MONTREAL, March 19, 2019 /CNW Tembec/ - Air Canada said
today that it has adjusted its schedule through to April 30 to cover 98 per
cent of its planned flying following Transport Canada's closure of Canadian
airspace to Boeing 737 MAX aircraft operations. In compliance with the safety
notice, Air Canada has grounded its 24 737 MAX aircraft and Boeing has advised
that deliveries of its 737 MAX are currently suspended.
Air Canada Airlines
Customer Service was expecting six new aircraft in March and April.
Air Canada is now updating its May schedule to further
optimize its fleet and re-accommodate customers. Because the timeline for the
return to service of the 737 MAX is unknown, for planning purposes and to
provide customers certainty for booking and travel, Air Canada intends to remove
737 MAX flying from its schedule until at least July 1, 2019.
"The Boeing 737 MAX accounted for six per cent of Air
Canada's total flying, but there is a domino effect from removing the 737s from
our fleet that impacts the schedule and ultimately will impact some customers.
We have been working very hard to minimize that impact," said Lucie Guillemots,
Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer at Air Canada.
"To bring certainty to our schedule for our customers
when booking and travelling, we are revising our schedule until July and we
have taken several steps to continue delivering substantially all of our
planned capacity through our global network.
"Customers who have travel plans between now and July
can be reassured that we will keep them informed every step of the way as we
revise our schedule. We have a deep global network and many partner airlines to
provide solutions so serving our customers and minimizing any disruption is our
first priority. We remain committed to delivering the same safe, reliable
transportation customers expect from Air Canada. Customers can continue to book
and travel on Air Canada with full confidence," said Ms. Guillemots.
Among the measures
taken by Air Canada:
Mitigations
To mitigate the impact, Air Canada has been substituting
different aircraft on 737 MAX routes. This includes flying routes with
similar-sized or larger aircraft. To help provide this replacement flying, the
carrier has extended leases for aircraft which were scheduled to exit the fleet.
Air Canada is also accelerating the in-take of recently
acquired Airbus A321 aircraft from WOW Airlines into its fleet and has hired
other carriers to provide immediate extra capacity. For example, Air Transat
has been chartered on a temporary basis to operate one daily frequency between
Vancouver and Montreal beginning March 20 until March 31. In addition, Air
Canada has leased an aircraft from Air Transat from April 1 to April 30 in
order to operate the Montreal to Cancun route.
Schedule Changes
The airline has implemented a number of route changes to
date, either changing operating times or substituting larger aircraft with
fewer frequencies on routes operated more frequently by smaller aircraft. In
some cases, it has deployed Air Canada Rouge aircraft to serve mainline routes.
The airline is also currently finalizing a new routing for the return leg of
its Toronto-Delhi service, which continues to be impacted by the closure of
Pakistani airspace. This flight will remain non-stop between Toronto and Delhi
but now stop in Vancouver rather than Copenhagen on the return leg.
Route Suspensions
In a small number of cases, Air Canada has temporarily
suspended until further notice service on certain 737 MAX routes where
alternative aircraft are not presently available. This includes flights from
Halifax and St. John's to London Heathrow, for which it is re-accommodating
customers over its Toronto and Montreal hubs. Air Canada remains committed to
these routes and will resume service as soon as possible. It also includes
seasonal flights from Vancouver to Kona, Lihue and Calgary-Palm Springs, with
customers re-accommodated on other routings.
Customer Information
As changes are finalized in the flight schedule, customers
whose flight times or flight numbers have changed can expect to receive an
email detailing their updated itinerary. This information is also available in
My Bookings on the Air Canada app or Air Canada website. Customers are advised,
whether they have booked directly through Air Canada or not, to ensure their
contact information is on their booking to facilitate communication of any
flight changes.
Air Canada has put in place a flexible rebooking policy with
full fee waiver and a refund option for affected customers. Customers
originally scheduled to travel on a 737 MAX can call Air Canada at +1 (855) 550
9010 for information within 72 hours of their planned flight. Customers who
have booked flights through a Travel Agent should contact them for immediate
assistance.
Customers are further advised to check the status of their
flight using the Flight Status function on the Air Canada app or on
aircanada.com prior to going to the airport.
Additional information, including specific changes to the
April 737 MAX operation is provided in the special page Update on flights
operated by the Boeing 737 MAX on aircanada.com which will be updated as
warranted.
About Air Canada
Air Canada is Canada's largest domestic and international
airline serving nearly 220 airports on six continents. Canada's flag carrier is
among the 20 largest airlines in the world and in 2018 served nearly 51 million
customers. Air Canada provides scheduled passenger service directly to 63
airports in Canada, 56 in the United States and 100 in Europe, the Middle East,
Africa, Asia, Australia, the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America and South
America.
Air Canada Airlines Phone
Number is a founding member of Star Alliance, the world's most
comprehensive air transportation network serving 1,317 airports in 193
countries. Air Canada is the only international network carrier in North
America to receive a Four-Star ranking according to independent U.K. research
firm Skytrax, which also named Air Canada the 2018 Best Airline in North
America.
For more information: https://bit.ly/2Ushyco
