Originally Posted by
brando09
What in the world is going on with Canada schedules? My IAH-YEG in April was canceled yesterday and they are not showing the direct flight again until the following week. I was under the impression that travel to CA was strong now that most restrictions have been lifted.
Restrictions keep changing, especially recently with the Omnicron outbreak. Have you seen the ON numbers recently....<400 a day when I was last in YYZ in Oct, and they were at 2200 yesterday. Canada now highly discouraging travel with their own citizens...they just reinstated travel testing requirement for those away for <72 hours, and now not only require a test, but require one from outside Canada (ie, can't use the same test to leave and come back). They don't want to 'ban' non-essential travel, but are actively discouraging it.
That said, the Canada schedules that I've seen (and I'll admit...YYZ is where I typically go, so that's what I've been watching more closely) have always been changing. An example, DEN-YYZ was supposed to start after Labor Day, but then was delayed and now starts Feb. 11 (it did run for about a week after Labor Day, but then stopped...I suspect when they pulled it is was too late to cancel those first week or so of flights). Was also going to be mainline, 2X/day, but now scheduled as UAX for the first while at once per day (and I suspect the part that goes to 2x mainline - I think in April or May - is placeholder at the moment anyway). That one flight is also 9am, so west coast connections to it are a bit tough (even out of SFO/SJC, to connect on it, you need to leave on the ~5:30am departure). SFO-YYZ has constantly been pulled back...was slated to start after Thanksgiving, then Dec. 16, then Feb. 11, and last I saw, it was on the schedule starting March 24, initially back to the 2x per day, but now showing 1x, with the eastbound being redeye only. I am looking forward to it, honestly, as its the easiest way back (and I really try to avoid AC if possible).
AC has also been doing similar with their schedules. All I can say is things are going to be changing for a while....I'd guess until the end of 2022, at minimum. I sure hope it is sooner, but if we've learned anything over the past year and a half, its that the virus is not stagnant, and after every outbreak recedes, many predict we'll start going to normal, but then a new outbreak and/or variant occurs and the course changes.