The family of a North Carolina teenager is suing American Airlines, saying that a flight attendant taped an iPhone to an airplane toilet to record her using the restroom during a September flight. Lawyers for the 14-year-old and her parents say that American “knew or should have known the flight attendant was a danger.”
Toronto Pearson International Airport says its ready for the busy winter and holiday travel season, having made a number of operational improvements at Canada’s largest airport. Among them are increased staffing, expanded de-icing capacity, newly commissioned advanced snowplows, and the implementation of cutting-edge predictive technologies for weather and delay forecasting.
Airbus has announced that Air Canada has signed a contract for the airplane manufacturer’s carbon-removal initiative. Air Canada is the first North American airline to sign up for The Airbus Carbon Capture Offer, which uses Direct Air Carbon Capture and Storage (DACCS) technology to offer airlines worldwide carbon removal credits to advance their decarbonisation goals.
WestJet is inviting Canadians to nominate a “holiday hero” – someone who will be working away from their loved ones – for the opportunity to reunite with them courtesy of the airline. The gesture is part of WestJet’s 11th annual ‘Christmas Miracle’ campaign, an initiative the company says is meant to “make the impossible possible.”
Air Canada has introduced a new feature to its mobile app that will enable customers travelling within Canada to track the progress of their baggage and mobility aid in real time at key points as it moves with them throughout their journey. The airline says the new tracking feature is designed to provide travellers with added confidence and improve the overall customer experience through greater convenience.
Citing growing interest in Latin America by Canadians, Air Transat is increasing service from Montreal to San Salvador, El Salvador, and Liberia, Costa Rica, to year-round. Previously, flights to the Central American destinations operated only during the winter season. The new services start as of May 1, 2024.
If it seems that Canadian airlines are announcing or inaugurating new routes almost every day, it’s because they are. And while that’s great news for consumers as the increased competition helps drive down fares from unprecedented peaks at the tail end of the pandemic, as one industry observer stated at a travel event in Toronto this week: “It’s like the old days – there’s too much capacity out there.”
Air Canada has earned two honours in the recently announced federal Employment Equity Achievement Awards, presented by the minister of labour. This is the fifth year that the awards are presented, and this year marks the second time that Air Canada has been recognized.
The first commercial airliner to cross the Atlantic on a purely high-fat, low-emissions fuel flew Tuesday from London to New York in a step toward achieving what supporters called “jet zero.” The Virgin Atlantic Boeing 787 flight was powered without using fossil fuels, relying on so-called sustainable aviation fuel made up largely of tallow and other waste fats.
Citing “highly complementary” route networks, Air Transat and Porter Airlines are creating a joint venture “alliance” that the companies say will transform the current Canadian aviation competitive landscape. To be implemented gradually in 2024, the arrangement will extend the airlines’ existing code-sharing agreement to give travellers access to a broader network through enhanced commercial collaboration and optimization.
A record number of passengers traveled through US airports over Thanksgiving weekend, but travel was relatively smooth despite the crowds, reported the Transportation Security Administration, which said it screened just over 2.9 million passengers on Sunday, surpassing the previous record of 2.88 million set on June 30.
With earnings this year surpassing 2019 levels, Alexis von Hoensbroech says he’s cautiously optimistic about the company’s prospects for 2024. Speaking to staff in Calgary last week, the Westjet CEO hailed their efforts in the company’s return to profitability this year – and announced the welcome return of profit sharing to employees. And despite economic headwinds, he mused that this year’s momentum will carry the carrier successfully into the new year.
Amid what the company characterizes as “cordial and respectable” bargaining, Transat says it is confident that agreement will be made with its flight attendants, who have voted to strike as early as Jan. 3, 2024. The union representing 2,100 flight attendants at Air Transat says workers voted to approve a strike if they cannot reach a new contract with the airline.
The authority overseeing the Montreal airport has announced measures to reduce congestion after a surge in car traffic over the summer prompted a wave of frustration among passengers trying to make their gate on time.
With the expanded international air agreement between Canada and Panama, Copa Airlines says it will increase frequencies between the countries in 2024, culminating in daily service between both Toronto and Montreal starting May 20 and 21 respectively.
Passenger numbers at Dubai International Airport (DXB) this year will eclipse the pre-pandemic passenger figures in 2019, showing the strong rebound in travel after the coronavirus pandemic and lockdowns that grounded aircraft worldwide.
Statistics Canada says airfares have plummeted over the past year, as airlines shore up capacity, even while consumers think twice about travelling in a world of higher costs. In its consumer price index (CPI) Tuesday, the agency said the price of air transportation dropped 19.4 percent last month compared with October 2022.
A parliamentary committee is launching an investigation into accessibility at Canadian airlines, with a focus on the country’s two largest carriers. Following a motion put forward on Monday by NDP lawmaker Taylor Bachrach, the federal transport committee voted to undertake a study on the state of accessible transportation for Canadians living with disabilities as well as the regulatory regime surrounding it.
A new report says the country’s two biggest airlines ranked last for on-time performance among large North American carriers last month. But it’s getting better.
WestJet has announced new, year-round, daily service connecting Regina and Minneapolis – service the airline says reflects its ongoing commitment to providing connectivity to Saskatchewan and further enhancing Regina’s air access to popular destinations. The flights will begin April 28, 2024.
With its latest launches to Florida over the weekend, low-cast Lynx says it is well on its way to its goal of offering nearly 10,000 seats in and out of the Sunshine State per week by December. On Saturday, the carrier took flight from Vancouver to Orlando, while on Friday Tampa service began from Montreal.
A cargo jet headed to Belgium from New York had to turn around mid-flight last week after a horse escaped its stall and got loose in the hold, according to air traffic control audio. The Boeing 747 operated by Air Atlanta Icelandic had just started its flight across the Atlantic Ocean when the pilot radioed air traffic control in Boston and said that a horse on board had escaped its stall.
With the aim of empowering the next generation of women in aviation, Air Canada’s fifth annual 2024 Judy Cameron Scholarship awards are now open to prospective female pilots and aircraft maintenance engineers, with the application window available until Nov. 30.
Sunwing is reporting strong results early in its winter season (starting Nov. 1), in part reflecting key measures designed to “bolster operational readiness” for the peak season to come. The airline says it has already carried nearly 100,000 customers on 600 flights to destinations throughout the tropics – and all of them “successfully completed.”
Overpacking can be bad for the back (hauling around heavy bags), but also worrisome for the wallet as extra fees are now standard fare – including some cruise lines, but especially low-cost airlines, which are notorious for stinging passengers who exceed the suitcase or hand luggage allowance with large fees.
Boosted by a growing fleet of 737 MAX aircraft, WestJet says it’s set to soar in 2024 with the reintroduction of service connecting Eastern Canada and Europe, along with new service to Reykjavik (Keflavik) and new daily service to Tokyo from Calgary.
The Dutch government says it has abandoned, for now, plans to rein in flights at Amsterdam’s busy Schiphol Airport following protests from countries including the United States and warnings that the move could breach European law and aviation agreements.
With travel to and from Asia on the upswing following the region’s late emergence from pandemic, Air Canada says it is boosting its Asia-Pacific network beginning in mid-December, through to the end of summer 2024.
The Israel-Hamas war has not only had a negative impact on aviation to and from the Middle East – the effect is global, says leading travel analytics firm, ForwardKeys. Overall, the report says the world’s aviation market had dropped by five percent in the three weeks since the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7 due to in a dent in consumer confidence to travel.
Long-haul carrier Emirates opened the Dubai Air Show on Monday with a US$52-billion purchase of Boeing Co. aircraft, showing how aviation has bounced back after the groundings of the coronavirus pandemic, even as Israel’s war with Hamas clouds regional security.