“Unfortunately, things are not as usual in our industry worldwide and this affects our operations and our ability to serve you with our usual standards of care,” said Michael Rousseau, president and CEO of the airline. was given on Wednesday. “The COVID-19 pandemic stopped the global aviation system in early 2020. Now, after more than two years, global travel is reviving and people are returning to flights at a rate never seen before in our industry.” Rousseau said these factors were causing “unprecedented and unpredictable pressures on all aspects of the global aviation system”, leading to flight delays and overcrowding at airports. It also pushes the airline to make “substantial reductions” in its summer schedule “in order to reduce passenger volume and flows to a level that we believe can accommodate the airline system,” he said.
Dozens less round trips every day
Peter Fitzpatrick, a spokesman for the airline, told CBC News that the changes would lead Air Canada to reduce its schedule by 77 round-trip flights – or 154 flights – on average each day in July and August. A photo taken Sunday at the customer service desk at Toronto Pearson International Airport gives a taste of some of the long lines that airline travelers have faced in recent times. (Jacob Barker / CBC) Prior to these reductions, the airline operated about 1,000 flights a day. “Three routes will be temporarily suspended between Montreal and Pittsburgh, Baltimore and Kelowna and one from Toronto to Fort McMurray,” Fitzpatrick said. Fitzpatrick said “most” of the flights affected by the changes are outside the Toronto and Montreal junctions. “These will be mainly frequency reductions, which will mainly affect night and late night flights from smaller aircraft, to cross-border and inland routes,” he said. However, he said that “international flights are not affected, with some changes to the schedule to reduce peak flight times and smooth out the flow of customers.”
“It is not an easy decision”
Rousseau, the airline’s president, said Air Canada had done everything it could to prepare for these challenges, but needed to adapt its operations to the current conditions. “This was not an easy decision, as it will lead to additional flight cancellations that will have a negative impact on some customers,” Rousseau said. “But this in advance allows affected customers to take the time to make other arrangements on a regular basis, instead of interrupting their trip shortly before or during their trip, with few alternatives available.”
