1. When will AC announce the new downsized schedule, taking account the new realities? When will this schedule take effect?

2. Which domestic, transborder, or international routes will be entirely eliminated, and which will have the frequency of flights cut? I know that the answer to this question has come in bits and pieces in other postings, but I still do not have the big picture of these changes.

For example, will AC continue, or cancel, during this winter season the implementation of new flights from Canada to Florida, Mexico, and the Caribbean?

I sent Bob my list of routes to cut and I am sure he will follow it to the letter. Now really, FGII, who on this board do you expect to answer your question? I doubt even the folks in Dorval know for certain. Obviously, AC will not cut routes to the Caribbean during the peak winter vacation period unless Canadians stay home in droves. They will be monitoring tour bookings and make their decisions about trimming these routes accordingly. Where AC has marketing agreements with other carriers, as in the case with TPE, we will certainly be seeing more codeshares rather than AC metal. It only makes sense to use your marketing and alliance partners on routes to/from their home countries when traffic declines. The most likely cuts are capacity, and thus translate into the dropping of one or two flights a day where AC flies several times daily. Abandoning cities completely is a case by case basis, and none of us have access to AC's load figures, so how can we tell you?

While I appreciate your methological approach to raising these issues, you are consistently posting questions to which the answers can only come from Robert Milton and his planners, not from us mere travellers. You are better off calling one of those psychic hotlines than posting such questions here.

Please, in the future, when posting such questions, try not to phrase them like college examination questions for business majors. The most you will get is speculation, and I certainly wouldn't plan my travels on speculation. If you are planning to go somewhere this winter, then phrase your question that way and be a bit more precise.

There, I've said it. After a year of such questions from you and your various usernames, I cannot take them any longer. I suppose you can post any way you want, that's your perrogative on a public board. But if you really expect to get reliable answers, think a bit more and be somewhat more precise.

1. Today, an airline's schedule is a continually changing thing. AC has been changing its schedule daily, as you might discover from posts here -- YVR-YYZ-YVR has been changing each day for the past year, as have other routes -- and newspaper announcements. It is one of the reasons we have not seen a paper timetable published since last fall. The formal changeovers between Summer and Winter schedules used to occur on the same weekends clocks moved into/out of Daylight Savings Time, but this is no longer the practice. Changes occur daily, which is why we have interactive internet timetables.

2. The big picture is that this will be an ongoing process of reductions and reinstatements as customer demand calls for.

We. will. be. happy. to. answer. your. questions. for. a. nominal. charge. of. three. dollars. and. ninety. nine. cents. per. minute.

[PredictionsMadeByMistressFlyoAreForEntertainmentPu rposesOnly AndShouldNotBeUsedToMakeTravelPlans,OfferVoid WhereProhibitedByLawOrGoodTaste]

andrew



[This message has been edited by Andrew Webber (edited 09-29-2001).]

You won't really know what routes will be affected. I would think it's smart to to look at the overall September numbers and decide from there.

Any route that had a load factor of under 60% before the September 11's incident might be on the chopping block.

I won't be surprised to see more flights with connection in Toronto.

The last thing YYZ needs is more connecting flights. Until the expansion clicks in, YYZ is at gridlock at peak hours.

This is a really funny idea...

From this week's YYZNEWS:

Empress:

Any target dates as to when the revised "winter schedule" will be ready to be presented to the general public?

[This message has been edited by FlyerGoldII (edited 09-29-2001).]

andrew

I would think that once they have decided on the new winter schedule, it'll be loaded into the system before releasing it to the public. So if you play around with ITN, you will probably see the new changes before their official release. In the past, winter schedules are usually released 2-3 weeks prior to effective date.

The planners at AC will "release" the schedule for distribution on a Monday afternoon. From that point it goes to OAG and other CRS systems on Tuesday and AC starts to input it into their RES-3 system [manually].

It depends on where ITN/Expedia/Sabre pick the schedule from as to when you "see" it. For the October schedule, it should be there by Thursday, but for the November and beyond I would expect it to be another week perhaps.

At any rate an announcement would be made on a late Monday or an early Tuesday of any week.

FlyerGold...

While I do feel that Shareholder was a _little_ hard on you...I do echo his sentiments.

Dorian