7635 replies to this topic

[aastra]

 

(Billie) Holiday travelers will be forced to go Miles (Davis) out of their way and you're jazzed about it? Seems a bit felonious (Thelonious Monk). Maybe you should Take Five (Dave Brubeck) for a while.

 

That's very clever, aastra.

Edited by aastra, 10 December 2022 - 09:46 PM.

[vortoozo]

Jazz is not owned by Air Canada as an FYI. It is owned by Chorus Aviation.

 

Decisions on routes & scheduling are made by Air Canada. Chorus operates the planes.

[Victoria Watcher]

[Mike K.]

The true Queen of the Skies. Nothing can touch that design.

[Victoria Watcher]

What a run! 1969/70 until today.

(First flight / first in paid service)

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 07 December 2022 - 03:18 PM.

[Hotel Mike]

Queen of the Skies indeed. I've had the good fortune to have flown to Asia and Europe in the first class section up top. Pretty fricking awesome.

[Victoria Watcher]

Porter Airlines has announced an aggressive expansion plan, one that will see the Toronto-based regional airline start flying new routes out of Canada's biggest airport to destinations farther away than the airline has ever flown before.

 

The airline, whose base of operations is at Billy Bishop Airport on Toronto Island, has announced new routes flying out of the city's Pearson airport.

 

For the first time ever, Porter will offer flights from Toronto to Vancouver — the longest route the airline has offered in its 16-year history. The route has been made possible because of the airline's recent acquisition of 50 Embraer E195-E2 jets.

 

 

 

https://www.cbc.ca/n...arson-1.6678658

 

 

 

Round-trip fares will start at $248.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 16 December 2022 - 07:57 AM.

[Mike K.]

Good for them!

[vortoozo]

Good for them!

 

I find it to be an odd choice of routes. Toronto - Vancouver/Calgary/Edmonton, which were all announced over the past week are some of the most competitive routes in Canada. Everyone and their dog is battling it out on those routes. Air Canada, Westjet, Flair, Swoop, Lynx, Canada Jetlines and Air Transat all provide service on most of the three announced Western routes.

And Porter will have no compelling advantage over the other low cost carriers. They're charging for a carry on at their lowest fare. Meals are available, but at a cost. No business class or lounges. No PTVs. Etc.

Why spend $248 roundtrip on Porter when you can probably find it for half that price on one of the other carriers? A complimentary can of beer seems to be the only thing that sets them apart.

[spanky123]

I find it to be an odd choice of routes. Toronto - Vancouver/Calgary/Edmonton, which were all announced over the past week are some of the most competitive routes in Canada. Everyone and their dog is battling it out on those routes. Air Canada, Westjet, Flair, Swoop, Lynx, Canada Jetlines and Air Transat all provide service on most of the three announced Western routes.

And Porter will have no compelling advantage over the other low cost carriers. They're charging for a carry on at their lowest fare. Meals are available, but at a cost. No business class or lounges. No PTVs. Etc.

Why spend $248 roundtrip on Porter when you can probably find it for half that price on one of the other carriers? A complimentary can of beer seems to be the only thing that sets them apart.

 

Well if Porter offers connections to its other flights then that would remove all other competitors with the exception of Westjet and AC.

[Mike K.]

I would imagine, that there may be a certain level of benefit by not flying on one of the two big carriers, and not having to deal with the shenanigans of the ULCCs. 

[Victoria Watcher]

Those are the routes with the most people. I’m not sure Abbotsford and Hamilton and St. John were ever the best strategy.

[vortoozo]

Well if Porter offers connections to its other flights then that would remove all other competitors with the exception of Westjet and AC.

 

The only connections at YYZ would be a handful of daily flights to Montreal & Ottawa. All their other flights operate from the Island Airport.

[vortoozo]

Those are the routes with the most people. I’m not sure Abbotsford and Hamilton and St. John were ever the best strategy.

 

It's a finite number of people.

[Victoria Watcher]

They are buying/leasing 50-70 jets. Presumably they have big plans.

[vortoozo]

They are buying/leasing 50-70 jets. Presumably they have big plans.

 

Flair is also planning on growing to 50 (they're currently around 28).

That's a LOT of new capacity leading into a likely recession.

Meanwhile AC & WS are pulling back because they're finding that there already is overcapacity.

100 extra planes in the market (never mind the other guys) might work OK in July & August and a couple weeks in December, but what about the rest of the year?

This isn't going to work out well for a lot of airline investors.

Edited by vortoozo, 16 December 2022 - 03:45 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

How to make millions of dollars running an airline?

Start with billions.

[Mike K.]

To answer the earlier question about AC’s YYJ-CGY flights, Jacques Cadé reached out to Air Canada, and this was their response:

“Air Canada has made some changes to its network to/from Calgary. We are continuing to rebuild our business in a prudent and disciplined way and that means looking at every aspect of our network and deploying our resources where they will be most productive. After careful review, we have made the difficult decision to suspend some regional routes from Calgary airport effective mid-Jan. 2023 including the Victoria-Calgary non-stop flights, which is able to be served with a connection via our Vancouver hub.“

The last flight will be on the 15th of January.

This leaves Westjet, Flair and Lynx as the direct connections to Calgary.

Thank you for the info, Jacques!

[Jacques Cadé]

^ You are welcome. BTW, the IATA airport code for Calgary is YYC.

Edited by Jacques Cadé, 16 December 2022 - 06:26 PM.

[vortoozo]

The last flight will be on the 15th of January.
 

 

Air Canada is closing the Jazz base in Calgary. There will only be a handful of remaining regional flying in Alberta, likely with Vancouver based crews and aircraft. Calgary to Fort McMurray & Grand Prairie, for instance, at a reduced schedule.

 

The whole list of routes impacted:

Calgary – Castlegar 

Calgary – Fort St. John

Calgary – Kamloops 

Calgary – Lethbridge 

Calgary – Medicine Hat

Calgary – Nanaimo 

Calgary – Regina 

Calgary – Saskatoon 

Calgary – Victoria

Calgary – Yellowknife 

Edmonton – Fort McMurray

Edmonton – Grande Prairie

Edmonton – Kelowna 

Edmonton – Ottawa 

Edmonton – Saskatoon 

Edmonton – Winnipeg 

 

This is part of a rethink of the network for a number of reasons, some of which we've already discussed here. Westjet already planned to retreat from the east to focus on the west; increased competition from WS & the discount carriers is part of the reason. Additionally, limited resources such as staffing and aircraft retirements also contributed. No doubt they want to avoid a mess like last summer. I'm sure the likelihood of an upcoming recession also played a role.

 

More details on AC's summer plans here: Air Canada NS23 Domestic Frequency Changes – 11DEC22 — AeroRoutes

It ain't pretty.