Starting in June 2024, Air Canada will offer new summer seasonal service to Stockholm, with three weekly flights from Montreal and two weekly flights from Toronto. The strategic expansion of its route network in Scandinavia will also see increased capacity on its year-round Copenhagen flights from Toronto and an earlier seasonal start from Montreal.
The recent attempt by an off-duty pilot to shut down the engines of a US airliner in midflight highlights the threat that insiders pose to aviation safety with their ability to go where passengers are prohibited. Events like the one on Horizon Air jetliner are very rare, but they are potentially devastating.
Air Transat is getting creative with this weekend’s daylight savings time change, giving Ontarians a chance to win an all-inclusive trip to Jamaica. But only those who are out and about between 1 and 2 a.m. on Nov. 5 – just after the clocks are set back and an hour “lost” – and who spot a digital billboard with a QR code displayed for contest entry.
A Delta Air Lines pilot has been indicted for allegedly threatening to shoot the plane’s captain if the captain diverted the flight because of a passenger who needed medical attention. The man has been charged with interference with a flight crew – a felony offence punishable for 20 years in prison. Delta says the man no longer works for the airline.
Despite his 20-month tenure at WestJet being “quite a roller coaster for sure” through the pandemic and its aftermath, WestJet CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech is enthused about his prospects for the company, for which he boldly proclaims, “We want to be the national leisure champions for Canada from coast to coast.”
Air Canada says the country’s passenger rights overhaul will hardly hurt its bottom line, though the full effect won’t be known until implementation next year. The financial impact of regulatory changes – both rights reforms and stricter rules around pilots’ shift length and rest periods – would put “additive pressure” on costs, the airline’s chief financial officer John Di Bert said,
but added, “certainly those would be incremental to the current cost base.”
Commercial operations have begun at Cambodia’s newest and biggest airport, designed to serve as an upgraded gateway to the country’s major tourist attraction, the centuries-old Angkor Wat temple complex in the northwestern province of Siem Reap.
So long, Swoop, it was nice knowin’ ya. WestJet’s “ultra-not-expensive” airline said farewell on Saturday, completing its last day of operations before joining WestJet’s mainline fleet as part of the company’s evolutionary growth plans that now sees it moving on to integrating newly purchased Sunwing Airlines as well.
Air Canada’s inaugural service from Vancouver to Dubai took flight on the weekend linking Western Canada with the Middle East with four-times weekly service aboard Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft.
The airline boss who suggested that women can’t run airlines and called American carriers “crap” and that their passengers were “always being served by grandmothers” is stepping down. Qatar Airways Group chief executive Akbar Al Baker is retiring after 27 years leading the company – a tenure during which he forged a reputation as being one of the most outspoken leaders in the airline industry.
Air Transat will offer non-stop service between Montreal and Marrakech, Morocco, starting next June, making it the only airline in North America to offer non-stop flights to the Moroccan city. It is also the first-ever venture to Africa for the airline and represents what it calls a “strategic shift” in operations.
Lynx Air (Lynx) is adding Mexico to its international roster, with service to Cancun from Toronto Pearson set to take off Feb. 15. The Mexican tourism mecca is the ultra low-cost carrier’s first destination in the country and marks its third country in a growing network that will now feature 18 destinations.
An off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot who tried to cut the engines on a Horizon Air regional jet midflight told police after his arrest that he believed he was having a nervous breakdown, thought he was dreaming when he pulled fire handles in the cockpit, and that he had experimented with psychedelic mushrooms recently as his mental health worsened, according to a federal complaint made public Tuesday.
A pilot’s-eye view of the take-off due to new exterior cameras connected to the aircraft’s seatback entertainment system is just one of the features on Air Canada’s upgraded Airbus A321, which the carrier unveiled to passengers on flight AC692 on the weekend.
Delta Air Lines is backtracking slightly on changes it previously announced in its frequent-flyer program, but it still plans to reshape SkyMiles to favour big spenders over customers who take the most flights.
Porter Airlines will launch daily flights between Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) and Las Vegas Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) starting March 5, 2024. The destination will officially mark Porter’s 17th route from Toronto Pearson since starting operations at YYZ in 2023.
Spirit Airlines cancelled about 100 flights on Friday after pulling some planes out of service for inspections, and the airline expected the disruptions to last several days. The US carrier is telling customers to check the status of their flight before going to the airport.
With Air Canada flights starting this winter and a new Sandals resort set to open in the spring, there’s a buzz about Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, an idyllic Caribbean destination that has flown under the radar from Canada somewhat in the past, but is poised for major growth from this market, and elsewhere.
Sick of the rush and crush when boarding a plane? United Airlines says that it will start boarding passengers in economy class with window seats first effective Oct. 26, a move it says will speed up boarding times for flights. The plan, known as WILMA – for window, middle and aisle – was tested at four domestic locations and one hub and was deemed to shave up to two minutes of boarding time.
Count Calgary among Porter Airlines’ new destinations from Ottawa, with the airline announcing that flights between the cities will start on Feb. 14. The service is Porter’s latest expansion into Western Canada from the Capital, complementing existing flights to Vancouver and Edmonton.
Malaysian budget carrier MYAirline has suspended operations, citing financial pressures less than 11 months after it took to the skies. The cancellation of the airline’s 40 flights stranded thousands of passengers.
To better accommodate the growing Canada-Panama market and to support tourism, the two countries have announced an expanded agreement that will allow airlines to introduce more flight options and routings. Each country’s airlines are now able to operate a total of 14 passenger flights per week, and an unlimited number of all-cargo flights – up from nine flights per week for passenger and/or all-cargo services.
Acknowledging that there has been some “confusion and speculation” in the travel trade over its recent announcement that it would be mothballing its travel agent booking channel effective Oct. 24, the WestJet has issued a statement aimed at clarifying the situation and its plan to introduce an alternative by early next year.
Travelport and Air Canada have renewed their content distribution agreement. Notably, the multi-year agreement will feature a full range of New Distribution Capability (NDC) content and end-to-end servicing of NDC bookings to help agencies easily manage trip changes and exchanges – a development the airline calls the “next step” in the evolution of its distribution capabilities.
Major airlines including Air Canada have suspended flights in and out of Israel after the nation declared war following a massive attack by Hamas. Israel hit more than 1,000 targets in Gaza and Palestinian militants continued firing barrages of rockets, setting off air raid sirens in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Video posted online appeared to show a plume of smoke near a terminal at Ben Gurion International Airport.
Reflecting a “significant recovery” in air travel by Canadians – particularly to destinations South and to Europe, Air Transat has revealed its 2024 summer flight program from Toronto. In 2024, the airline is offering six more weekly flights to Europe and seven more weekly flights to the South.
WestJet is halting flights between Toronto and Montreal for the winter in a continuation of its retreat from short-haul routes in Eastern Canada to retrench in the West. The route will be suspended for six months, starting late October and resuming in late April.
United Airlines has agreed to improve air travel for passengers in wheelchairs after the US federal government investigated a complaint by a disability-rights advocate. United and the Transportation Department said last week that the airline will add a filter to the booking tool on its website to help consumers find flights on which the plane can more easily accommodate their wheelchairs.
Porter Airlines is launching its first two western US destinations in California with daily roundtrip service connecting Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and San Francisco International Airport (SFO) to Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ).
Aviation companies are making the pitch to Ottawa that stricter rules designed to boost customer compensation and improve service could put passenger safety at risk – an argument consumer advocates reject. The push, made in regulatory submissions and meetings on Parliament Hill, comes on the heels of sweeping reforms to the passenger rights charter announced in April and currently being hashed out by Canada’s transport regulator before going into effect next year.