By Michael Baginski/ Virgin Atlantic celebrated its arrival in Toronto on Thursday with its founder Sir Richard Branson at Toronto Pearson International Airport. The route marks Virgin Atlantic’s return to Canada after more than a decade, linking Toronto and London. It is also the third attempt by the British carrier to fly the lucrative YYZ-LHR route.
Service to Air Canada’s newest destination in Asia – Manila – took flight Wednesday from Vancouver, marking the start of three times weekly year-round service (increasing to four times weekly on May 1) linking Canada and the Philippines.
On a day that Air Canada celebrated the resumption of flights between Ottawa and London Heathrow, the carrier confirmed that its cross-border flight bookings for the next six months have decreased about 10% – though considerably less than some industry suggestions that traffic has dropped by up to 70 percent.
Claiming “Our goal is to fly where our customers want to travel,” Porter Airlines is adding more Canada to its summer schedule. The carrier says domestic flying will comprise 80% of its total network capacity, up from 75% in its original seasonal plan.
Air Canada is adding a new route and boosting frequencies to popular Europe destinations for the summer, highlighted by new service from Montreal to Edinburgh, Scotland. The carrier is also adding close to 1,300 weekly seats to Paris and Athens, and is also extending its peak Toronto to Rome schedule until October.
A mixed reaction from Canadians has greeted the launch of WestJet’s on-board Wi-Fi service powered by Starlink – the satellite internet technology made by Elon Musk’s rocket company, SpaceX. Activated in March, the service now offers free Wi-Fi on 16 of the carrier’s nearly 140 planes, with the airline expecting to complete hardware installations on its narrow-body fleet by the end of this year and on its wide-body aircraft before 2027.
The head of the Federal Aviation Administration told Congress during a hearing Thursday about a midair collision over Washington, D.C., that killed 67 people that the agency must do more to ensure flying remains safe. “We have to do better,” Chris Rocheleau said. “We have to identify trends, we have to get smarter about how we use data, and when we put corrective actions in place, we must execute them.”
A new partnership between Porter Airlines and Pascan Aviation will improve access to air travel across Eastern Canada, taking advantage of Porter’s growing North American network and Pascan’s Québec and Maritimes-focused regional flights. Primary connecting airports are in Halifax and Québec City, with other hubs serving as secondary options.
The union representing WestJet pilots is asking a judge to quash federal approval of temporary foreign workers in the cockpit. In an application it says was filed Monday, the Air Line Pilots Association petitioned the Federal Court to declare invalid a government decision green-lighting temporary work permits at WestJet Encore earlier this month.
The fire that closed London Heathrow Airport last Friday sparked one of the most serious disruptions to air travel in years. More than 1,300 flights were cancelled and hundreds of thousands of journeys were disrupted following the blaze at an electrical substation near the airport. But the incident wasn’t the first – and certainly not the worst – to cause air travel chaos in recent years.
WestJet will launch new service between Halifax and Barcelona, Spain, beginning June 27. The seasonal route will operate four times per week as part of WestJet’s summer 2025 schedule, offering Atlantic Canadians a direct connection to what the airline says is one of its most sought-after European destinations.
Airplanes with standing sections. An extra fee for boarding charged at airport terminals. Even smaller carry-on luggage allowances. These are a few of the features offered by ‘Unfair Canada,’ a fictional airline (based on a real one) with the slogan “where we can’t take you!” and which runs a scrolling banner on its website proclaiming “all flights cancelled because we feel like it.”
Malaysia’s government has given final approval for a Texas-based marine robotics company to renew the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which is believed to have crashed in the southern Indian Ocean more than a decade ago.
A preliminary report into a plane crash at Toronto’s Pearson airport last month says the aircraft’s alert system issued a warning about the descent rate less than three seconds before touchdown. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada released its report Thursday morning as it continues to investigate the Feb. 17 crash landing that sent 21 people to hospital, noting that it’s too early to draw any conclusions.
Porter Airlines is expanding its VIPorter loyalty program, giving members more ways to earn and redeem points for travel. For the first time, members can redeem VIPorter points for flights with partner airlines, starting with Air Transat and Alaska Airlines. Over 2,000 routes are now available for reward travel.
A government proposal to increase the privatization of airports in Canada threatens to make travel more expensive and ‘a bad idea,” says the union for 18,500 flight attendants across the country.
Discount carrier Spirit Airlines has emerged from bankruptcy protection. The budget airline – known for its no-frills, low-cost flights on a fleet of yellow planes – said that its parent, Spirit Aviation Holdings, exited Chapter 11 after finalizing debt restructuring.
Federal investigators looking into the cause of the January collision between a passenger jet and an Army helicopter near Washington, D.C., that killed 67 people recommended a ban on some helicopter flights Tuesday, saying the current setup “poses an intolerable risk.”
Construction is underway at the Calgary International Airport Domestic Terminal building to consolidate all domestic security checkpoints into one centralized screening process. The updated infrastructure will eliminate the need to remove laptops, and permitted liquids, aerosols and gels from carry-on bags, making the screening process faster, more efficient and convenient.
In honour of International Women’s Day (IWD) on March 8, Sunwing Airlines took the skies with two all-female crews on service to the south out of Toronto and Montreal. The annual initiative was meant to serve as a powerful symbol of women’s achievements in travel and the company’s longstanding dedication to fostering an inclusive environment.
Canada has reached a first-time Blue Sky air transport agreement with Ghana, a West African country the government says is a “growing market.” The new agreement includes the right for Canada and Ghana to designate multiple airlines to operate scheduled air services between the two countries.
Effective May 6, WestJet will accept new maximum carry-on baggage sizing to seamlessly align with common international cabin baggage dimensions adopted by other North American carriers and luggage manufacturers, including partner carrier, Delta Air Lines.
A retirement and two promotions will change the look of the looking of the WestJet’s executive team as the integration between WestJet and Sunwing continues: Andrew Dawson has announced that he will step down early next year and Samantha (Sam) Taylor and Tanya Foster have immediately taken on important new roles.
Sunwing reported late last week that it has resumed regular operations following the severe disruptions it suffered due to major snowstorms earlier in February. The carrier further issued claims information for passengers who were affected by the extreme weather events.
WestJet has announced what it is calling “the most significant improvement to WestJet Rewards in the program’s 15-year history” with changes – set to take effect April 30 – designed to make it easier for members to earn, redeem and achieve status.
A number of recent airline incidents – including a Delta Air Lines plane flipping completely upside down while landing at Toronto Pearson on Feb. 17 – has put the safety of the global airline industry in the spotlight. But how often do aircraft actually have accidents, whether in the sky, or on the ground?
The crash landing of a Delta Air Lines flight in Toronto last week highlighted the potential dangers of flying with a young child sitting on an adult’s lap. The plane flipped over, which would make holding onto a baby extremely difficult. Authorities haven’t said whether the 18-month-old child who was injured in the crash was riding on a parent’s lap, but young children have died in previous crashes.
A Winnipeg firm that owns several northern airlines has announced plans to buy Canadian North, the airline that serves the Arctic. Exchange Income Corp. said it made a deal to buy Bradley Air Services Ltd., which operates as Canadian North, for $205 million from the two Inuit organizations that own the airline.
On an average day, approximately 47% of Air Canada’s flights and 46% of its customers pass through Toronto Pearson – the airline’s global hub. Because many of its aircraft and customers connect through Toronto at some point in the day, the airline says a disruption at Pearson can impact flights elsewhere in the system, creating a domino effect that can also affect flights not immediately travelling to or from Toronto.
Amid declining safety ratings for Canada, the country’s air traffic controllers and airline pilots are calling on governments to take decisive action to prioritize and strengthen – not roll back – critical safety protections for air travel in this country.