- Air Canada (AC) provided updates on its operational improvement initiatives implemented in response to the challenges faced by the global airline industry
- Comparing the week of June 27 to the week of August 8, there was a 48 per cent reduction or 1,160 fewer flights with delays longer than one hour
- During the week of August 8, there was a 77 per cent reduction in the number of cancelled flights as compared to the week of June 27
- As of the week of August 8, mishandling rates have recovered to 2019 levels with a baggage handling success rate of 98 per cent
- The carrier has recalled employees laid off during the pandemic and continues to hire additional workers
- Air Canada, Canada’s largest airline, provides scheduled passenger service directly to 51 airports in Canada, 51 in the United States and 86 internationally
- Shares of Air Canada (AC) are down 0.56 per cent on the day, trading at C$19.61 at 11:15 am ET
Air Canada (AC) has provided updates on operational improvement initiatives in response to the challenges faced by the global airline industry.
Michael Rousseau, President and Chief Executive of Air Canada, commented on the challenges faced by the global airline industry as it emerges from the Covid pandemic.
“At Air Canada, we know how much our customers value travel and their reliance on us to transport them safely, comfortably and without disruption. This is always our goal and we share with them their disappointment that, coming out of the pandemic, the global industry faltered due to the unprecedented challenges of restarting after a two-year, virtual shutdown.”
He added,
“Earlier this summer, I committed on behalf of everyone at Air Canada that we would do everything possible to restore our company’s industry leading standards of customer care. Among other things, this included innovation at the airport, operational changes and significant schedule adjustments and today these are yielding demonstrable improvement in the metrics that matter most to our customers. While I am very satisfied with the progress to date, and I thank our employees for their unrelenting efforts, we all continue to work hard on behalf of our customers to complete our recovery.”
For the period June 27 to August 14, the Air Canada family (including Air Canada, Air Canada Rouge and Air Canada Express), recorded the following operational improvements as it returns to its pre-pandemic customer service levels:
- Flight delays – Comparing the week of June 27 to the week of August 8, there was a 48 per cent reduction or 1,160 fewer flights with delays longer than one hour. The average arrival delay during the week of June 27 was 28 minutes longer than the same week in 2019. As of the week of August 8, this had improved to 12 minutes.
- Flight cancellations – During the week of August 8, there was a 77 per cent reduction in the number of cancelled flights as compared to the week of June 27. This translates into 960 fewer flights cancelled. Flight completion reached 96.7 per cent during the week of August 8.
- Baggage handling – During the week of June 27, mishandling rates per 1,000 customers were approximately 2.5 times the same number in 2019. As of the week of August 8, this rate has fully recovered to 2019 levels with a baggage handling success rate of 98 per cent.
There has been a marked decrease in delays and cancellations for airlines, contributing to increased overall stability in Air Canada’s operations, resulting in better on-time performance, schedule reliability and baggage delivery.
Each day on average, Air Canada currently operates nearly 1,100 flights and regularly carries 135,000 people. Over the summer, Air Canada plans to operate 79 per cent of its pre-pandemic capacity as the industry stabilizes. The carrier has recalled employees laid off during the pandemic and continues to hire additional workers. It currently has approximately 34,000 employees compared to 34,700 prior to the pandemic.
Air Canada is Canada’s largest airline. Air Canada provides scheduled passenger service directly to 51 airports in Canada, 51 in the United States and 86 internationally.
Shares of Air Canada (AC) are down 0.56 per cent on the day, trading at C$19.61 at 11:15 am ET.
