The US federal government is fining American Airlines $4.1 million for dozens of instances in which passengers were kept on board planes without a chance to exit during long ground delays. The Department of Transportation said it is the largest such fine against an airline since rules covering long ground delays took effect about a decade ago.
Air Canada is eliminating six major routes out of Calgary this winter, in part due to an industry-wide pilot shortage. The airline will no longer offer non-stop flights from Calgary to Ottawa, Halifax, Los Angeles, Honolulu, Cancun, or Frankfurt as of the end of October.
Dubai International Airport, the world’s busiest for international travel, announced it served 41.6 million passengers in the first half of this year — exceeding figures for the same period in 2019 as travellers return to the air after the lockdowns of the coronavirus pandemic.
The union representing pilots at Jazz Aviation claims that their employer and Air Canada have breached the Canada Labour Code, even as it ratified changes to their collective agreement. Jazz, a subsidiary of Chorus Aviation Inc., provides regional service for the country’s biggest airline under the Air Canada Express brand.
Thousands of airline passengers faced delays on Monday after Britain’s air traffic control system was hit by a breakdown that slowed takeoffs and landings across the UK on one of the busiest travel days of the year.
Canada Jetlines has released an expanded winter flight schedule featuring service between Toronto and Montego Bay, Jamaica, and Orlando – in addition to enhancement to existing services to Cancun and Las Vegas.
Starting in November, Porter Airlines is launching daily service from Toronto to five Florida destinations: Fort Lauderdale (FLL), Fort Myers (RSW), Miami (MIA), Orlando (MCO), and Tampa (TPA); as well as two destinations – FLL and MCO – from Ottawa.
It was disclosed last week that Spirit Airlines has agreed to pay US $8.25 million to settle a class-action lawsuit over its bag fees. The airline was sued by passengers who booked their trips through third-party travel sites between 2011-17.
Chad Blewett is pilot on the Boeing 737 Max for Air Canada, and one of the airline’s first Inuit captains. Here is his first-person account of returning to his home in Yellowknife to help evacuate residents as wildfires threatened the town.
Flair Airlines CEO Stephen Jones says his budget carrier is at last running a smooth operation propelled by high passenger numbers, despite “growing pains” at the debt-laden company that’s still striving to gain consumer confidence.
American Airlines is suing a travel website that sells tickets that let people save money by exploiting a quirk in airline pricing. American sued Skiplagged Inc. in US federal court in Fort Worth, Texas, accusing the website of deception. It threatened to cancel every ticket that Skiplagged has sold.
Building on strong bookings this summer, US airlines are already adding new routes later this year and next, underscoring the airline industry’s confidence that its strong recovery from the pandemic will continue and that planes will remain packed.
Flair Airlines says it is launching a unique pilot training program that will see applicants placed in the cockpit of one of the company’s Boeing 737 jets within 18 months.
Airlines are adjusting prices and adding capacity to help with evacuation efforts in Yellowknife. WestJet and Air Canada both said they are taking steps to avoid elevated prices, adding extra flights and swapping in bigger planes amid the rapidly unfolding situation up north.
WestJet announced the addition of twice-weekly non-stop service between Kelowna and Toronto to the airline’s 2023/24 winter schedule. The service will begin Nov. 5.
Preparatory construction works for the new terminal at Montreal Saint-Hubert Airport has begun, but airport officials maintain that “at no time” will be the operation of the airport will be compromised or affected.
Two years after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, the United States has begun easing rules that could allow commercial airlines to fly over the country in routes that cut time and fuel consumption for East-West travel.
Air Canada says earnings last quarter reached heights not seen since before the COVID-19 pandemic amid high travel demand and pricier fares, and despite thousands of flight delays.
A new report says Air Canada ranked last in on-time performance among the 10 largest airlines in North America, as some carriers in Canada struggle to find their post-pandemic footing despite much better outcomes than the travel chaos of 2022.
Virgin Galactic rocketed to the edge of space with its first tourists Thursday, including a former British Olympian who bought his ticket 18 years ago and a mother-daughter duo from the Caribbean.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced that the post-COVID recovery momentum continued in June for passenger markets with total traffic (measured in revenue passenger kilometres or RPKs) rising 31.0% compared to June 2022. Globally, traffic is now at 94.2% of pre-COVID levels.
New Distribution Capability content from British Airways is now live on the Travelport+ platform, enabling the carrier to give simplified access to NDC content to agents, so that travel retailers can easily book and service NDC offers for their customers.
US regulators are warning airlines to limit the use of an anti-icing system on Boeing 737 Max jets in dry air to avoid overheating engine-housing parts, which could cause them to break away from the plane.
As if there aren’t enough reasons for planes to be delayed these days, a bear escaped from its crate in the cargo hold of an Iraqi aircraft as it was due to depart from Dubai airport, leaving passengers disgruntled over the delay and causing a stir on social media.
Instead of pursuing “costly and poorly thought-out” air travel consumer rights regulations, federal governments in Canada and the US need to “take ownership” of the issues causing “unacceptable” delays at airports across the continent and resolve them, says the director general of IATA.
Canadians will have a new connection to the Caribbean and South and Central America courtesy of low-cost Dominican Republic-based carrier Arajet, with the launch of Toronto service in October, followed by flights from Montreal in November.
Another month, another record number of hours flown, says Canada Jetlines, which has also announced the addition of its third plane. Following a 265% increase in hours flown in Q2 over the hours flown in Q1, the discount carrier says it set a new record of hours flown in July with 622 block hours flown in the month.
Air Canada Vacations has added a host of popular sun destinations to its ePackages shopping tool. Among them: Bermuda, Belize, San Juan (Puerto Rico), Fort-de-France, Martinique, Grand Cayman, Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe, Saint Vincent, St. Kitts, Port of Spain, Kingston (Jamaica), and Mexico City and Monterrey (Mexico).
Edmonton International Airport (YEG) is the first Canadian airport to sign on to a new initiative led by Action Coalition on Human Trafficking (ACT) Alberta that provides translated materials to Canadian newcomers about their rights in Alberta.
The WestJet Group has announced changes its winter schedule with an expansion of sun destinations from Abbotsford, BC, serving the Fraser Valley and a similar transition from Swoop to the mainline carrier in Hamilton, Ont., as WestJet integrates its low-cost subsidiary.