24left

Ya, me too, but I posted a quote above from OMAAT. For those here with time and patience and who are good with numbers, perhaps it is worth checking the actual methodology and statistical validity.

I choose to not care about SkyTrax. Just remember, it's about the marketing. Oh, and that nice little gold circle thingie.

Jagboi

I believe "The World's Favourite Airline" is/was a British Airways trademark.

24left

And they'd never be able to use that line now thanks to the mess created by Willie and Alex.

LoveHateRelationship

This pretty much sums it up. It's hardly a comparable across airlines but rather within the airline itself. It could also speak to culturally that Canadians may not complain nearly as much as Americans do.

To me the Skytrax rating really is just a marketing ploy and people can spin it however they want. One some ranking somewhere, AC is probably rated as a number 1 airline and you bet your ... marketing is going to be boasting about that. The same could be said about any airline.

The smallest state

or put another way.......Canadians don't complain as much as Americans do when paying for a service that is not as promised or falls well below expectations.


USA also has multiple times the airlines that Canada does. Also if you fly a lot of NA airlines and rank AC at or near the top in anything I would disagree with you. AC is one step ahead of Spirit, equal with UA, losing ground to DL and miles behind AS or JB.

In fact AC shouldn't even be ranked as the best airline in Canada, let alone North America. Once Air Canada and Canadians stop comparing every single thing to the USA as their measuring stick, then they might be able to start catching up to the Asian and European airlines. This is tantamount to AC patting themselves on the back that they have been named the tallest midget.

24left

Perhaps.

Except it is possible that the vast majority of Canadian fliers only fly within north America and a much smaller number fly internationally* and on other carriers that offer completely different service and food etc than anyone in North America.

The USA is every Canadian's measuring stick as a result of geography, language and cultural influences.


* I use the word internationally mostly to mean Asian and ME3 carriers. Based on the current adventures with IAG and others, I am not convinced European carriers are all worth aspiring to.

tcook052

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/air-...line-1.4169313

Survey ranks Air Canada as top North American airline — is it true?

The smallest state

Agreed and I've never understood the flipside to it. Allow me to explain. When I spent two years in Winnipeg I noticed the following. (Bizarrely, while this happened in my 5 years in Vancouver, to a much smaller extent)

- Winnipeg Goldeyes baseball would play the Fargo Whatevers and it would be a US team coming to play. So we needed to go down and cheer for Canada. However the CFL team would play the Stampeders (or whomever) and it would be just another game. The quality of the CFL product was far superior to the baseball product.

- If a band came to town from Montreal it was seen as 'just a Canadian band'. If the band was from Marblehead Mass or Krum Texas it was an event.

- Rarely did people talk about Canadian shows, only US shows.


Apologies for the tangent/hijack. My point is if Air Canada ever wants to get serious about becoming a real global airline with a real service offering that has value, they need to forget competing with the US airlines. Think global and compete against the world. When you compare yourself against US airlines, that isn't exactly a high bar to clear.

LAXRuss

Bottom line is that we all have our own opinion and experiences; it also depends greatly on the criteria an individual sets for judging an airline. Many may look for overall efficiency in economy class, where I start thinking about which airlines have the best first class cabins when I rate an airline. I like Virgin America-- while it lasts-- with the first class cabin with so much distance between rows your feet cannot reach the seat in front of you. It reminds me of the old days in a DC-10. I love the consistent high quality fish served in first class on Alaska, but their FC seats are fairly ordinary. I like DL in domestic first class/Delta One on planes with lie flat seat configuration and the 1-2-1 seating, where everyone sits on a row. Does AC offer a domestic first class cabin with equipment that provides a lie flat seat, extremely spacious rows such as Virgin America or a configuration where everyone in first class sits on a row?

CloudsBelow

This result is just the latest example at how irrelevant the CBC is. Regardless of your view on the results, it's undeniable CBC (MSM) moves the needle for absolutely no one anymore.
A year of pumping anti-AC horror stories CBC, and look at the results. The CBC is as impactful as a raindrop in the ocean.

songsc

Who actually cares about these rankings? How many people will be like, look, WS is $50 cheaper, but AC is the best airlines in NA, so let's spend $50 more and book AC.

DeweyCheathem

This is what is known as losing a race to the bottom by standing still

canadiancow

AC 127 YYZ-YVR departing 2105 has a full meal in J.

A similar length flight at that time on US airlines would have:

UA (p.s.): Hot snack
UA (other routes): Snack basket

AA: Can't find official info but looks similar to UA based on FT thread.

DL: Looks pretty good actually (I believe there's a full meal)

So there's an objective assessment where AC hands-down beats 2 of the 3 big legacies in the US.

You want to talk about service, wine quality, etc., fine. But don't say they're not "at or near the top in anything".

Transpacificflyer

If one wishes to accept No.1 status and to tout it, then one must also accept the fact that Air Canada has a Skytrax rating of 5 out of 10, and is savaged by its customers' reviews. Comments such as;

"never recommend Air Canada"
"was the worst flight"
"seats were hard and uncomfortable"
"awful staff in Rome"
are more frequent ,than the rare,
"had a great experience"

Air Canada does so well in North America because most of its competitors are utter crap; with the disgusting duo of American and United earning 3 out of 10, and Delta earning 5/10 just like Air Canada.

Air Canada did not even get a mention in the best regional carriers for North America. so again this adds to the context.

As an aside, I voted 30+ times. I was logging on from various locales in Asia when I traveled. I only voted on some items with EVA, ANA and Cathay receiving my votes.

Jumper Jack

Calling AC #1 in NA is like saying Das Hindenburg was a normal, on time blimp landing

This rating is about as real as them AAA rating on those subprime dumpsters