Andrew Yiu

Btw, who the heck came up with the name "Tango" anyways? I just couldn't get myself to tell people that "I am flying Air Canada Tango today".

As for why they choose purple, I couldn't figure that out as well! Maybe they had leftover red paint (AC) and blue paint (CP) so they just mixed it up and used it on the Barney buses/Purple Elvis clone. (Or the Purple people eater as A Flygirl said )

Shareholder

But it is very likely you won't be able to get this fare level on the mainline AC once the transition period is over. Otherwise, the marketing approach doesn't work for exactly that reason. Remember, AC will still requires a 14-day advance booking to get this fare level, while there appears to be no advance booking requirement on TANGO. Perhaps this is the "price" you will pay in the future to fly the lowest fares on AC. Less than 14-days out, and you fly TANGO for Q and L fares.

Ken hAAmer

On to more practical matters...

1. What will the airline code be? (Will it share AC?)

2. Aeroplan benefits such as mileage accumulation and redemption are offered, but what about all the other benefits of AP Status? (Priority check-in, Q-miles, etc.)

Ken hAAmer

So are you saying that TANGO will be more suited for last minute business travellers, while Air Canada will be better for leisure travellers who can book well in advance?

FlyerAl

That doesn't make any sense.

BlondeBomber

I don't think this one will earn status miles and Aeroplan miles may be at reduced levels.

Andrew Yiu

What's happening to destina.ca? Seems like the idea is abandoned as Milton is busy cloning low cost carriers.

FlyerAl

Blame it on the nasty Destina woman!

Shareholder

I realize at the present time, the low fare logic as applied to the mainline AC won't make much sense, but I do suspect that given reductions in capacity, the Y cabins on AC itself will be filled from V class fare payers on up, and perhaps connecting passengers from smaller communities feeding into the mainline service. Lots of questions yet to be answered, including interlining and connections to/from AC regionals and mainline.

AC may also figure that TANGO flights will sell out quickly, so there may be no walk up seats to buy most of the time. That will still force business travellers onto AC, at the higher fare levels. I am sure they have demand models which reflect these alternative scenarios. We'll just have to await the release of more details.

Academic

CBC radio mentioned this afternoon that one of the add-on fees beyond food, drink and headsets was seat assignments. So we have $99 for the trip and $10 more to request an aisle seat?

CPwingwalker

Just got off of AC220 YVR-YYC and guess what? It was the purple people eater! Gate agent at YVR made a special announcement but reassured us that it was only the exterior paint job that was new ... ie. there was still a J & Y configuration (ex CP interior to be exact).

Thankfully, I didn't find the tail colour of purple that offensive. However, the typography of the word "tango" on the fuselage is another matter :-(

Agree with other posters that as Tango is launched there will be some interesting months ahead as travellers both business and leisure make choices (or their ta's) about whether to book on tango or AC. Unless AC starts to put back (on the mainline AC)most of the Y and J class service amenities they have unceremoniously dumped in the last 6 months; my guess is that the bulk of leisure and not a small number of business pssgrs will migrate to Tango.

Perhaps we should "unarchive" our threads from the summer before last about "building a better airline". This time to apply to a reinvigorated full service mainline AC that can seriously concentrate on high-yield and high-frequency (eg. folks like myself who fly a mix of V class and full Y class) travellers. Sure would like to see "menu by design" back in J! ;-)

Andrew Yiu

It's still going to be AC... Tango flight numbers are 6XXX series.