Airlines
Time Running Out on Qatar Airways Offer
Travel agents have until the end of today (Nov. 26) to take advantage of Qatar Airways' Double the Luxury offer. Travellers can enjoy a two-for-one offer on select destinations with the “World’s Best Business Class.” Travellers booking one Business Class ticket will receive a second Business Class ticket for free for their travelling companion (taxes and surcharges apply). The promotion ends today (Nov. 26) and is valid for travel until March 26, 2015 to select destinations across Africa, the Middle East, and Asia Pacific. This offer also allows Privilege Club members (Qatar...
IATA To The Rescue
It has been a long time coming, but the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has unveiled the details of a new arrangement to help passengers impacted by airline bankruptcy. The voluntary agreement on behalf of its members flying to, from and within Europe will cover the repatriation of passengers unable to return home due to an airline ceasing operations as a result of financial failure. IATA’s director general and CEO, Tony Tyler said: “I am delighted to say that passengers left stranded in the rare and unfortunate event of an airline bankruptcy will be offered...
Back To The Drawing Board
WestJet has announced that the tentative agreement with its flight attendants was not ratified. Turnout for the vote was very strong; of the 90% voter turnout, 57% voted against the tentative agreement. Tyson Matheson, vice-president, Inflight for WestJet, commented: "We are obviously disappointed with the results of the vote. We believe we brought forward an agreement that balanced the needs of our flights attendants with those of the business. I have no doubt that we will come together to resolve the issues that led to these results. I thank our flight attendants for their voice in...
Air Canada Wants Your Help
Air Canada is asking Canadians to help select the winner of the Air Canada Athlete of the Year Award 2014. Voters can now go to http://athleteoftheyear.aircanada.com and vote for one of three finalists for the award who were chosen for demonstrating a drive for excellence, leadership and integrity. The voting ends Dec. 6 with the winner to be announced Dec. 12. “Being an Olympian requires ongoing commitment and by recognizing such leadership and dedication among our nation's athletes we hope to inspire them in their quest for excellence leading up to the next Olympic Games,”...
In The Zone
Air Canada has unveiled details of a new “zonal” boarding program that it will be rolling out in mid-December for all Air Canada, Air Canada rouge and Air Canada Express flights. At that time, zones will be printed on all Air Canada issued boarding passes and all boarding passes issued by other airlines who support printing boarding groups on their current boarding pass. Customers with boarding passes issued by other airlines who do not support printing zone numbers will board in the last zone to be called unless otherwise entitled to board in Zone 1 or 2 (similar to the process...
Good Luck Bryan, Welcome Jane
Jane Clementino will be taking over as WestJet's director of agency sales from Bryan Wolfenden on Nov. 24, 2014. Wolfenden, who has been with WestJet for 12 years and in the airline business for 35 years, recently announced that he was retiring as of Jan. 12, 2015. Clementino joins WestJet from Sears Canada where, over the past 6 years, she has had a number of roles. In the last 2 years, Clementino has been divisional vice-president of store sales and operations and associate vice-president, business development, training and operations for Sears Hometown. Before joining Sears, she...
Meeting The Challenges
As IATA sees it, continuous safety enhancement, the availability of cost-efficient infrastructure and environmental responsibility are critical factors in ensuring that Asia-Pacific continues to realize the enormous economic and social benefits of air connectivity. IATA's director general and CEO, Tony Tyler observed, during his keynote address at the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines Assembly of Presidents in Tokyo recently, that: “It is no understatement to say that air connectivity underpins modern economies. Aviation and aviation-enabled tourism accounts for over 24 million...
Thomas Cook Group Airlines, Amadeus Team Up
Amadeus and Thomas Cook group airlines have signed an agreement which will see the latter become the first leisure carriers to adopt the Amadeus Altéa solutions. Four of Thomas Cook group airlines based in Germany, the UK, Scandinavia and Belgium adopt Amadeus’ Altéa suite as a single platform to manage reservations, inventory and departure control. By unifying its IT systems across the group, Thomas Cook group airlines will be able to implement a customer-centric strategy offering a single consolidated customer touch point with comprehensive real-time information. Thomas...