‘Meaningful reductions’: Air Canada says it’s reducing summer flight schedule

Air Canada is making some changes to its summer schedule following multiple reports of delayed flights, disruptions, and luggage sitting at a stand still.

In a letter to customers, Air Canada President and Chief Executive Officer, Michael Rousseau wrote, “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.”

People lineup at Air Canada kiosks at Pearson International Airport in Toronto on June 30, 2022. CITYNEWS/Bert Dandy

Problems escalated across the airline sector this month, despite a federal hiring spree of security and customs officers and a pause on randomized COVID-19 testing, which had caused bottlenecks for international arrivals.

Airlines and the federal government have been scrambling to respond to scenes of endless lines, flight disruptions, lost luggage and daily turmoil at airports, particularly at Pearson, a problem the aviation industry has blamed on a shortage of federal security and customs officers.

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Rousseau said the airline understands how important travel plans are, especially following the pandemic. However, he wrote, “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.”

After more than two years in the COVID-19 pandemic, Rousseau said people are returning to air travel “at a rate never seen in our industry,” and the increase has “created unprecedented and unforeseen strains on all aspects of the global aviation system.”

Despite planning in anticipation of an increase in travel, Rousseau said, “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,” adding, “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.”

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Rousseau said the airline believes the reduction in flights will bring in improvements, but the benefits to this decision will take time.

Air Canada tells CityNews it’s planning to start reducing its schedule Wednesday, on average by 77 round trips per day in July and August, adding it used to operate 1,000 trips a day.

“Three routes will be temporarily suspended between Montreal and Pittsburgh, Baltimore and Kelowna and one from Toronto to Fort McMurray,” the statement reads, “As well, most of the flights affected are to and from our Toronto and Montreal hubs. These will be mostly frequency reductions, affecting primarily evening and late-night flights by smaller aircraft, on transborder and domestic routes. Our international flights are unaffected, with a few timing changes to reduce flying at peak times and even out the customer flow.”

A majority of domestic flights to Canada’s busiest airports were delayed or cancelled over the past week as the effects of an overloaded international network continued to ripple across the country.

Some 54 per cent of flights to the four largest airports were bumped off schedule in the seven days between June 22 and 28, according to analytics firm Data Wazo.

Toronto’s Pearson airport topped the list, with 51 per cent of flights delayed — more than 700 — and 12 per cent cancelled. Montreal was runner-up at 43 per cent delayed and 15 per cent cancelled.

This move by Air Canada to reduce its schedule comes the same day the Trudeau government announced it’s extending public health measures for travellers entering the country until at least the end of September, however, mandatory random testing for fully vaccinated travellers at airports will remain paused until next month.

The feds say they are moving ahead with plans to relocate COVID-19 testing for air travellers to outside of airports and select stores, virtual appointment, or pharmacies.