Ongoing Crisis in Canadian air travel

[activeStick]

I don't want to go to Cape Breton

[Locke]

Originally Posted by activeStick

I don't want to go to Cape Breton

You'd have to win a Lottery! You're more likely to be hit by lightning than win the Cape Breton Sweepstakes!

Unless we did something like "You won the Cape Breton Sweepstakes!!"

But really, you're not going to Cape Breton, you're going through a grinder to make Soylent Green to feed the Proletariat.

[littlereddevil]

Originally Posted by Macman

Makes you wonder if it’s safe to fly, if they’re struggling with processing people and their luggage what’s it like on the airplane side?

I recently travelled to Colombia.

I had an issue with an overnight flight to Bogota from Toronto that was delayed by more than 3 hours due to "mechanical" issues... but according to some staff I overheard they had known about this issue more than 12 hours before the flight. Somewhere communication fell through and they were not able to locate an aircraft until much later in the evening, despite them having adequate ground staff and their own hangar.

It was a mess in general (and I had some delays in security in Pearson on the way back), but I would just advise you to plan ahead and give yourself extra time at the airport. If you really want to still travel abroad, I wouldn't be scared off doing it. Just make sure you're prepared for any circumstance. Might help to purchase some insurance as well to cover baggage losses, cancelled flights, etc.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by White Out 403

as opposed to us spending billions on these occasional bail outs? and they just use the money for stock buy backs to enrich a small elite circle of ultra wealthy share holders?

god forbid we use the money to help regular people

By ultra wealthy share holders you mean the CPP and various public sector union pension plans right?

[Locke]

Originally Posted by activeStick

I don't want to go to Cape Breton

[opendoor]

Originally Posted by GGG

By ultra wealthy share holders you mean the CPP and various public sector union pension plans right?

And the Canadian government. Part of the federal government's support for Air Canada was buying $500M in stock off of them (though it's now only worth about $350M).

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

In any event, is the ultimate way this shakes out that there are going to be far fewer flights at far higher prices? It already seems way harder to get my normal flight out to BC than it was a few months ago. I guess I'll see how it goes on Tuesday, I'm flying to YVR and then back a week later. It's an 11pm flight so it would really suck if it got delayed.

So a return to how flying was 30 years ago? I can see it. Costs of fuel and labour may be going up for good. Companies are cutting way back on business travel, which has historically subsidized the cheap seats. Probably some targeted GHG emissions taxes coming down the pike.

Air travel could go back to being affordable only to the affluent, with plebes splurging once every few years for a special trip.

[Johnny199r]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

So a return to how flying was 30 years ago? I can see it. Costs of fuel and labour may be going up for good. Companies are cutting way back on business travel, which has historically subsidized the cheap seats. Probably some targeted GHG emissions taxes coming down the pike.

Air travel could go back to being affordable only to the affluent, with plebes splurging once every few years for a special trip.

The cost is definitely going up and will continue to go up. I think the last 10-20 years of air travel will seem pretty cheap looking back on it.

Am I the only one that looks back at what flying used to look like years ago when people seemed to have manners and it was an event? I understand airlines don't work that way anymore, but man, if only.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

So a return to how flying was 30 years ago? I can see it. Costs of fuel and labour may be going up for good. Companies are cutting way back on business travel, which has historically subsidized the cheap seats. Probably some targeted GHG emissions taxes coming down the pike.

Air travel could go back to being affordable only to the affluent, with plebes splurging once every few years for a special trip.

I wonder if LNG fuel has any potential in the aviation industry similar to what is happening in the cruise industry? It is significantly cleaner in terms of emissions but I'm not sure how the fuel costs would compare.

[Snuffleupagus]

Originally Posted by activeStick

I don't want to go to Cape Breton

You're completely crazy!

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Snuffleupagus

You're completely crazy!

It is exclusively populated by racists and lunatics.

It should be walled off like 'Escape from New York.'

[Snuffleupagus]

Originally Posted by Locke

It is exclusively populated by racists and lunatics.

It should be walled off like 'Escape from New York.'

WTF?? did you forget the green text

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Snuffleupagus

WTF?? did you forget the green text

Oh come on! That was so 'over-the-top' that the green text should go without saying!

Although I should mention...the part about the racists is actually, indeed, factual.

Der Spiegel, a leading German magazine, has caused a stir in Nova Scotia after reporting that prominent Nazi sympathizers and right-wing extremists are in the middle of setting up a new radical colony on Cape Breton Island.

https://nationalpost.com/news/nazi-s...-german-report

Just saying...

'Nazi Compound Adjacent' isnt one of the best things to place in Real Estate Listings.

"Cape Breton! Where its just a short convenient jaunt to the nearest Nazi Compound!"

[Snuffleupagus]

Originally Posted by Locke

Oh come on! That was so 'over-the-top' that the green text should go without saying!

Although I should mention...the part about the racists is actually, indeed, factual.

https://nationalpost.com/news/nazi-s...-german-report

Just saying...

'Nazi Compound Adjacent' isnt one of the best things to place in Real Estate Listings.

"Cape Breton! Where its just a short convenient jaunt to the nearest Nazi Compound!"

They obviously haven't done their homework, the people of Cape Breton won't put up with that crap and will sent them to the Atlantic in a dory.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Snuffleupagus

They obviously haven't done their homework, the people of Cape Breton won't put up with that crap and will sent them to the Atlantic in a dory.

Are you insinuating that Nazis arent thorough with their research??

[Ped]

The issues with air travel and delays at airports are widespread and pretty much everyone has a share of the blame.


Transport Canada messed up when Covid hit and everyone got laid off, because once you surrender your airport pass, your clearance gets revoked and you have to apply for it all over again. People coming back to work were coming back with temp passes and could not work in the bag room, etc without an escort.


The Pass Office at Pearson has long been a gong show, and somehow they find ways to make their operation even more inefficient. They want you to use their online system, but it takes hours of refreshing to get an appointment three or four weeks away.


Of course, this encourages companies to book block appointments, which they have to pay for, and that further takes away from the pass office having appointments free for everyone else.


As well, most companies, at least at Pearson, are having trouble because of how they operate. New employees have to come in, work all the crappy hours, and in the case of ground-handling companies, actually do all the work while the senior guys watch. Why work your butt off when you can get another job that maybe pays a bit less but is a lot easier.


Pearson also started charging companies to have employees get their driving license to go airside, which is just added costs for companies when some can't really afford it.


But the airlines needed to cut their schedules long before they did, because none of them have the manpower to bring in, unload,, and load all those flights. Menzies, in particular, which does baggage for West Jet (and also does refueling) is having massive issues.


CATSA knew about their issues last year already, but didn't do anything about it until ti was too late. Now they're offering people two hundred bucks a week if they don't book off, and 500 more in a month. The unions are saying that if they can afford that, they can afford to pay them more hourly, and then maybe they wouldn't have such a problem.


And the government is going around dropping the wrong regulations. Opening up air travel to the rest of Canadians when you already can't handle those that were able to fly? Terrible idea, but at least dropping the vaccine mandates opens up the employee pool again.


Customs is pretty desperate for people, and the problem with Customs is you can't tell them anything or even throw them broad hints; they do what they want how they want it, and no one tells them differently.


And airlines definitely need to do a better job of being honest with people. Several years ago now, the Emirates A380 at Pearson had a catering truck come down on the wing.


They called me, as at the time I supervised the guard company they hired, to tell me the flight was cancelled and they needed a guard over night. I went to the gate, and saw the truck, and as I was leaving, I heard them announce the flight was delayed.


I went back to the counter, and asked them if it was delayed or cancelled, and they insisted it was delayed. But when I asked them why they just said delayed, they said they couldn't tell the passengers that yet.


As I was leaving, a passenger walked up and asked them why they couldn't just cancel the flight, and the agent told him that hadn't been decided yet. The guy pointed out the window and said "We can all see the truck hanging off the plane! We know it's not going anywhere!"


Just sheer madness, incompetence, and apathy.

[Sylvanfan]

The really shady thing is that Airlines sold tickets for flights that they knew they would never be able to operate. Being able to resume previous operations at the snap of a finger was never a realistic expectation given what happened.

Still the way they have handled some of this is laughable. Like many I have some pent up demand to get out and go somewhere. Might need to hold out another 18-24 months and see if things normalize a bit.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by Johnny199r

The cost is definitely going up and will continue to go up. I think the last 10-20 years of air travel will seem pretty cheap looking back on it.

Am I the only one that looks back at what flying used to look like years ago when people seemed to have manners and it was an event? I understand airlines don't work that way anymore, but man, if only.

There’s no question flying was a far less unpleasant experience 30 years go. Not only more space, bigger seats, decent food. But it was kind of a big deal to go somewhere in a plane and people treated it that way. Now it’s basically taking a greyhound in the sky.

[chemgear]

https://globalnews.ca/news/8963838/n...a-incompetent/

New Brunswick’s education minister is lashing out at Air Canada, saying the airline is incompetent because it decided on the weekend to cancel a Monday flight that would have taken him and four officials to a meeting in Regina.

Dominic Cardy posted a series of tweets Saturday, saying the cancellation — announced earlier that day — means New Brunswick will not have representation at this year’s meeting of the Council of Ministers of Education.

“I’m speaking for myself,” he wrote. “I hope Canadians start asking why we pay more for flights than anyone in the world, in exchange for terrible service. Paying for unavailable services isn’t left versus right. It’s called being ripped off.”

[Amethyst]

Originally Posted by Sylvanfan

The really shady thing is that Airlines sold tickets for flights that they knew they would never be able to operate. Being able to resume previous operations at the snap of a finger was never a realistic expectation given what happened.

Still the way they have handled some of this is laughable. Like many I have some pent up demand to get out and go somewhere. Might need to hold out another 18-24 months and see if things normalize a bit.

This is the part that annoys me the most. Just put on the flights you can handle. If they're too popular and get expensive, so be it. If I look up a flight and see a high price, I can buy it or not. But at least I would know I'm actually going.

Got an email from Air Canada today, letting me know I no longer needed a covid test to fly to Portugal and please arrive early to give them my covid test documents.