Air Canada has flown more than 100,000 customers in a single day for the first time since early in the pandemic as passenger loads continue to rebound with customers returning to travel. “We were very pleased to have had 100,701 customers board our planes on April 15, 2022, as travellers steadily return,” said Kevin O’Connor, Vice President of Air Canada’s Systems Operations Control, which manages the airline’s daily operation. “Clearly there is a pent-up demand for travel that is matched only by our enthusiasm to welcome back our customers. “It is also significant that we passed this milestone smoothly, indicating Read more
pandemic
WestJet is celebrating a milestone in recovery with its highest single-day guest count since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, the airline is expected to fly an estimated 48,000 guests on more than 450 flights. “Today’s milestone is a direct reflection of our guest’s desire to return to the skies and their renewed confidence in air travel,” said Alexis von Hoensbroech, CEO of WestJet. “This is a strong signal for demand and the recovery of our industry as we look ahead to the busy summer travel season.” This summer, WestJet is set to return its network to near pre-pandemic levels, Read more
Canada’s chief health officer says provincial vaccine passports and other health measures need to be “re-examined” as Canada deals with the Omicron variant. Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam said Friday that Canada needs to find a more “sustainable” way to deal with COVID-19 and that all existing public health policies, including provincial vaccine passports, need to be “re-examined” in the coming weeks, the CBC reports. “What we need to do going forward, as we emerge out of this Omicron wave, is recognize this virus is not going to disappear,” she said. “We do need to get back to Read more
A rebound will come some day. But I think it will take quite a long time before travel is back to normal. Given what’s been happening with social or physical distancing, we’re not going to flick a switch on July 1 (or whenever) and go back to crowded airports and jam-packed airplanes. Some things will simply have to change. Writing in the Globe and Mail recently, esteemed urbanist Richard Florida talked about new ways being needed to run airport check-in counters, baggage carousels and airlines themselves. Further to that, Delta Airlines today issued a statement saying that, starting April 13 Read more
