Air Canada and United Airlines have announced that through their enhanced transborder joint business agreement they will offer more than 260 daily transborder flights and two new routes this summer.
The new routes include a new United-operated flight between Washington-Dulles and Calgary and a new Air Canada-operated flight between Washington-Dulles and Vancouver.
The carriers have also collaboratively optimized their schedules (subject to applicable government and regulatory conditions) and added more flights comprising 80 transborder codeshare routes and more than 260 daily flights.
The new schedule represents about a 20% increase in schedule capacity compared to summer 2022. The schedule will include up to 120 daily departures between the airlines’ hub markets, an increase from 101 in summer 2021. Flights will be timed to offer optimized connections at both Air Canada and United’s hubs and line stations.
Air Canada Sr. VP Mark Galardo also notes that the coordinated schedules will provide business travellers with the convenience of hourly service and access to a business cabin on all flights between Toronto and New York and Chicago, as well as Vancouver and San Francisco.
Key features:
• New, non-stop: Service between Vancouver and Washington-Dulles will begin June 1 and will be operated with an Air Canada Boeing 737 Max 8. United will also introduce a new, non-stop flight between Calgary and Washington-Dulles on June 2 on an Airbus 319. Air Canada and United will codeshare on these flights, allowing Aeroplan or MileagePlus members to accumulate and redeem miles.
• Shuttle-style schedule: The coordinated schedule will enable both carriers to offer shuttle-style hourly service throughout the day between key Air Canada and United hubs. The airlines will offer 29 daily flights with complementary timings between Toronto and New York/Newark and Chicago, and 11 daily flights between Vancouver and San Francisco.
• Enhanced Western Canada network to the US: The airlines’ summer schedule also provides increased transborder service between the US and Western Canada. There will be nine daily flights between Vancouver and New York/Newark, Houston, and Chicago, and seven flights daily between Los Angeles and Vancouver. A second daily flight will be added between Calgary and both Chicago and Houston, and a second daily flight will also be added from Edmonton to Denver.
• Customer experience: Air Canada and United will offer business class seats on every flight between their respective hubs. All eligible customers will be able to use Air Canada’s Maple Leaf Lounges and United’s lounges, as well as the benefits of the carriers’ Aeroplan and MileagePlus loyalty programs.
In July 2022, Air Canada and United announced a joint business agreement for the Canada-U.S. transborder market. The carriers are also founding members of Star Alliance and a transatlantic joint business agreement with the Lufthansa Group.
In 2019, the US-Canada transborder market was the second largest international passenger air transportation market in the world and the largest international market for both Canada and the US as measured by seats.