Following a summit with the Canadian Federal Transport Minister, Canadian airline Air Canada has released key steps in its Aviation Recovery Plan. Senior representatives at Air Canada met with the Canadian Transport Minister alongside other participants. The steps are vital in getting business back to normal at Air Canada. Just recently, Air Canada announced its plans to return to Bangkok after 6 years. 

In a statement made by Michael Rousseau, President and Chief Executive Officer of Air Canada, Mr Rousseau said, “At Air Canada, we know every trip is important, even more so today as many are flying for the first time in years to see loved ones or take an eagerly anticipated holiday. We are determined not to disappoint and have been long preparing for a travel surge this summer, including coordinating with our industry partners.”

Reemploying workers

The COVID-19 pandemic hit Air Canada hard. During the height of the pandemic, Air Canada was forced to lay off workers. This decision was not taken lightly. In January 2021, Air Canada laid off 1,700 of its workers.

However, Canada’s largest airline announced this week that it had recalled all of its employees who were previously left unemployed. Currently, Air Canada has 32,000 employees, versus approximately 33,000 before the pandemic, while operating approximately 80 per cent of its June 2019 schedule.

In addition to the recall of employees, Air Canada has hired over 2,000 staff to help customers on the ground with their queries. Employees have been reassigned from other bases to augment specific airports, including the cross-utilization of cargo employees to assist with airport passenger operations.

Customer experiences plans

Air Canada has set out many vital steps to aid the recovery. Included in the plan is its new Self-Service Re-accommodation tools, which will allow customers who have schedule changes, delays, or cancellations to request a refund if eligible or rebook their itineraries in a few minutes using Air Canada’s mobile app or website.

A second new policy will allow customers free, same-day standby options for earlier flights within Canada/Transborder regardless of fare brand or booking class

Airport plans

Passengers flying through Toronto Pearson have the option to extend their connection time. This goodwill policy allows customers to voluntarily increase their connection time at no cost for more flexibility when traveling. This policy can be applied within 48 hours of the original travel time.

Air Canada also has acquired additional ground handling vehicles to improve airport efficiency. The airline is also working closely with airports to enhance and expedite the processing of customers throughout their journey.

“As all businesses worldwide are finding, restarting after COVID is an, extremely complex task, and we deeply appreciate our customers’ understanding and patience during these often-frustrating times. I also thank our dedicated employees who are working hard to serve our customers and transport them safely,”

Network upgrades

Air Canada has introduced a Minimum Connection Times for flights from international and transborder destinations connecting to domestic destinations have been increased by 30 minutes for new bookings in Toronto and Montreal, giving customers (and their baggage) additional time to connect.

Their schedule has been refined to reduce peak times at the Toronto-Pearson and Montreal-Trudeau airports by rescheduling and canceling certain flights or reducing frequencies, where protection is available to customers on the same day.

Cre: Simple Flying

Nguyen Mai Huong-COMM