Airlines
Air Canada Salutes Women On IWD 2021
Air Canada is marking International Women's Day 2021 by celebrating the contributions and achievements of its women employees. Four Air Canada women in non-traditional aviation careers share how they pivoted, then navigated with flexibility and resilience the ever-changing events related to the COVID-19 pandemic during a year like no other. The airline also championed the next generation of women aviators as it announced four winners in the second year of the Captain Judy Cameron Scholarship. Arielle Meloul-Wechsler, executive vice president, chief human resources officer and public...
More Space In Economy On Emirates
Emirates’ economy class customers can now enjoy even more personal space and privacy onboard with the ability to purchase up to three empty adjoining seats on their flight. The seats will be offered to all Economy Class customers holding a confirmed booking. Customers will not be able to pre-book empty seats, as these are subject to availability. Empty seats will only be offered for purchase at the airport check-in counter prior to flight departure, and costs range from AED 200 to AED 600 (US$ 55 to US$ 165) per empty seat, plus applicable taxes depending on flight...
Tracking The Trends
The Conference Board of Canada has released its Outbound Canada update on Canadian outbound travel activity, revealing that Canadians made almost 9 million outbound overnight trips in 2020 compared to 33 million in 2019. The update reported that total overnight trips fell 73% during the year with overseas activity down by two-thirds (-67%) and transborder trips declining by more than three-quarters (-77%). Eighty-eight per cent of activity took place in the first quarter, before the pandemic was declared and restrictions and health measures were implemented. United...
Discover Canada With Sunwing
For the 16th consecutive year, Sunwing is making it easier for Canadians to reconnect with loved ones this summer with the launch of its domestic summer program. Flights will commence in May and run weekly until the beginning of September, with weekly routes to some of Canada’s most popular destinations. And to help customers make the most of their travel budget, the tour operator is offering savings of up to $200 per couple on domestic flights. Andrew Dawson, president of tour operations for Sunwing, said: “With lots of Canadians staying closer to home this spring and...
Clearing The Air
Air Canada says that there has been “no update” since its Feb. 12 earnings release which “clearly says that discussions are ongoing and that is still the case. There is nothing new since we issued this release.” The carrier’s comment came following multiple media reports that said that Air Canada had agreed to the carrier had agreed to provide refunds to travellers who had flights cancelled due to the pandemic as part of a possible federal government financial support package. In its Feb. 12 release, the carrier stated: “In the fourth quarter of 2020, the Canadian...
Demand Falls Further In January: IATA
IATA reports that passenger traffic fell in January 2021, both compared to pre-COVID levels (January 2019) and compared to the immediate month prior (December 2020). The airline industry association notes that because comparisons between 2021 and 2020 monthly results are distorted by the extraordinary impact of COVID-19, unless otherwise noted all comparisons are to January 2019 which followed a normal demand pattern. Total demand in January 2021 (measured in revenue passenger kilometres or RPKs) was down 72.0% compared to January 2019. That was worse than the 69.7% year-over-year...
Tell Your Story, ACTA Urges Members
ACTA is urging travel agents to take their concerns about the state of the travel industry directly to their MPs as a federal government budget draws closer. "We need to continue to raise our voices," ACTA's Maggie Santos said during a Tuesday ACTA webinar. ACTA president Wendy Paradis in turn stated that, "You (agents) can help us help you." Webinar viewers were earlier told that ACTA has been meeting with government and opposition officials, relaying its concerns on such issues as extending CEWS. Viewers were told to take their travel industry concerns to their MPs, being...
Air Canada Amends CPA With Jazz
Air Canada unveiled details of an agreement to amend the Capacity Purchase Agreement (CPA) with Jazz Aviation LP, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Chorus Aviation Inc., under which Jazz currently operates certain regional Air Canada Express flights. Through the revised agreement, Air Canada will transfer operation of its Embraer E175 fleet to Jazz from Sky Regional and Jazz will become the sole operator of Air Canada Express services. The revisions to the CPA are subject to Jazz reaching an agreement with the Air Line Pilots Association, International. If this condition is satisfied,...