Air Canada Announces Major Reduction In Flights Due To Unprecedented Travel Chaos

Crowd of passengers waiting to check-in for their flight at Pearson International Airport in … [+] Ontario, Canada. Pearson International Airport is Canada’s largest and busiest airport. )

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Air Canada announced on Friday that it “is now making meaningful reductions to our schedule in July and August in order to reduce passenger volumes and flows to a level we believe the air transport system can accommodate.” These reductions will significantly impact summer travel in July and August.

The announcement was in response to growing national and international news reports that put Air Canada’s record of flight cancellations and delays among some of the worst on record in the world currently.

Canada’s Minister of Transport Omar Alghabra called airport issues “unacceptable”

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Lately, Air Canada has also been facing even more criticism due to unprecedented reports of late and misplaced luggage.

All of this negative publicity lead president and CEO of Air Canada, Michael Rousseau, to send Air Canada’s clients an email on Wednesday to address concerns about the carrier’s performance.

The email states that “At Air Canada, we know how important travel plans are. This is even more the case today when many are taking their first trip in years following the pandemic. Whether for long‑anticipated vacations, visits with relatives and friends, or for business, we are grateful and recognize our responsibility when people like you entrust your travel to our airline.

Regrettably, things are not business as usual in our industry globally, and this is affecting our operations and our ability to serve you with our normal standards of care. The Covid‑19 pandemic brought the world air transport system to a halt in early 2020. Now, after more than two years, global travel is resurgent, and people are returning to flying at a rate never seen in our industry.

This surge in travel has created unprecedented and unforeseen strains on all aspects of the global aviation system. Around the world, there are recurring incidents of flight delays and airport congestion, resulting from a complex array of persistent factors impacting airlines and our partners in the aviation ecosystem. Similar effects are being seen in other industries too, where companies and suppliers are struggling to restart, unclog supply chains and meet pent‑up demand.

At Air Canada, we anticipated many of these factors and began taking tangible action during the depth of the pandemic to be ready for a rapid restart. Yet, despite detailed and careful planning, the largest and fastest scale of hiring in our history, as well as investments in aircraft and equipment, it is now clear that Air Canada’s operations too have been disrupted by the industry’s complex and unavoidable challenges. The result has been flight cancellations and customer service shortfalls on our part that we would never have intended for our customers or for our employees, and for which we sincerely apologize.”

CEO Michael Rousseau announced that Air Canada will be cancelling flights over the summer

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CEO Michael Rousseau then went on to address how Canada’s largest airline would respond to these mounting problems by reducing flights. The email goes on to note that “In response, we took a number of important steps, including introducing flexible ticket policies, new travel self-management tools, improvements to airport operations, as well adjustments to our schedule ‑ all to strengthen operational resiliency and to give customers more options. However, to bring about the level of operational stability we need, with reluctance, we are now making meaningful reductions to our schedule in July and August in order to reduce passenger volumes and flows to a level we believe the air transport system can accommodate.

This was not an easy decision, as it will result in additional flight cancellations that will have a negative impact on some customers. But doing this in advance allows affected customers to take time to make other arrangements in an orderly manner, rather than have their travel disrupted shortly before or during their journey, with few alternatives available. It will also enable us to more reliably serve all customers.

Air Canada has not yet spoken about possible compensation for passengers whose flights are … [+] cancelled.

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I can assure you Air Canada is also working in close cooperation with airports, government, and its third‑party service providers, who all are striving to return our industry to pre‑pandemic standards of operation.

We are convinced these changes will bring about the improvements we have targeted. But to set expectations, it should also be understood the real benefits of this action will take time and be felt only gradually as the industry regains the reliability and robustness it had attained prior to the pandemic.

On behalf of all of us at Air Canada, please accept my sincere apologies for any disruption you have experienced or may experience with your travel plans during this unprecedented period. I also assure you that we very clearly see the challenges at hand, that we are taking action, and that we are confident we have the strategy to address them. This is our company’s chief focus at every level.”

Air Canada has not yet explained what kind of compensation passengers with cancelled flights will be offered. For more information, visit Air Canada’s website.