American lawmakers and business officials are ratcheting up the pressure on the Trudeau government Ottawa to get rid of the controversial ArriveCan app. Nearly 1,500 emails have been sent to federal MPs and Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino since the Canadian American Business Council’s new campaign, “Travel Like it’s 2019,” went live two weeks ago, The Canadian Press reports. The online campaign calls on Ottawa to scrap the troublesome ArriveCan app, a mandatory pre-screening tool for visitors to Canada, and to tackle the backlog plaguing the Canada-U.S. trusted-traveller system known as Nexus. Critics have blasted ArriveCan for causing airport congestion Read more
Air Transat
Air Transat is getting a $150 million assistance package from the Trudeau government. Transat A.T. Inc. announced today that it has reached an agreement with Canada Enterprise Emergency Funding Corporation (“CEEFC”), a federal Crown corporation, to obtain $100 million in added financing, as well as $50 million in credit. “In this final LEEFF (Large Employer Emergency Financing Facility) loan, Transat will receive up to $150 million to protect Canadian jobs and ensure operations can continue, despite the company’s ongoing capital operating challenges as a result of the pandemic,” the government said in a press released. “The amount consists of $100 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 Transat is adding Las Vegas to its roster of destinations available from Montreal this winter. They’re also bringing in flights to Havana, Tampa and New Orleans. Starting November 3, Air Transat will fly nonstop to more than 50 destinations across the Caribbean, Mexico, Central and South America, the United States and Europe this winter. “Many Canadians are finally ready to take the trip they have been dreaming of over the past two years,” says Michèle Barre, Air Transat’s Vice President of Network, Revenue Management and Pricing. “On one hand, Las Vegas represents the creation of new opportunities for both Read more
Transat lost money in the second quarter, but revenues climbed sharply as travel rebounded around the world. Transat A.T. inc., the parent company for Air Transat, today reported an adjusted second quarter loss of $51 million. But it said revenues were up $358 million, and that it’s bullish about the rest of the year. “When the effect of Omicron subsided at the end of February, operations and sales rebounded strongly, allowing us to end the quarter on a very encouraging note and generate revenues of $358 million for the period. We foresee a strong recovery and will continue to implement Read more
