Zip - interview with Smith
 

Saw this on Newsworld. Smith said they were flying 60% loads on Sunday which frankly seems pathetic given they inhereted booked pax from AC. He said this was great for Zip. Smith was asked to explain the difference between all the new brands. He explained that Tango was a point to point with no possibility of connections - clearly this is false as connections are possible to other Tango flights (YWG-YYZ-YOW). I suspect he meant no interlining but it is not what he said. When talking about Zip he mentioned that it was a product that did not feature meals, exec class or LOUNGES. I wonder if this is a slip or if lounge access will be chopped soon - it did not appear in the initial chart in Enroute in August. He really ought to be more careful when he speaks about these things.

Keep in mind that accurate up to date information is not one of AC management's strong points.

True Ken but at least he actually said something instead of cutting and then officially commenting after being taken to task by the public, errorplan etc. So saying something, even if it is inaccurate, is a step forward for AC mgmt.

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If you want to experience good customer service from an airline forget Air Canada and try CanJet or WestJet

There will be a newsclip on ZIP on CBC radio's World at Six, tonight. I do not know if it will incorporate the same interview, or something else.

According to today's Vancouver Province (large format toilet paper) Smith said he expected loads of 60% for the first month, but Sunday's loads were quite a bit lower (i.e. 37 on a B737 -- all Y I presume.)

Today's flights were running about 70% full. I suspect it'll take a while to see how well Zip is doing. Most of the current bookings are probably from people who booked on AC initially not knowing anything about Zip.

Jeez, at that rate they might as well make them all-J and sell Zip as a premium airline!

andrew

Yesterday on WestJet99 YVR-YEG there were maybe 4 empty seats! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Sure beats the tar out of Zip....and will continue to do so IMHO until this experiment collapses. It's too late AC to woo back the business traveller out West.