Air Canada Reduces Summer Flight Schedule by Over 15%

Ontario — Air Canada has reduced more than 15 per person Resurrection of overwhelming travel Due to the airport facing long delays and cancellations in the cents of flights scheduled for July and August.

This move averages 154 flights per day off the airline's schedule, already operating at 80% of pre-pandemic levels and hundreds of thousands of passengers. Is affecting. The flights are primarily linked to the Toronto and Montreal hubs, all on domestic or Canada-US routes, the company said in an email Wednesday.

"This wasn't an easy decision, because additional flights will be canceled and some customers will be adversely affected," said CEO Michael Rousseau. Stated in a statement.

"But by doing this in advance, affected customers will take the time to make other arrangements in order, rather than interrupting the trip just before or during the trip.

The slimmed-down schedule is characterized primarily by the reduced frequency of affecting evening and midnight flights on small planes, Air Canada said. Said. International flights are unaffected, except for timing changes to reduce peak flights and equalize passenger flow.

Backed up airports and flight schedules Compared to other global industries where companies are "difficult to restart, clear supply chain clogging, and meet accumulated demand," Air Canada foresaw many of the burdens that are currently heavy globally. Rousseau says he does. Aviation network.

"But despite detailed and careful planning, the largest and fastest recruitment scale in history, and investment in aircraft and equipment, Air Canada's business is also an industry complex and unavoidable challenge. ".

"As a result, we have unintentionally canceled flights and lacked customer service for our customers and employees. We sincerely apologize."

Despite federal hiring of guards and customs officers and suspension of randomized COVID-19 inspections, problems escalated across the aviation industry this month, creating a bottleneck for international arrivals. did.

Most domestic flights to Canada's busiest airports have been delayed or canceled in the past week as the effects of the overloaded international network continue to spread nationwide.

According to analytics firm Datawazo, about 54% of flights to the four largest airports were off schedule in the seven days from June 22nd to 28th.

Toronto Pearson Airport topped the list, with 51% of flights delayed (over 700) and 12% canceled. Montreal came in second with a 43% delay and a 15% cancellation.

The airline says three Air Canada routes will be temporarily suspended between Montreal and Pittsburgh, Baltimore and Kelowna, British Columbia, and from Toronto to Fort McMurray and Arta.

Prior to the change, the Montreal-based company states that it operated an average of about 1,000 flights per day.

Airlines and the federal government are struggling to deal with endless routes, flight interruptions, lost luggage, and daily turmoil at airports, especially Pearson. This is an issue that the aviation industry is blaming for the lack of federal security. And customs officers.

However, in an interview Wednesday, Philippe Rainville, CEO of Montreal's airport authorities, has many of these hires (more than 900 for security screeners) currently deployed. However, he said that delays and cancellations continued. He said the turmoil in overseas flights played a major role in keeping domestic schedules off course.

"It's the result of international flight delays," he said. "It's much easier to delay domestic flights as we fly to major European hubs. Slots are very tight. We have more room in the country."

Rainville before Air Canada's announcement Expected to reach 80% of 2019 levels of passengers passing through Montreal, but peak hours are already three years ago. The airport planned about 16 million travelers, compared to 20.3 million in 2019. For example, a shortage of airline customer service agents that exacerbate delays.

Luggage is a particularly annoying problem, with a shortage of baggage handlers to shuttle suitcases from late arrivals to connecting planes as gates change at the last minute.

Passengers say they will receive an email shortly before notifying them of repeated delays, aircraft changes, or rebookings scheduled a few days after their first departure time. The reasons cited cover the range from the absence of pilots to unplanned mechanical maintenance.