Aviation

WestJet pilots are bound for a 24% pay bump over four years under an agreement-in-principle between the company and the union – marking a new standard for labour gains in Canadian aviation, according to one aviation expert.

‘Sun Week’ at Sunwing is back – a week-long extravaganza of big deals, big contests, and an even bigger grand prize. Kicking off today (May 29), travel agents can book their clients’ summer getaways with savings up to 50 percent while also earning the chance to win prizes themselves.

Air Canada briefly grounded its planes Thursday due to a problem with its computer system. The airline said a technical issue with the system it uses to transmit messages to aircraft and monitor their performance, prompted a halt to operations.

WestJet says it will take time to resume full operations after more than 200 flights were cancelled earlier this week in anticipation of a pilots’ strike. The carrier and the Air Line Pilots Association announced a tentative deal to avoid the job action on Friday after eight months of negotiations. However, weekend reports say the agreement could mean the end of its budget subsidiary Swoop.

As part of the second phase of the codeshare agreement between Air Transat and Porter Airlines, the carriers have added more connections, enabling travellers to take advantage of additional routes linking Canada to destinations in the South, the US and Europe.

WestJet and its pilots union say they have reached a last-minute deal, averting a strike ahead of the May long weekend. A statement from the Air Line Pilots Association says union leaders voted to approve an agreement-in-principle, with a membership vote to begin in the coming days.

No sign of a breakthrough emerged in talks between WestJet and its pilots Wednesday, as the company’s CEO deemed the union’s expectations unrealistic while the Air Line Pilots Association slammed the airline for trying to ‘publicly villainize’ its workers.

Air Canada and flydubai have announced a new partnership to give customers flying between Canada, the Middle East, East Africa, Indian Subcontinent and Southern Asia more travel options. The carriers will codeshare on nine markets and interline on more than 60 others beyond Dubai

A new report by the World Travel and Tourism Council finds that Canada’s travel and tourism sector is poised for major recovery this year and is within sight of its previous peak in 2019. If achieved, the activity would furnish some 90,000 more jobs to reach 1.64 million this year, recovering nearly all the travel and tourism positions scrapped during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Emirates recorded its most-profit year ever in 2022, earning US$2.9 billion after bouncing back from the coronavirus pandemic shutting down global aviation. The carrier’s revival matches Dubai airport, which posted record passenger traffic in the first quarter. Emirates has also announced an expanded interline agreement with Etihad, and a new country manager for Canada.

Talks between WestJet pilots and their employer were unresolved over the weekend as the union warned a walkout could come as early as this week. Members of the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) will be in a legal position to strike as of May 16, but first must give a 72-hour strike notice ¬– something union boss Bernard Lewall said on Friday was “premature.”

Air Canada posted a record $4.9 billion in revenue in the first quarter – nearly double what it earned a year ago. The quarter also marked the second in a row where the carrier has turned a profit following 11 straight quarters of losses totalling $10.1 billion. Results at Air Canada Vacations were also “remarkable,” says the airline.

Qantas will launch the world’s longest commercial nonstop flight. It will take QF1 21 hours to cover the 10,978 miles from Sydney to London. It will leave Sydney in the evening and arrive in London the next morning. QF2, from London to Sydney, will leave before lunch and arrive in the late afternoon on the following day after 20 hours. The flights are expected to launch in 2025.

With its focus squarely on rebuilding its network and connectivity at its Hong Kong hub after the pandemic, Cathay Pacific is marking a milestone this month: 40 years of flying to the Americas. The launch of non-stop service between Hong Kong and Vancouver International Airport on May 1, 1983, which started with flight CX800, a Boeing 747-200, not only represented the airline’s first entry into North America, but also becoming the first airline in the world to connect the two cities with a nonstop service.

Porter Airlines is launching its summer schedule June 1 at Toronto Pearson International Airport featuring additional flexibility for passengers travelling between Toronto and Ottawa, Montreal, Halifax, Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary.

Pilots at American Airlines have voted to authorize a strike, and Southwest Airlines pilots are preparing to join them, as unions put more pressure on the airlines to approve new contracts with hefty pay raises. However, the actions by pilots are highly unlikely to lead to walkouts anytime soon.

Air Canada has hiked its earnings outlook for 2023, saying it expects earnings to rise due to an improvement in traffic as well as stronger-than-anticipated demand and lower-than-expected fuel prices.

Porter Airlines is adding the West Coast to its growing list of non-stop routes from the nation’s capital with new service between Ottawa International Airport (YOW) and Vancouver International Airport (YVR).

An Arkansas woman was arrested for allegedly assaulting three Transportation Security Administration agents at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport after a dispute over apple juice, US authorities said.

After decades of protests against a 50-year-old proposal to build an airport in Pickering, Ontario, opponents of the project are optimistic it will soon be abandoned for good.

Air Transat has announced details of its 2023-24 winter flight program, slated to begin on Nov. 1. At the peak of the season, the carrier’s steadily growing program will include over 300 direct flights per week departing from eight Canadian cities: Toronto, Ottawa, Hamilton, London, Montreal, Quebec City, Moncton, and Halifax.

Pilots are speaking out against an aviation industry push toward having a sole crew member in the cockpit. At a news conference in Montreal, leaders of three of the largest pilot unions representing more than 150,000 workers say a proposal to Europe’s aviation regulator aims to boost airline profits at the cost of safety.

Not all of the Canadian airlines currently jockeying for position in a crowded market are likely to survive in the long-term, says the CEO of Edmonton-based Flair Airlines. Stephen Jones made the comments at the Calgary International Airport on Tuesday, where discount carrier Flair is establishing a new base of operations as part of its ongoing aggressive expansion plans.

Congressional investigators in the US say that an increase in flight cancellations as travel recovered from the pandemic was due mostly to factors that airlines controlled, including cancellations for maintenance issues or lack of a crew.

Bell is teaming up with Air Canada to offer free messaging for all Aeroplan members worldwide on Wi-Fi-equipped airplanes. The telecommunications giant will sponsor inflight Wi-Fi services across the airline’s fleet, including Air Canada Rouge and Air Canada Express planes, starting May 15.

Perhaps lost in the hoopla of its approved takeover of Sunwing and tentative agreement with staff at Pearson airport (though not pilots), WestJet’s conducted its first-ever flight to Asia, with WS80 from Calgary arriving at Tokyo’s Narita International Airport on Monday.

Like putting pineapple on pizza, Air Transat’s new promotional campaign ‘Time to go’ encourages Canadians to step out of their comfort zone, at the same time maintaining that it’s essential to travel in order to recharge one’s batteries and escape the monotony of everyday life.