Air Canada ceasing certain routes from YYC

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by butterfly

It might be too soon for when you had in mind but WestJet has one-way Calgary-Halifax flights available in October for $175 each. The cheapest I could find the other way to make it work was $192 though.

It's the cost of the private jet to Cape Breton Island from Halifax that is the issue.

[White Out 403]

Originally Posted by topfiverecords

It's the cost of the private jet to Cape Breton Island from Halifax that is the issue.

By private jet do u mean the dash prop planes?

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by White Out 403

By private jet do u mean the dash prop planes?

Is that all that's allowed in the region's airspace?

[Fuzzy14]

With availability of pilots being an issue, I wonder what sort of investments Air Canada and Westjet make into pilot recruitment, education and retention. I know other industries have programs in place to incentivize potential workers to get trained and come work for them. Would also be interested to know if they avail themselves of international recruitment and immigration options to fill their ranks.

[sa226]

Basically, none. In Canada anyway.

This is pretty unprecedented for this generation of airlines. For 50 years tbe major airlines in Canada have had stacks and stacks of resumes to pick from.

The post covid world has changed that. With travel demand at and in some cases exceeding pre-covid highs, airlines are struggling to staff. New low cost entrants aren't helping either.

Sent from my SM-S918W using Tapatalk

[BlackArcher101]

If one wants to fast track the pilot training for a 40 year old, I'm all in lol.

[Barnet Flame]

Originally Posted by GordonBlue

fair enough. we all assume sometimes, to our detriment.

I will concede that flying shouldn't be something that only the very rich can do.
But I do think it's being taken for granted that it should be cheap, and convenient. People far too often think it's a need, when it really isn't.

I think prices right now are too cheap. Are airlines really making tons of money on a flight across one of the largest countries in the world for only $500? No wonder they're downsizing their flight schedules.

Look at CP. I see many threads and posts on this board where people are talking about trips they're taken and are going to take. I don't think there are any on how nobody can afford to take a plane trip even once a year anymore.

Doesn't sound like price is an issue, so there must be room for prices to go up even more without air travel becoming the domain of the rich.

Just seems like a misguided argument. I think as a nation we've become too entitled to some extent.

In respect of air travel, the one thing Canadians should not feel, is ‘entitled’.

The Canadian market operates like a cartel and relative to just about everywhere else in the world airfares to and within Canada are ridiculously expensive. To the extent, I could fly to LA from London for £380 return on Air Canada via Calgary. But if I just wanted to go to Calgary, the fare was >£600.

The Canadian market is broken, and you’re getting screwed to the point, it is a detriment to international tourism to Canada.

[Sr. Mints]

--

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by White Out 403

Only in this modern dystopia is travelling inside your own country a luxury. We dont have high speed rail, I would love for that to exist. But because we dont, I don't consider affordable access to flying inside Canada a luxury item. And if you think thats a luxury that's a you problem and most Canadians would think your a dick for believing it to be a luxury.

This reminds me of the Simpsons and Burns talking about air travel used to only be for the rich and they didnt have to deal with riff raff.

I agree with the point, the grammar could use some work. Travelling within a country is necessary for many mundane reasons.

The thought of someone describing a Regina to Winnipeg flight as "luxury" is a bit perplexing.

High speed rail would be awesome, and I'm all for taxing the crap out of everything else to build it, despite the fact it makes no economic sense here.

[CroFlames]

Interesting pissing match in the thread.

But also absurd to argue we should do away with air travel in a country as vast as ours and as sparsely populated.

[White Out 403]

Even the ####ing Grammar Nazis have shown up. Incredible

[Ryan Coke]

I’d just like to point out that a gigantic issue with cost for travel in Canada is government created costs to airlines being much higher than in many countries. Air travel is viewed as a revenue source, not an asset to the country that should be made affordable.

The privatization of the airports has been a disaster from a cost standpoint, and there are a number of other reasons from a regulatory standpoint that makes operating in Canada much more expensive than many other countries, notably the U.S. its pretty easy to look at a ticket and see the AIF and security fees, then landing fees and nav can fees that aren’t listed out but paid by the airline. The leftover portion that the airline gets starts to look like a pretty attractive airfare in many cases.

Someone mentioned subsidizing service to small centres, that almost never occurs, and subsidies relate to individual markets offering backstop financing for a particular route, to get the airline to try it and reduce the risk if it is unsuccessful.

Most costs to operate in Canada are the same for any airline flying in here, however there are some (income and business taxes) that could be saved by having foreign airlines operate in Canada, but then the government would lose all that revenue, along with the jobs.

Feel free to hate on the airlines of course, but just be aware that the primary issues is fees, taxes, and charges based on government policy. Even then, I would argue whether the cost of high speed jet travel across the country really is “too high”…..what is a fair price for a highly capital and labour intensive, safety critical service worth?

[Maritime Q-Scout]

Originally Posted by butterfly

It might be too soon for when you had in mind but WestJet has one-way Calgary-Halifax flights available in October for $175 each. The cheapest I could find the other way to make it work was $192 though.

That's $735 for my son and I to fly out. Not to mention the gas and parking to drive up to Halifax. A hotel or two due to time of flights.

Originally Posted by topfiverecords

It's the cost of the private jet to Cape Breton Island from Halifax that is the issue.

Ugh, it's nucking futs

Originally Posted by White Out 403

By private jet do u mean the dash prop planes?

God I wish. There's not YHZ-YQY flights at the moment. NONE.

The YHZ-YQY route is a victim of planes now being too big. 76 seats is too big for 4-6 flights a day, but only 1-2 flights a day doesn't make the schedule work well for connections.

Hell, right now the only flights out of YQY go to YYZ and YUL. I've been looking for a reasonable way to get to Calgary this year to see a game with my oldest. March 2 is the ideal date for me, as it's Kipper's retirement night.

I'd have to overnight to make the trip reasonable. It's crazy. If I drive up to Halifax then again, same thing hotels are killer.

Canada's too big with too small populations for the current global aviation industry.

We're the country that would benefit from a 40-50 seater electric plane. Man, it'd open us up so, So, SO much.

[butterfly]

Originally Posted by Maritime Q-Scout

That's $735 for my son and I to fly out. Not to mention the gas and parking to drive up to Halifax. A hotel or two due to time of flights.



Ugh, it's nucking futs



God I wish. There's not YHZ-YQY flights at the moment. NONE.

The YHZ-YQY route is a victim of planes now being too big. 76 seats is too big for 4-6 flights a day, but only 1-2 flights a day doesn't make the schedule work well for connections.

Hell, right now the only flights out of YQY go to YYZ and YUL. I've been looking for a reasonable way to get to Calgary this year to see a game with my oldest. March 2 is the ideal date for me, as it's Kipper's retirement night.

I'd have to overnight to make the trip reasonable. It's crazy. If I drive up to Halifax then again, same thing hotels are killer.

Canada's too big with too small populations for the current global aviation industry.

We're the country that would benefit from a 40-50 seater electric plane. Man, it'd open us up so, So, SO much.

What's the budget for the trip?

[STeeLy]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy14

With availability of pilots being an issue, I wonder what sort of investments Air Canada and Westjet make into pilot recruitment, education and retention. I know other industries have programs in place to incentivize potential workers to get trained and come work for them. Would also be interested to know if they avail themselves of international recruitment and immigration options to fill their ranks.

Jazz has had ads out on social media about a program where you get direct entry right out of flight school, the only catch is you have to pay upfront and it'll cost you $126k until you're hired.
If they wanted to increase pilot recruitment, try tactics of some other carriers where the airline pays for training, hired immediately upon completion of training, and they have to commit to the airline for a determinant number of years, and if they choose to find work elsewhere before those years are up, the pilot has to pay back the cost of training.

[icarus]

Originally Posted by Barnet Flame

In respect of air travel, the one thing Canadians should not feel, is ‘entitled’.



The Canadian market operates like a cartel and relative to just about everywhere else in the world airfares to and within Canada are ridiculously expensive. To the extent, I could fly to LA from London for £380 return on Air Canada via Calgary. But if I just wanted to go to Calgary, the fare was >£600.



The Canadian market is broken, and you’re getting screwed to the point, it is a detriment to international tourism to Canada.

Yeah living in SE Asia I think it's pretty bad that the only flight from Calgary to Asia is WestJet YYC-NRT and the only Air Canada flight from Vancouver to SE Asia is YVR-BKK. Both of which are new. Singapore Airlines flies YVR-SIN but that's ending soon.

There are some serious missed tourism opportunities here.

[Cappy]

If anyone hasn't watched Wendover videos, he has a ton on Airline logistics etc.

This one is old, but a good start:

Spoiler!

Pricing:

Spoiler!

Airport Pricing:

Spoiler!

Pilot shortages (from 4 years ago):

Spoiler!

And covid issues:

Spoiler!

[fotze2]

Sitting in a plane waiting to take off. Blasting the beach boys in my headphones and watching fellow passengers walk past me. Looks like some girls team of some sort, some parents going to visit their kid. Everyone with a smile on their face for what is to come.

Totally not essential. All of it. We could be hooked up to the matrix and be happier.

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by fotze2

Sitting in a plane waiting to take off. Blasting the beach boys in my headphones and watching fellow passengers walk past me. Looks like some girls team of some sort, some parents going to visit their kid. Everyone with a smile on their face for what is to come.

Totally not essential. All of it. We could be hooked up to the matrix and be happier.

If you paid more than $25 for that flight, you should sue Air Canada, even if you're not flying Air Canada.

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by fotze2

Sitting in a plane waiting to take off. Blasting the beach boys in my headphones and watching fellow passengers walk past me. Looks like some girls team of some sort, some parents going to visit their kid. Everyone with a smile on their face for what is to come.

Totally not essential. All of it. We could be hooked up to the matrix and be happier.

Dude, everyone wants to listen to the Beach Boys not just you. Take those headphones off and crank that #### up! Then take your shoes off.