Aviation

Condé Nast recognition, a new member advisory board, and a new app feature designed to facilitate “blind travel dating” for solo travellers highlight this week’s round-up.

Expressing frustration after six months of failed negotiations, the union representing WestJet pilots says it expects to launch a strike authorization vote today (Monday) as contract talks with management drag on. If successful, pilots would be in a position to strike by the long weekend in May.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers in the US re-introduced legislation last week that would create a no-fly list for passengers who are fined or convicted of disruptive or violent behaviour on board an aircraft. In 2022, the Federal Aviation Administration received nearly 2,500 reports of unruly passengers.

The federal government has firmly put air travel on its radar after laying out plans in last week’s budget to speed up airport security screening and reduce flight delays, but observers say there is still much to do to the sector’s problems.

Flair Airlines said this week that it has reimbursed almost all 1,900 passengers whose flights were cancelled after the seizure of four of the carrier’s planes earlier this month, but some customers say they are owed more money – while others say no refunds have come through at all.

Porter Airlines has launched three new routes between Ottawa International Airport and Boston, New York-Newark and Thunder Bay, providing new travel links for the region.

Visitors to New York arriving at LaGuardia will have to continue using buses and car services for the foreseeable future after plans for a rail link from the airport to the city’s subway and commuter rail system were abandoned.

Budget airline Lynx Air announced it is launching two new routes for the summer. The Calgary-based airline says it will offer seasonal summer flights between Toronto Pearson International Airport and Kelowna International Airport starting April 13, and between Hamilton’s John C. Munroe International Airport and Vancouver International Airport starting April 16.

Singapore Changi has reclaimed its spot as the world’s top airport in the prestigious annual “Passengers’ Choice Award” rankings by Skytrax. Vancouver rated a respectable 20th on the top 100 list, moving up eight spots from 2022.

WestJet debuted new technology this week to reduce drag on its aircraft, thereby saving fuel and reducing carbon emissions. The Calgary-based carrier is the first in Canada and second in the world to use the drag reduction kit.

The number of air passenger complaints to Canada’s transport regulator has more than tripled over the past year, soaring past 42,000 as of this month. The ballooning backlog means each case now needs more than a year and a half to handle, spurring advocates and politicians to question the efficacy of the process, even as hiring and funding ramp up.

Heathrow Airport says it has contingency plans to remain open and operational if security workers walk off the job on March 31 as planned. The strike action – scheduled to take place at Terminal Five over the busy Easter Break – will last 10 days through Easter Sunday on April 9.

Federal investigators in the US say an air traffic controller cleared an Air Canada Rouge plane to take off from Sarasota, Fla., while an American Airlines jet was making its final approach to the same runway last month, leading the American pilots to abandon their landing.

Airborne Capital Inc the leasing company that seized four planes from Flair Airlines over the weekend said the carrier routinely missed payments over the past five months, essentially contradicting Flair CEO Stephen Jones who told reporters Monday the company is now 100 percent caught up on its leases after being “a few days in arrears” with about $1 million owing on the jetliners. Flair has subsequently filed a $50-million lawsuit against several plane leasing companies.

The Transportation Safety Board is calling for better screening of heart-related conditions of Canadian pilots. The recommendation comes after at least eight fatal or serious plane crashes between the early 2000s and 2021 – all believed to be linked to heart attacks or cardiovascular diseases among pilots.

As Flair Airlines accused one of Canada’s top two airlines of trying to “kneecap” its operations, an aviation expert says the seizure of four Flair Airlines planes over the weekend points to the fierce competition and high demand playing out in the Canadian air travel industry whereby the “slightest sneeze” in a payment plan could trigger lease termination.

The federal government has approved WestJet Airlines’ takeover of Sunwing Airlines and Sunwing Vacations, but the deal is subject to a host of conditions designed to enhance service for consumers and ensure and bolster Sunwing operations outside of Calgary for least five years.

On Saturday Flair Airlines had four Boeing 737 MAX 8s seized by its leasing company at three Canadian airports, Toronto, Edmonton, and Waterloo. Leasing companies seizing aircraft is highly unusual. A statement from the air carrier called the move by “a New York-based hedge fund” to take the aircraft “extreme and unusual.” It said Flair would use additional fleet capacity” to lessen the effect on passengers, adding it did not foresee any major disruptions to its route map.

Federal officials said Wednesday they have completed outfitting 43 major US airports with technology to warn when incoming planes are aimed at a taxiway instead of a runway.

Airlines that operate in the North – where many residents rely on flights for transportation and goods – say disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic, a Canada-wide pilot shortage and new fatigue regulations are creating headwinds. “With the COVID effect, that took a lot of people out of the marketplace,” said Michael Rodyniuk, president and CEO of Canadian North. “It’s not as attractive as it used to be to become a pilot.”

In the face of recent service cuts and general passenger and industry disillusionment – and a claim that Canada is “years behind” other countries when it comes to digital border solutions – a new coalition of travel and business leaders has joined together with the goal of ensuring that Toronto Pearson remains “a global beacon of air travel.”

A passenger who helped restrain a threatening man on a weekend flight from Los Angeles to Boston says that the entire chaotic episode was over within seconds thanks to teamwork.

Canadian travellers are facing increased airport fees after the pandemic grounded revenues, disrupting the airport sector’s “relatively stable” and resilient business model and causing more debt for airports across the country.

WestJet says it is making significant increases to its summer schedule, bringing more seats and additional flight frequencies to routes across its network. That includes a 64 percent increase in capacity from Regina and 46 percent more from Saskatoon, as well as other western gateways.

Just as Toronto Pearson announced a cap on flight and passenger arrivals, a group of airlines that includes KLM, Delta and easyJet have sued the Dutch government over its plans to reduce the number of flights from Amsterdam’s busy Schiphol Airport.

A Lufthansa flight that experienced “significant turbulence” late last week was diverted to Washington Dulles International Airport and seven people on board were taken to area hospitals.

A travel industry coalition is calling on Ottawa to broaden its trusted traveller pilot program and roll it out across the country. The demand comes ahead of an expected busy summer season, and spring break this month when traveller numbers at Toronto’s Pearson airport are expected to be 30 percent higher than a year ago.