Air Canada last week announced it was trimming roughly 15% of its flights as it deals with unprecedented demand and airport issues. Their website now has a list of the changes they’ve made, including flights between Toronto and several major Canadian cities, such as Ottawa, Calgary Charlottetown and Vancouver. The list also includes changes in flights to Miami, San Francisco and other U.S. cities. Here’s a copy of what I found posted on their site on Sunday night (July 3). This week, Air Canada announced changes to its summer schedule to support unprecedented and unforeseen strains on our organization. International flights Read more

Ottawa says it’s making progress on Canadian airport congestion and passport backlogs in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal. This week, Transport Minister Omar Alghabra met once again with the CEOs of the Greater Toronto Airports Authority and WestJet. They discussed current and planned actions being taken by industry to quickly bring on more employees and to bolster core operations to better respond to the challenges of rapidly increasing demands as the number of Canadians travelling by air continues to grow. Minister Alghabra will also meet next week with the CEO of Air Canada. The Government of Canada and air industry partners Read more

Canada’s airlines don’t appear to be following Air Canada’s lead on July and August flight cancellations.  Spokepersons for both Air Transat and Porter Airlines told me today that they’re not looking to trim summer flights. WestJet put out a statement around 1 p.m. Eastern Time saying it has already trimmed back its schedule by roughly 20%.   “We have been meticulously planning for summer operations and over the past few months have proactively reduced capacity to ensure we can deliver a stable operation,” WestJet officials said. “We have been very measured in our approach, and are currently scheduled to operate Read more

Air Canada says it’s been forced to cut summer flights by about 15% to accommodate problems in the industry. In a letter sent to customers on June 29, the company said it apologizes for the inconveniences. “At Air Canada, we know how important travel plans are,” President and CEO Michael Rousseau said in a statement. “This is even more the case today when many are taking their first trip in years following the pandemic.” Air Canada officials said in statements to the media that roughly 154 flights will be cut per day, which is roughly 15% of their daily routes. Read more

A top Canadian tourism official says he’s heartbroken over news that the Trudeau government is extending current border measures for travellers entering Canada. Christopher Bloore, president and CEO of the Tourism Industry Association of Ontario, said on Twitter (@ChrisBloore) that his “heart absolutely sank” when he read that current requirements for travellers arriving in Canada are likely to stay in place until at least September 30, 2022. “The tourism industry has NOT recovered. Our border towns and RBT operators are at breaking point. Beyond disappointed and worried for the future,” he said. Ottawa on Wednesday said that in addition to Read more

It’s almost Canada Day weekend. Here are 21 questions I came up with this morning. Hope you enjoy the quiz! What city/town is not in British Columbia? A. Spuzzum B. Ecum Secum C. Barkerville D. Tofino         2. What European city is roughly the same latitude as Toronto? A. Stockholm B. London C. Florence D. Munich        3. Where would you find the Carcross Desert? A. British Columbia B. Alberta C. Saskatchewan D. Yukon        4. What is the easternmost point in Canada?   A. Cape Disappointment B. Cape Spear C. Cape St. John’s D. Cape Read more