hsi.chang

See http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/000531/new_busine.html

Interesting note on the "interline" comment. CP's Oneworld replacement ?

ALW

"targeted to Canadian business travelers seeking a strong value proposition"

I can't tell from the article whether they're talking about an all-J service (unlikely, with A320s and A330s), or an "Economy Plus" service, or just cheap last-minute tickets. It will be interesting to see. If they can hand out FF miles of some kind (AA maybe?) they might get some loyalty (only larger cities to be served, though).

andrew

hsi.chang

Further newspaper articles in the Toronto media today indicates that they are offering 2-class service. Their point of "Business" meant that they will offer J seats as well, and being the other other airline in Canada to do so. The CEO further mentioned that they will be "modelling" after the Virgin Atlantic Airways type of service. Good news if you travel between major Canadian cities.

ALW

Thanks for the additional info! I guess compared to Royal ("The Airline of Business People") and C3K, having economy seat-pitch comparable even to NW or CO would be an improvement! (So sad).

andrew

hsi.chang

This is taking corporate sponsorship to a new level !!!

It's called: RootsAir !!!

See http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/000607/sky_servic.html

Can you see Roots sweater as part of the J class amenity kit ?

ALW

If they're going to offer interline services, any guess on the chance of them giving out AA points? (Or even the AS approach of multiple carriers)?

andrew

A Flygirl

Hints given by management at employee meetings held last week hinted at possibly joining oneworld. This from a friend that works for them and attended one of the information sessions. I guess AC is getting a lot more competition than anyone expected 6 months ago.

hsi.chang, lol over your comment on the roots style uniform. Add to that ball caps worn backwards

They already have a website up. Link is:
http://www.rootsair.com

ALW

Pretty website, still no content though (no surprise). That Roots beaver on the fuselage is cute (could lead to some interesting but crude advertising campaigns -- an 00s update of the 70s "tail" campaigns?) and looks like it belongs there. Although it also looks like it's about to be sucked into the engine!

It's interesting that one of the arguments against allowing foreign carriers to operate in Canada, is that they'd cherry-pick the busy airports and routes and ignore smaller communities. Of course so will RootsAir and any other Canadian startup.

Their press release says the first American destination will be LA. From Toronto that was an obvious hole in CP/AA's route system (for me LAX is a connection no matter what, but for someone in Toronto, there was only one direct carrier, and if I wanted a comfortable stopover in Toronto I had to fly AC -- of course I flew CP and added yet another segment!).

andrew

hsi.chang

Not a joke anymore, the flight crew WILL be wearing Roots outfit, apperantly modeled during the press conference yesterday. As well, further reports in the Toronto Star and the Globe and Mail indicate that they will have a FF program. Also hint of FF partners.

Was Wardair like this when it was started ? I just remember flying YYZ-YVR with them in Economy, and the service and food was unbelievable.

Shareholder

Wardair's domestic (and international) business class scheduled service was much better than AC's domestic first class at the time (in my opinion at least), and a tough competitor for CP's front cabin. They had big, international-style seats and served warm nuts and Upper Canada lagers, plus a good selection of Canadian wines. The food was also great. I had a hard time deciding between Wardair and CP when the two were competing, and the merger made things a bit easier. (I still have my Wardair FF program card!) Wardair still had a discounted back cabin, and I believe their J-class fare was the same as the others' full Y fare.

I recall that Ted Shetzen (?!) may have been one of CP's marketing execs back in those days -- he left after the merger with PWA -- and had even gone over to Wardair when that carrier decided to get into the scheduled service biz.

There was always a discounted back cabin on Wardair, and it sounds as if RootsAir plans the same thing, with modifications for a two-class rear cabin (full fare and discounted?)

AA and oneworld would be the obvious FF tie-in for RootsAir, but we should know the details in a few weeks.

What about Dan Ackroyd's harsh comments on AC's front cabin service? Of course, he is getting paid by the Roots people...

A Flygirl

How much they will ressemble Wardair still remains to be seen(as offering a two-class service) but my hunch is it could be very similar. The reason I suspect this is that a large portion of the inflight staff are exWardair employees from various levels and the Wardair concept of good and proper service is what they took with them to SkyService and was a strong suit in their favour when they applied for positions.

The timing in the industry today for Roots to emulate a Wardair style service is very favourable and I wish them the best of luck.

AC*SE

I wish this venture every bit of success.

As partial as I am to AC, there is nothing but good that can come to both companies and the travelling public from some healthy, focussed competition.

The problem with CP seems to have been that they tried to be all things to all people and overextended themselves.

Roots seems ready to compete in focussed markets. The only drawback is that their initial network is limited, offering no choice in smaller communitites, where it is still really needed.

Dorian

Leased an Airbus A320-200 from ILFC to be used by Roots Air.
The aircraft was previously operated by Transmeridian as (N447TM).