WestJet and Air North have announced a new interline agreement directly connecting both carrier’s networks. Starting today (July 31), guests can book a single ticket with a connected itinerary between WestJet’s global network and the Yukon and Northwest Territories with single point check-in and through-checked bags for connecting itineraries.
The Competition Bureau says it is officially launching its market study of domestic airline service as concerns around prices and quality persist. Competition commissioner Matthew Boswell says “many Canadians are frustrated by the cost and quality” of air travel in Canada and that he aims to put forward recommendations on how to improve it.
Environmental activists caused disruptions outside Montreal’s Trudeau International Airport for several days last week in protest of Canadian fossil fuel policy. The latest action took place on Friday around 12:30 p.m. when three people with activist group Last Generation Canada glued their hands to a road that connects the airport’s departure and arrival ramps, temporarily blocking vehicle access to the terminal.
Air Canada hosted an official send-off celebration at Pearson airport for Team Canada athletes and delegation members Wednesday night for 2024 Paris Olympic Games onboard a Boeing 777 complete with a special celebratory livery for Team Canada. And the airline promised that, thanks to its ‘Going for Gold’ program, the athletes would arrive “rested and ready to compete at their best.”
Southwest Airlines says that it plans to drop the open-boarding system it has used for more than 50 years and will start assigning passengers to seats, just like all the other big airlines. The airline said it has been studying seating options, running tests and surveying customers and concluded that that preferences have changed over the years and the vast majority of travellers now want to know where they are sitting before they get to the airport.
WestJet and TELUS have unveiled the first step in a multi-year strategic partnership that will be a “significant leap forward for the airline’s inflight connectivity.” At the heart of the deal is fast, free internet for WestJet Rewards onboard flights, beginning before the end of the year.
Caribbean low-price airline Arajet is now selling routes connecting from Toronto and Montreal to Punta Cana, offering Canadian travellers a second destination and hub in the Dominican beyond the carrier’s Santo Domingo base. Service will begin Oct. 27 and onward connections to other destinations in the Caribbean and South and Central America will also be available.
US federal officials are investigating an incident in which a Southwest Airlines jet flew as low as 45 metres (150 feet) over water while it was still about 8 kilometers from its intended landing spot at the airport in Tampa, Florida. The pilots skipped over the Tampa airport and landed instead at Fort Lauderdale, 320 km away.
The WestJet Group, which includes both the mainline carrier and Sunwing Airlines, has announced its complete 2024/25 winter schedule, providing Canadians more non-stop sun destination routes than any other airline, the company says.
As other carriers returned to normal operations after Friday’s worldwide technology outage, Delta Air Lines said it was still struggling on Monday – suffering through a fourth straight day of cancellations and disruptions that have stranded tens of thousands of passengers.
Air Canada is lowering its 2024 forecast as it grapples with tough competition in international markets and its planes aren’t as full as it anticipated during the second half of the year. The airline says it now expects its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization for the year to be within $3.1 billion to $3.4 billion, down from its previous outlook of $3.7 billion to $4.2 billion.
Travel and transport industries continued to get systems back online on the weekend after a widespread technology outage on Friday that threatened to cause travel delays for days, according to experts. Airlines were hardest hit by the global security outage, with thousands of flights cancelled on Friday, and many more passengers delayed or stranded into the weekend.
Germany’s Cabinet has approved legislation that would impose tougher penalties on people who break through airport perimeters, a response to incidents such as disruptive protests by climate activists. The move follows airport protests in recent years by that caused disruption to flights.
Airfares rose two percent year-over-year in June – and continue to soar above pre-pandemic levels. Figures from Statistic Canada’s consumer price index show the increase follows a 4.5% year-over-year bump in May and a fairly flat April. Prices also stood nearly 19% above what travellers paid for their plane tickets in June 2019.
Sabre and Air Canada have announced the launch of Air Canada’s full content via new distribution capability (NDC) in Sabre’s travel marketplace. This launch allows travel agencies to consume Air Canada’s expanded NDC offers and services, enabling them to provide a more personalized travel experience to the customers they serve, the companies say.
ADM Aéroports de Montréal and Indigenous Tourism Québec (ITQ) have unveiled the first space showcasing Québec’s 11 Indigenous Nations at YUL Montréal-Trudeau International Airport. The initiative is the result of a mutual agreement to promote the cultures and tourism offerings of Québec’s 11 Indigenous Nations at strategic locations throughout the terminal.
Turkish Airlines has enhanced its renowned Istanbul Stopover service for Canadian travellers, now providing an extra complimentary night’s accommodation at partner hotels for both Economy and Business Class passengers. This initiative is designed to enable travellers to immerse themselves in Istanbul’s rich history and vibrant cultural scene at no additional cost when flying internationally from Canada with a layover in Istanbul.
Delta Air Lines is changing its employee uniform policy following a turbulent ride through a social media storm started by a passenger’s outrage over two flight attendants photographed wearing Palestinian pins. The uproar over the July 10 post, which described the Palestinian pins as “Hamas badges,” has led Delta to ban its employees from wearing pins representing any country or nationality besides the US.
WestJet Airlines says the tentative contract between the company and its mechanics has been ratified. But though the deal is “good news,” the airline admits that the disruption the job action cause is “still concerning for our guests, the communities we serve, and our people.”
A United Airlines jet from Miami to New Jersey made an unscheduled landing in Orlando, Florida, this week after a passenger became “aggressive and disruptive,” the airline said.
Boeing will plead guilty to a criminal fraud charge stemming from two crashes of 737 Max jetliners that killed 346 people – in Indonesia and Ethiopia – the US Justice Department says, after the government determined the company violated an agreement that had protected it from prosecution for more than three years.
Air travel to and through the US got more miserable last year, if the number of consumer complaints filed with the US government is any measure. The US Transportation Department said Friday that it received nearly 97,000 complaints in 2023, up from about 86,000 the year before. The department said there were so many complaints that it took until July to sort through the filings and compile the figures.
Canadian airlines typically don’t get no respect from many Canadians, as Rodney Dangerfield would say. But how do others see our airlines? Well, they’re not as bad as you might think, at least according to the Skytrax, which recently revealed its annual World Airlines Awards for 2024, otherwise known as the “Oscars of the aviation industry.” So, who are the best this year, and how did we (Canada) do? Read on, you’ll be surprised – and impressed.
WestJet says its operations have “stabilized” after a strike by its mechanics and that no further cancellations are expected as of today (Friday) after eight on Thursday and 30 on Wednesday. The airline says the total number of cancellations due to the strike was 1,171 in just over a week after about 680 workers walked off the job June 28.
The European Commission on Wednesday approved Lufthansa’s takeover of Italian airline ITA with conditions to protect competition in a deal that Italy’s finance minister called “historic.” Lufthansa will invest 325 million euros (US$350 million) to acquire a 41 percent stake in ITA, formerly Alitalia, from the Italian government, gaining full control by 2033 with a total investment of 829 million euros.
On a warm Wednesday this month, a cartoon raccoon raised a cocktail glass and sarcastically saluted Air Canada. The social media image, posted by Porter Airlines, included an accompanying toast from the character: “Air Canada has now joined Porter in offering free beer, wine and snacks to all passengers. Thanks for joining our mission to help everyone actually enjoy economy!”
After a wild weekend of flight cancellations and stranded passengers caused by WestJet mechanics going on strike on Friday, ACTA is urging the airline to fairly compensate travel advisors for their “countless hours” working on behalf of clients during the disruption – which was resolved by Monday, though more cancellations were expected this week as the airline re-engages its fleet.
A new air transport agreement between Canada and Argentina promises to increase air service between the two countries. The arrangement updates and expands policies negotiated in 1979 and goes into effect immediately. Argentina is Canada’s second-oldest travel market in South America, after Peru.
Halifax Stanfield International Airport will receive an $18-million upgrade to its international connections facility – improvements that officials hope will attract more international flights to the Nova Scotia facility.
WestJet has reached a deal with its mechanics to end a strike that had disrupted the travel plans of tens of thousands of travellers over the Canada Day long weekend. However, the airline has warned that there will still be flight disruptions in the week ahead as its planes are brought back into service.