Airlines
WestJet, Government End Talks On Financial Support
After several months of constructive discussions, the WestJet Group and the federal government have mutually agreed to shift focus from these negotiations, and away from taxpayer-funded support, to leading the safe restart of the travel and tourism sector. The decision by the company that it is not actively pursuing financial support from the federal government comes with the encouraging rise of vaccination rates across the country, However, both WestJet and the federal government remain open to resuming financial support discussions in the future. The company also said that it...
Don’t Look Back, Look Forward
Dave Devana, president & CEO of Nanaimo Airport (YCD), will tell you that in early 2020, YCD was anticipating another record year, expecting to welcome over 500,000 passengers. On March 17, 2020, the BC Government declared a Provincial Health Emergency, and in April 2020 passenger counts plummeted by 96% to 1,903 passengers for the month. Devana offers both insight and optimism in telling Nanaimo Airport’s pandemic story, observing at one point: “In order for the travel and tourism sectors to recover fully, it’s essential that international travel is supported and critical...
Air Canada Ramps Up Canada-US Flight Operations
Air Canada is taking off this summer with a schedule which features 55 routes and 34 destinations and up to 220 daily flights between the U.S. and Canada. The new schedule coincides with the loosening of restrictions on travel between the two countries as of Aug. 9, 2021, enabling fully vaccinated Americans to enter Canada for non-essential travel and the removal of quarantine hotel requirements, relaxed testing requirements allowing Canadians taking short transborder trips for less than 72 hours to do their pre-entry tests in Canada, among other measures to ease restrictions. Seats...
Air France Takes Off With Ready to Fly
Air France is working to assist its customers by enabling them to easily check the health documents required by the authorities of their destination country. This information is updated in real time on the www.airfrance.traveldoc.aero website. With "Ready to Fly", the airline goes one step further by offering its customers the certainty of knowing that they have all the health documents required for their trip before they arrive at the airport. A few days before departure, customers travelling on eligible flights receive an email inviting them to upload their health documents on an...
Canada Set To Open Border To Fully Vaccinated Travellers
Canada will reopen its border to fully vaccinated travellers from the United States beginning at 12:01 am on Aug. 9. Noting that this is “a first step,” the Canadian government said in an announcement today that it will allow entry to American citizens and permanent residents, who are currently residing in the United States, and have been fully vaccinated at least 14 days prior to entering Canada for non-essential travel on that date. On Sept. 7, 2021 -- provided that the domestic epidemiological situation remains favourable -- the government also announced that it intends to...
Don’t Rely On Taxes To Cut Aviation Emissions: IATA
IATA says that the reliance on taxation as the solution for cutting aviation emissions in the EU’s ‘Fit for 55’ proposal is counter-productive to the goal of sustainable aviation. EU policy needs to support practical emission reduction measures such as incentives for Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) and modernization of air traffic management. Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General, pointed out that: “Aviation is committed to decarbonization as a global industry. We don’t need persuading, or punitive measures like taxes to motivate change. In fact, taxes siphon money from...
WestJet Encore, CUPE Reach Tentative Deal
WestJet Encore has reached a tentative agreement with CUPE Local 4070 – which represents the WestJet Encore Inflight (Cabin Crew) group. Both parties now await the ratification vote to be put forward to membership. In February 2021, WestJet and CUPE reached an agreement on behalf of the WestJet Inflight team that operates the airline's jet fleet. Ed Sims, WestJet President and CEO, said that: “For the second time this year, I am pleased to share that we've tentatively come to terms on an agreement with CUPE Local 4070. We have negotiated the first collective agreement, on...
New Insights From Sabre On How Airlines Are Adapting
The Art & Science of Network Planning to Ramp up for Recovery is a new whitepaper from Sabre Corporation that outlines the new methodologies that it’s creating to enable its airline partners to create more holistic, accurate network plans as their focus shifts from short-term planning to long-term recovery. The whitepaper is being released as the airline industry turns its attention to longer term planning once more, and away from the short-term operational focus that was necessary earlier in the pandemic. Cem Tanyel, Chief Services Officer, Sabre Travel Solutions, explains...