, I'm going to quote theirs but also provide the CBC link (both are the same Cdn Press article). Quote ‘On the brink’: Airlines flee small cities, cutting key links to rest of the country A crew member of an Arrow Air DC-8 walks on the tarmac at the international airport in Gander, Nfld. on Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2002. The cargo jet had earlier slammed into some construction barricades on a shortened runway. On the brink’: Airlines flee small cities, cutting key links to rest of the country. (CP PHOTO/Andrew Vaughan) By Christopher Reynolds, The Canadian Press Posted August 11, 2024 3:00 am. From his office overlooking the runway at Gander International Airport, Reg Wright can see all flights in and out of his corner of Newfoundland. But in recent years, those plane spottings have been fewer and farther between. “In Newfoundland, we have a saying called the fisherman’s widow, which is typically anyone that keeps eyes to the sea to see that their husband will return. During the pandemic, I did spend a lot of time in the posture of looking out the window, counting numbers and wondering when recovery was coming,” Wright said. He’s still counting. The airport has lost four routes since 2019, including a WestJet route to Halifax, he said. “A third of our passengers have vanished into thin air …. By no means are we recovered.” Gander serves as a microcosm for numerous towns and cities across the country. While Canada’s total domestic passenger numbers now hover at around pre-COVID levels, air travel to smaller communities and even medium-sized cities has withered, pushing up fares and leaving parts of the country less connected. The 30 biggest airports in Canada have seen passenger capacity return to 98 per cent of 2019 levels on average, according to the Canadian Airports Council. The next 30 are at barely 70 per cent. Driving the travel rebound is a surge along big-city routes. Flight volumes rose 19 per cent for Vancouver-Montreal, 12 per cent for Toronto-Vancouver, 10 per cent for Calgary-Vancouver and a whopping 51 per cent for Ottawa-Calgary over the past five years, according to figures provided to The Canadian Press by aviation data firm Cirium. Correspondingly, airfares fell between two and 11 per cent on those routes despite rampant inflation and widespread fare increases. However, regional air travel still sits far below 2019 levels. A random sampling tells the tale. The number of direct flights plunged 49 per cent for Sault Ste. Marie-Toronto, 41 per cent for Regina-Calgary and 100 per cent for Quebec City-Rouyn-Noranda between May 2019 and May 2024. Driving between those cities would take at least five to seven hours, with zero stops. Meanwhile, fares on flights linking those city pairs rose 54 per cent, 16 per cent and 173 per cent, respectively, according to Cirium. Airports in far-flung communities serve as key hubs for critical services. “If you’re in the Yukon and you need to travel to Vancouver for your medical appointments, these are the essential roles … whether it’s fighting fires, moving health-care workers, even getting food on our grocery store shelves,” said airports council president Monette Pasher. A lack of timely air access also puts communities at an economic disadvantage. “Aviation is really a load-bearing wall holding our country together. And there’s a lot of rural and remote communities like my own that are wholly dependent on air travel to have that economic and social utility and be meaningful participants in the global village,” said Wright. “The stakes are very high.” Fewer flights can complicate leisure and business travel as well, extending total travel times and sometimes result in exhausting layovers. The dearth of departures has prompted some travellers to look south for flights — out of Detroit, Plattsburgh, N.Y., and Bellingham, Wash., for example — draining revenues from Canadian airlines and airports. Several reasons account for the drop in regional flights. During the pandemic, carriers took the opportunity to streamline their fleet by ditching older planes in favour of newer, bigger ones. The fresher aircraft are more efficient, as are business models that operate fewer flights and carry more passengers over longer distances. More customers per trip mean wider profit margins, while fewer takeoffs mean lower fuel costs, since airplane ascents guzzle up so much fuel. A shortage of pilots, particularly on regional carriers, and a rise in salaries also help explain the dearth of service following a drop in enrollment at flight schools during the COVID-19 pandemic. “You don’t get (pilots) out of a vending machine. It takes time,” Wright said. “When pilot costs get to an inflection point like they have over the last three years, amortizing a pilot salary over 17 seats becomes virtually impossible,” added Duncan Dee, former chief operating officer at Air Canada. Competition on many routes has declined too. WestJet withdrew from virtually all short-haul markets east of Winnipeg during the pandemic. Air Canada mirrored this move, remaining in Central and Eastern Canada while scaling back in the West. In Cape Breton, residents now have to go through Montreal or Toronto if they want to fly to Halifax after both airlines cut back from a combined 240 flights per month to zero. “For the first time in 75 years, we lost all our daily service,” Pasher said of the airport in Sydney, N.S., who lives in the area. She and others have demanded a funding boost from the federal Airports Capital Assistance Program. It funds upgrades for small airports, but its $38-million limit has remained unchanged since 2000. Airports are calling for $95 million annually. Other experts say more direct support for regional flights is needed, pointing south of the border. The U.S. Essential Air Service program ensures scheduled flights to hundreds of small communities by subsidizing air service that would otherwise not be profitable enough for carriers, which bid on the contracts. “We’ve let the marketplace judge the viability of regional services,” said John Gradek, who teaches aviation management at McGill University. Back in Gander, where residents’ hardiness and hospitality became known to the world via the Broadway hit Come From Away — the play chronicled their experience hosting more than 6,500 travellers from 38 planes that unloaded at the airport on 9/11 — Wright takes stock. “Big throngs of people at Pearson or Trudeau doesn’t tell the story that, from coast to coast, there’s rural markets that are really on the brink in terms of air service.” https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2024/08/11/airlines-flee-small-cities-cutting-key-links-to-rest-of-the-country/ https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/airlines-flee-small-canadian-cities-1.7291608 And before anybody gets funny ideas about linking the communities with passenger rail (I'm looking at you @Bob Long ) in a many cases, air really is the only practical method of travel to those communities (otherwise, there'd likely already be rail). Like, how do you get a train from the mainland to Gander and make it break even? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6of1_halfdozenofother Posted August 11 Author Share Posted August 11 News like this ain't gonna help my wife gain needed confidence in air travel when we decide to board a plane again... Quote Weather alone may not explain why Brazil plane crashed, killing 62, expert says Aircraft stalled and spiralled to the ground during landing approach in Sao Paulo state The Associated Press · Posted: Aug 11, 2024 8:57 AM PDT | Last Updated: 3 hours ago Brazil plane crash kills all 61 people on board 2 days ago Duration1:55 A plane carrying 61 passengers and crew members has crashed in a residential neighbourhood of Brazil’s São Paolo state, killing everyone on board. Families of victims of an airliner crash in Brazil are gathering Sunday at a morgue and hotels in Sao Paulo as forensics experts work to identify the remains of the 62 people killed in the accident. Local authorities said the bodies of the pilot, Danilo Santos Romano, and his co-pilot, Humberto de Campos Alencar e Silva, were the first to be identified. Brazilian media said another four people were identified at the Sao Paulo morgue, which did not confirm the information. The Sao Paulo state government said in a statement Sunday morning that the searches ended at 10:45 p.m. on Saturday, 33 hours after the crash, with the remains of all 34 males and 28 females among the victims recovered. It added that the wreckage remains at the site so investigators can continue their work. The ATR 72 twin-engine turboprop operated by Brazilian airline Voepass was headed for Guarulhos international airport in Sao Paulo with 58 passengers and four crew members aboard when it went down Friday in Vinhedo, 78 kilometres north of the metropolis. Voepass said three passengers who held Brazilian identification also carried Venezuelan documents and one had Portuguese. A French-made ATR 72 twin-engine turboprop aircraft crashed on Friday in the city of Vinhedo, Brazil, less than 10 minutes before it was due to land at Sao Paulo-Guarulhos international airport. (Miguel Schincariol/AFP/Getty Images) Images recorded by witnesses showed the aircraft in a flat spin and plunging vertically before smashing to the ground inside a gated community, leaving an obliterated fuselage consumed by fire. Residents said there were no injuries on the ground. It was the world's deadliest airline crash since January 2023, when 72 people died on a Yeti Airlines plane in Nepal that stalled and crashed while making its landing approach. That plane also was an ATR 72, and the final report blamed pilot error. Reports of icing at time of crash Metsul, one of Brazil's most respected meteorological companies, said Friday there were reports of severe icing in Sao Paulo state around the time of the crash. Local media cited experts pointing to icing as a potential cause for the accident. Police restricted access to the main entrance of the Sao Paulo morgue where bodies from the crash were being identified. Some family members of the victims arrived on foot while others came in minivans. None spoke to journalists, and authorities requested that they not be filmed as they came. A flight carrying more family members from Parana state landed Saturday afternoon at Guarulhos airport. A minivan sponsored by the airline was provided to transport them to the morgue. The plane's wreckage can be seen in a residential area of Vinhedo on Saturday. (Nelson Almeida/AFP/Getty Images) The Sao Paulo state government said 26 families have already attended the morgue for identification efforts, with more expected on Sunday. An American Eagle ATR 72-200 crashed on Oct. 31, 1994, and the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board determined the probable cause was ice buildup while the plane was circling in a holding pattern. The plane rolled at about 2,400 metres and dove into the ground, killing all 68 people on board. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration issued operating procedures for ATRs and similar planes telling pilots not to use the autopilot in icing conditions. 'No way to reclaim control of the plane' Brazilian aviation expert Lito Sousa cautioned that meteorological conditions alone might not be enough to explain why the Voepass plane fell in the manner it did Friday. "Analyzing an air crash just with images can lead to wrong conclusions about the causes," Sousa told The Associated Press by phone. "But we can see a plane with loss of support, no horizontal speed. In this flat spin condition, there's no way to reclaim control of the plane." Brazil's air force said Saturday that both of the plane's flight recorders had been sent to its analysis laboratory in the capital, Brasilia. The results of its investigations are expected to be published within 30 days, it said. Marcelo Moura, director of operations for Voepass, told reporters Friday night that while there were forecasts for ice, they were within acceptable levels for the aircraft. In an earlier statement, the Brazilian air force's centre for the investigation and prevention of air accidents said the plane's pilots did not call for help or say they were operating under adverse weather conditions. The ATR 72, which is built by a joint venture of Airbus in France and Italy's Leonardo SpA. is generally used on shorter flights. Crashes involving various models of the ATR 72 have resulted in 470 deaths going back to the 1990s, according to a database of the Aviation Safety Network. https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/brazil-plane-crash-1.7291668 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pears Posted August 11 Share Posted August 11 43 minutes ago, 6of1_halfdozenofother said: News like this ain't gonna help my wife gain needed confidence in air travel when we decide to board a plane again... https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/brazil-plane-crash-1.7291668 Definitely does not help my fear especially with flying to Vancouver in a few weeks... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostsof1915 Posted August 11 Share Posted August 11 Let's use a Cessna Caravan 9 seat airplane as an example. 400 hours of flying at 160 knots cruising speed is about $242,000 per year. NOT including pilot(s), administration, and other costs. (That's including $240 per hour cost of jet fuel. (it's a turbo prop and jet fuel is cheaper and easy to find.)) It only has a range of 950 miles. And it's an unpressurized cabin. That's for short distances. Explain how you can make a profit on say an Airbus 220 (with 100 seats) when your fixed costs are $1.5 million a year, and hourly costs from $5000-$7500 per hour? (Especially since a new one costs $90 Million each) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Long Posted August 11 Share Posted August 11 3 hours ago, 6of1_halfdozenofother said: I thought about tossing this into the Public Transit thread, but these are not public entities (they're private corporations), and the existing Travel thread is actually about travel and travel ideas (which I don't want to have hijacked - pardon the pun - due to a very specific segment of mode of travel), so a new thread it is. Both CBC and News1130 were reporting this, but since News1130's website is so much better to copy and paste, I'm going to quote theirs but also provide the CBC link (both are the same Cdn Press article). https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2024/08/11/airlines-flee-small-cities-cutting-key-links-to-rest-of-the-country/ https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/airlines-flee-small-canadian-cities-1.7291608 And before anybody gets funny ideas about linking the communities with passenger rail (I'm looking at you @Bob Long ) in a many cases, air really is the only practical method of travel to those communities (otherwise, there'd likely already be rail). Like, how do you get a train from the mainland to Gander and make it break even? Yea, I mean why would anyone want clean, reliable alternative? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Long Posted August 11 Share Posted August 11 3 hours ago, Ghostsof1915 said: Let's use a Cessna Caravan 9 seat airplane as an example. 400 hours of flying at 160 knots cruising speed is about $242,000 per year. NOT including pilot(s), administration, and other costs. (That's including $240 per hour cost of jet fuel. (it's a turbo prop and jet fuel is cheaper and easy to find.)) It only has a range of 950 miles. And it's an unpressurized cabin. That's for short distances. Explain how you can make a profit on say an Airbus 220 (with 100 seats) when your fixed costs are $1.5 million a year, and hourly costs from $5000-$7500 per hour? (Especially since a new one costs $90 Million each) https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/travel-logistics-and-infrastructure/our-insights/the-six-secrets-of-profitable-airlines Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostsof1915 Posted August 11 Share Posted August 11 42 minutes ago, Bob Long said: https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/travel-logistics-and-infrastructure/our-insights/the-six-secrets-of-profitable-airlines Funny how capital costs, maintenance, and fuel are never mentioned? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wheres Wellwood Posted August 12 Share Posted August 12 I just spent 31 hours getting from Montreal to Vancouver. Not thrilled. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Long Posted August 12 Share Posted August 12 1 hour ago, Ghostsof1915 said: Funny how capital costs, maintenance, and fuel are never mentioned? I think because with so much regulation, that part is just the cost of doing business for anyone in the game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canuck You Posted August 12 Share Posted August 12 If it ain't Boing, i ain't going!...1 way ticket please. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostsof1915 Posted August 12 Share Posted August 12 It's sad how Boeing has been ruined by business people who only care about return on investment and not engineering the the company used to be before merging with McDonnell Douglas. Personal opinion McDonnell screwed up Douglas as well, again another Aerospace firm that had superior engineering. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6of1_halfdozenofother Posted August 12 Author Share Posted August 12 5 hours ago, Bob Long said: Yea, I mean why would anyone want clean, reliable alternative? Let's see you plan a reliable rail alternative that works financially for connecting mainland Canada to Gander. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6of1_halfdozenofother Posted August 12 Author Share Posted August 12 7 hours ago, Pears said: Definitely does not help my fear especially with flying to Vancouver in a few weeks... The good thing is that Canada has a bit of a better record when it comes to these things. This next part is just my opinion, but I like to think that we cut a few less corners than some of the other countries out there when it comes to safety regulations. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Long Posted August 12 Share Posted August 12 1 hour ago, 6of1_halfdozenofother said: Let's see you plan a reliable rail alternative that works financially for connecting mainland Canada to Gander. Is getting to gander our top priority? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6of1_halfdozenofother Posted August 12 Author Share Posted August 12 3 minutes ago, Bob Long said: Is getting to gander our top priority? 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6of1_halfdozenofother Posted August 24 Author Share Posted August 24 Hey, look - more strike action! Quote Air Canada pilots vote overwhelmingly to authorize a strike. It could start next month Wages and scheduling remain sticking points, union leader says The Canadian Press · Posted: Aug 22, 2024 1:55 PM PDT | Last Updated: August 22 The Air Line Pilots Association, which represents more than 5,400 pilots at Air Canada, said a vote to approve a strike mandate passed with 98 per cent support on Thursday. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press) Air Canada pilots have voted overwhelmingly to approve a strike mandate, putting them in a position to walk off the job as early as Sept. 17. The Air Line Pilots Association, which represents more than 5,400 aviators at the country's largest carrier, said the vote passed with 98 per cent support on Thursday. The employees have been negotiating with Air Canada since June 2023, with ongoing talks in Toronto hotels overseen by a federal conciliator. That process is slated to wrap up this Monday, followed by a 21-day cooling-off period — leaving Sept. 17 as the soonest possible strike date. Charlene Hudy, head of the union's Air Canada contingent, said the vote sends "a clear message to management" that pilots are willing to take job action to secure a better deal. "It's a stale, outdated contract," she said in a phone interview. "There are elements of our collective agreement right now that stem back to just post-bankruptcy." The airline filed for bankruptcy protection in 2003. Union points to U.S. pilots' compensation Hudy said the two sides have found consensus in some areas, but that wages and some aspects of scheduling remain sticking points. Following new contracts between the four biggest U.S. airlines and their pilots over the past 18 months, some flight crews earn roughly double what their counterparts at Air Canada make, she said, pointing to United Airlines in particular. "We all fly passengers under the Star Alliance. So we're flying the same passengers in the same airspace on some of the very same routes, and those pilots are being compensated dramatically more than us," Hudy said. Arielle Meloul-Wechsler, Air Canada's chief human resources officer, said the parties had reached agreement on "many, many articles" of the collective agreement. She noted the labour stability that marked the decade covered by the now-expired contract. "But of course, with a 10-year-deal, it creates a bit of pent-up demand. So it's time to refresh that agreement," she said in a video posted to Air Canada's website Thursday. Air Canada CEO Michael Rousseau told analysts earlier this month that both sides were in agreement on several points and that he hopes to reach a deal in the coming weeks. https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/air-canada-pilots-strike-mandate-1.7302190 Minister MacKinnon is gonna be a hella busy man, yo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Arrogant Worms Posted August 28 Share Posted August 28 Flair Airlines says it's offering flights for a loonie. Experts say it needs to get real VP says deal is a way to give back to customers, expert calls strategy a 'loss leader' https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/flair-airlines-one-dollar-base-fare-1.7307117 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kootenay Gold Posted August 28 Share Posted August 28 1 hour ago, The Arrogant Worms said: loss leader Not sure we can capture Trump and exchange him for the flight 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Arrogant Worms Posted August 28 Share Posted August 28 On 8/23/2024 at 8:46 PM, 6of1_halfdozenofother said: Hey, look - more strike action! https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/air-canada-pilots-strike-mandate-1.7302190 Minister MacKinnon is gonna be a hella busy man, yo. My wife and son will be in Hawaii when the strike happens. I bought the travel insurance fir $350 each. Looks like I made the right decision. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bishopshodan Posted August 28 Share Posted August 28 I dont fly anymore. Cant stand any part of the process. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6of1_halfdozenofother Posted August 28 Author Share Posted August 28 5 minutes ago, The Arrogant Worms said: My wife and son will be in Hawaii when the strike happens. I bought the travel insurance fir $350 each. Looks like I made the right decision. I'm guessing there are plenty of other options available to come back to Canada even if AC has to halt flights due to strike action? Though - expensive as it may sound - if I didn't have any work commitments to come back to right away, I'd totally ride out the time that AC is down by whooping it up in HI and then catching the first available AC flight back once flights resume. (Or switch to WestJet, even though they're starting to piss me off almost as badly as AC is.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Arrogant Worms Posted August 29 Share Posted August 29 4 minutes ago, 6of1_halfdozenofother said: I'm guessing there are plenty of other options available to come back to Canada even if AC has to halt flights due to strike action? Though - expensive as it may sound - if I didn't have any work commitments to come back to right away, I'd totally ride out the time that AC is down by whooping it up in HI and then catching the first available AC flight back once flights resume. (Or switch to WestJet, even though they're starting to piss me off almost as badly as AC is.) They have to get back to work also. Lots of people will be trying to leave at once so who knows when they will leave. Insurance will cover flights and hotel if they have to stay longer. They could probably arrange with work to stay longer though, They are staying overlooking the beach at a hotel a few steps away from here (Jimmy Buffett song....he used to hang her.) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Heffy Posted August 31 Share Posted August 31 (edited) I got super lucky and only my flight home is likely to be impacted. Booked a backup on Southwest to Seattle and warned my boss it might take an extra day to get home. Hopefully the pilots don't get legislated back to work; they deserve to be compensated fairly. I'd rather have to have a little inconvenience to myself than have the government screw the guys whose skill can be the difference between me living or dying if something goes wrong. Edited August 31 by King Heffy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rip The Mesh Posted August 31 Share Posted August 31 On Sept. 1, 1937, the first Trans-Canada Air Lines flight took off from Vancouver. But it wasn’t flying across Canada — it was a short hop to Seattle. TCA’s first commercial passenger flight across Canada from Montreal to Vancouver wasn’t until April 1, 1939. The Seattle flight was a big deal. The federal government launched the airline on April 10, 1937, and started operating in September after buying an established route, and two planes and their crews from Canadian Airlines, a private company that was owned by James Richardson in Winnipeg. The planes were Lockheed Electras, one of the top planes of the era and the one that aviation legend Amelia Earhart was flying when she disappeared over the Pacific Ocean on July 2, 1937. The Vancouver Sun published two photos of TCA’s launch, one of the gleaming, metal plane, one of Vancouver mayor George Miller shaking hands with TCA’s D.R. MacLaren, a “wartime ace” who was referred to as “wing commander,” which was his title in the Royal Canadian Air Force. MacLaren had been the head of Canadian Airways’ local branch, and stayed on with TCA. He flew to Seattle on the first TCA flight, where he was greeted by Seattle’s mayor. The airline was to be run as a subsidiary of Canadian National Railways, which was owned by the government. According to an Aug. 10, 1937 Sun story by Bob Bouchette, CN owned all 50,000 shares of the airline, which provided $5 million in capital for TCA. Bouchette wrote that TCA could sell shares, but had to retain majority control. Any shares sold had to be owned by “a British subject resident in Canada, or a company incorporated in Canada.” Ironically, an American was chosen to lead the company. Phillip Johnson had started off as an engineer at Boeing in Seattle and had run United Airlines —which William Boeing had started. Minister of Transport C.D. Howe told the House of Commons on April 2, 1937 that cross-country fares would be six cents a mile, the average price in the U.S. Howe said: “Canadians are more air-minded than people imagine,” and didn’t believe it necessary to “launch an advertising campaign to sell the line to Canadians.” But he allowed that CN might include that line in its advertising, since it was slated to sell TCA’s tickets. Planes took off from both Vancouver and Montreal on the first passenger flights on April 1, 1939. The Province ran a list of all 11 passengers, one of whom was “Grant McConachie of Edmonton,” who became the head of Canadian Pacific Airlines and is the inspiration for Grant McConachie Way by Vancouver’s airport. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6of1_halfdozenofother Posted September 12 Author Share Posted September 12 Quote Flying with Air Canada next week? What you need to know about rebookings and refunds Air Canada pilots air silhouetted while holding signs during an informational picket at Vancouver International Airport in Richmond, B.C., on Tuesday, August 27, 2024.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck By Ritika Dubey, The Canadian Press Posted September 12, 2024 1:00 am. Last Updated September 12, 2024 8:24 am. You’re packing your bags but still don’t know if Air Canada will be taking you to your planned destination. Calgary-based travel agent Lesley Keyter says she’s been fielding questions from people travelling this weekend and next week about whether to cancel their trip or change their flight as a potential work stoppage looms. “I have tried to reassure people, if they look back historically, these disruptions typically don’t last longer than maybe four, five days,” Keyter, owner of the Travel Lady, said. “But of course, the ripples from that continue along much longer than that and people’s confidence is shaken.” The union representing Air Canada pilots is in a position to strike as soon as Sept. 18, so the required 72 hours’ notice could come over the weekend. Here’s what travellers need to know: What happens to my flight if there is a strike or lockout? All Air Canada flights will be cancelled in case of labour action. Ticket holders will be eligible for a full refund regardless of the fare type. Air Canada has said it will notify its customers within 48 hours of the scheduled departure time if their flight is cancelled and, depending on available seats, rebook them on another flight. They will be rebooked on another partner or competitor airline within 48 hours of the original departure time. In a strike situation, which the airline deems out of its control, no additional compensation other than the rebooking, such as food or accommodation, is offered. I have a flight booked next week. What do I need to know about possible cancellations? If the flight is cancelled, Keyter suggests contacting the source of the booking. For example, Air Canada will be the point of contact if the fare was purchased through the airline. If it was booked through a third-party site or travel agent, they will deal with the cancellations. I want to change my flight. What are my options? If a traveller has purchased a refundable fare, they can get a full refund from Air Canada and book a spot with another airline. For non-refundable tickets, passengers can get credit for a future flight or book travel before Sept. 15 or between Sept. 24 and Nov. 30. Keyter said passengers have to evaluate their destination and what the travel arrangement is like when making changes to plans. If the traveller absolutely has to travel, she suggests getting Air Canada credit to use later while also booking another flight. Cancelling or changing my travel dates isn’t an option for me. What can I do? Keyter suggests booking a fully refundable flight elsewhere as a backup if a traveller has a non-refundable ticket. Air Canada has offered to change dates or allow future travel credit, but there is no refund on such tickets. “Booking a fully refundable ticket as an insurance backup is an expensive option because we’re looking at a last-minute full-fare ticket,” Keyter said. “If financially they can afford that, then maybe that gives them peace of mind.” Keyter likened the situation to the threat of a WestJet strike earlier this year. “I was going on a trip that I could not miss. I was going for a family funeral in Europe,” she recalled. Keyter decided to secure her trip with a fully refundable flight as insurance, in case the airline went on strike. “It was a big chunk of money, and I didn’t feel comfortable about it,” she said. In the end, the strike didn’t happen so she was able to refund the fare. Will buying insurance help? Most insurance does not cover labour disruptions because they are considered known risks rather than unexpected weather and other traditionally insured events. When will I get my money back? The airline is obliged to refund the amount within 30 days of the flight cancellation under Canada’s Air Passenger Protection Regulations. https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2024/09/12/flying-with-air-canada-next-week-what-you-need-to-know-about-rebookings-and-refunds/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.