Agincourt

Air Canada Jazz...new low fares now online.

ProudEdmontonian

If you like to fly old Dash8's tarmac-to-tarmac with apple/orange juice service from YEG and YYC, then these fares are for you.

If not, then stick to WestJet!

Shareholder

So what? AAEagle flies propjets between Washington and JFK. It may not be glamorous, but it makes money. The days of the YXD-YYC shuttle is long over, and AC is responding in a very approprtiate fashion to the market which now exists: feeder traffic into longhauls and transborders ex-YYC. Fine, WestJet flies 737s and now dominates the route as did CP before it was pummelled to the mat by that same WestJet, skimming off the very passengers that would have kept CP flying. WestJet was the stake in the heart of CP, undermining whatever profit was left for CP in the western triangle, critical to its survival after the Asian economies tanked and its major other moneymaker, the Pacific rim, dissolved.

That's one reason why I just cannot fly WestJet, and which too many old CP supporters seem to overlook. It wasn't just AC that did in CP. Remember that when you board those blue and white 737s...

ProudEdmontonian

It's called choice, Shareholder and a superior product at a lower price always comes out ahead.

Next time you walk that 100 yards in either YYC or YEG at -25C with blowing snow think of how glad you are that you're on your favorite carrier.

Give up on YXD. It's over.

[This message has been edited by PunishedEdmontonian (edited 06-25-2002).]

Altaflyer

Shareholder, if its feeder traffic you are talking about then that's one thing but I see AC is marketing these puddle jumpers as a business product YEG-YYC etc... Good luck to them, they will need it.

PS - I noticed that some of the fares are booked in L class and ALLOW standby - all I can say is good luck at the gate as L = loser and no-standby to all but the most informed gate agents.

Ken hAAmer

Or ~400 yards at SEA.

The employee at the plane greeted me with "Welcome to the north 40."

baloo

well punishededmontonian you have never flew
westjet and arrived in calgary at gate 34.
when I was on a paticular flight we arrived
at that gate and were soaking by the time
we got inside. So it can go either way on either carrier. Also I don't recall westjet
serving champagne it was the same oj or coffee

ProudEdmontonian

baloo No I've never arrived on WestJet at gate 34. But I have (priorto WestJet) been soaked to the skin (umbrellas?? what are those?) countless times, been chilled to the bone I can't remember how many times both on the walk and while seated with the door open as the Dash8s are boarded and perspired nearly through my suit coat enough times in the summer months (the air systems are incredibly poor on the YEG-YYC runs) to decide finally that on ALL my business flights YEG-YYC (not counting connectors where we Yegmontonians are forced through YYC) I will fly only WestJet for cheaper, friendlier 737 service utilizing in my experience jetways exclusively. AC DAsh8s have used 0 jetways at either YEG or YYC.

Now they also use F28s and BEH service as well (woo! woo!), but the only larger jets AC uses YEG-YYC are on AC158 departing at 6:20 and AC1188 departing at 15:35 neither of which can really be seen as real business times given the 25-40 minute flight time. On YYC-YEG they have 737s twice on AC220 at 17:20 (not bad) and AC268 at 20:30.

There was a brief time that full beverage service came back this past winter but like the promised YEG-LHR and YEG-SFO flights it vanished mysteriously. I can't remember coffee service the last few times. How does AS do it on Dash8s PDX-SEA with a similar flight time????



[This message has been edited by PunishedEdmontonian (edited 06-26-2002).]

baloo

PunishedEdmontonian maybe you can answer
this for me as I haven't been to Edmonton
in a long time. Didn't the airport in Edmonton install jetbridges that worked
on Dash 8's? if so how come they are not
using them now?

ProudEdmontonian

baloo If you go to www.errorplan.com under At The Airport you'll see a couple of threads about this including some AC input that you can't use jetways on Dash8s etc.

However, to answer your question no there are no jetways for Dash8 in YEG (nor in YYC for that matter). Whether or not there will be (if even possible?) in the final terminal expansion is unknown to me.

[This message has been edited by PunishedEdmontonian (edited 06-26-2002).]

exAC

There was at least one Jetway at YEG for Dash aircraft. It was removed last year during the construction of the terminal in-fill. It was actually a pain for most as it took quite a while to install after the door opened.

ProudEdmontonian

exAC I can personally advise that I have never been on a flight in YEG that used it since AC (AirBC) was forced out of YXD.

The AC F28s use a jetway in YEG as I recall but not in YYC. (I can't recall as I avoid AC on the route now!)

AS flies F28 YEG-SEA and while it uses a jetway in YEG it's tarmac-time in SEA.

Andrew Yiu

I'm pretty sure they use a jetway for F28s in YYC. (At least they used to when CP was operating them since I used to fly YYC-YVR quite often on those F28s! Oh yeah, I remember we used to get full meals on those flights too. )

PointWeasel

You're BOTH right. The F28s use one of just 2 jetways normally and the rest line up around a tight area at A Concourse with B1900s, Dashs and other F28s. I agree that the walk at YEG from the old concourse in the winter is brutal (especially if it's windy).

Shareholder

Having lived in Edmonton for 20 years, I flew on DASH8s and hiked along exposed walkways in all seasons and weather. And as Ken has noted, done the same thing flying any aircraft into SEA or PDX on AS as well as AirBC.

The real point is that, for the most part, AC has written off YEG beyond mainline service to YVR and YYZ, and JAZZ to other points around the west. The carrier cannot make money flying any other type of aircraft on these regional routes, and has pulled most pure jets out of the market.

In the fall, when it launches ZIP, pure jets will return and a more competitive service -- cost and schedule -- will be available to offer more choice, but with operating economics that promise to make the company a more viable operator in Alberta and BC.

This is all part of a major restructuring and rethinking. If you don't want to fly any of the AC brands, fine, you have the choice.