How Air Canada flight cutbacks will affect Maritime travellers, airports
Air Canada is making significant reductions to flights in response to the demand for air travel.
Several flights in and out of Atlantic Canada have been cancelled for July and August to reduce flying at peak times. The reductions are an attempt to improve customer service through fewer flights.
An early morning departure from Greater Moncton Roméo LeBlanc International Airport to Montreal and a late arrival from Montreal to Moncton are among July's cancellations.
Courtney Burns, the president and CEO of the Greater Moncton International Airport Authority, said from a traveller's perspective, what it's taking off the table for July is that traveller who is trying to get to Montreal and back on the same day.
"So a lot of business travellers for example who do that early morning flight and come back in the evening, that's off the table unfortunately for the month," said Burns.
Losing the early morning flight will have a big impact on Jason Bowie who travels to Ontario three weeks out of four each month for business. He needs that early flight to Montreal to connect with Ottawa.
"I had a flight to Ottawa booked for the 19th of July," said Bowie about a three-day trip later this month.
"I get an arbitrary email from Air Canada and they say, 'Oh, we're going to move your flight. We've rebooked you on a flight five hours later. We're going to bring you back the day you come back five hours earlier.' So, I'm missing the entire day going there and the entire day going back."
In an email to CTV News, Air Canada said flights to and from travel hubs in Montreal and Toronto have also been reduced in Deer Lake, Saint John, Fredericton, Halifax and Charlottetown.
Doug Newson, the CEO of the Charlottetown Airport Authority, told CTV News in an email;
“Airlines reducing capacity in our peak summer season is not something we ever want to see. There will be a revenue impact as well as reductions in overall seat capacity and options for travellers, but we still expect to see July and August numbers at, or near, 2019 levels,“ said Newson.
Losing two flights, even for a month, is a disappointment to Burns.
"Now more than ever, people want to get back to travel, connecting with friends and family, having an in-person handshake with a prospective client," said Burns.
"It's disappointing to see the disruption that's happening in the aviation industry as we rebound. I think everyone knew this summer would be busy and recovery would come, it's just picked up way faster than anyone was ready for."
Burns said she's optimistic those cancelled flights will only be for a month and she's been reassured by Air Canada that is the case.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
BREAKING New York appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction from landmark #MeToo trial
New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.
Residents of northern Alberta First Nation told to shelter in place
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Monthly earnings rise, payroll employment falls: jobs report
The number of vacant jobs in Canada increased in February, while monthly payroll employment decreased in food services, manufacturing, and retail trade, among other sectors.
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Metro Vancouver mayors call for serial killer Robert Pickton to be denied parole
A dozen mayors from around Metro Vancouver say federal Attorney General and Justice Minister Arif Virani should deny parole for notorious B.C. serial killer Robert Pickton, and reassess the parole and sentencing system for 'prolific offenders and mass murderers.'