AC Flying at a slower speed as of October 28?
Aug 1, 2018, 10:14 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2018
Posts: 2
AC Flying at a slower speed as of October 28?
Hello Everyone - long time reader, finally joined in order to post this question. I just booked flight AC305 YUL-YVR on October 28, and was astonished to see a flight time of nearly 6 hours (5:58): I fly this route regularly and it is always 5:30. I looked at the previous day, Oct 27, and it was only 5:30 - same flight, same equipment (737 Max). Upon further investigation I found that ALL flights were slower as of Oct 28 (i.e. every date after Oct 28), including YYZ to YVR.
I called AC and spoke with two different agents, neither of whom knew anything about it. I have written to Customer Relations but as yet have had no response.
Has AC decided to fly slower in order to conserve fuel, and simply hopes that no one will notice? A half-hour extra flight time is definitely noticeable, and is unacceptable.
I called AC and spoke with two different agents, neither of whom knew anything about it. I have written to Customer Relations but as yet have had no response.
Has AC decided to fly slower in order to conserve fuel, and simply hopes that no one will notice? A half-hour extra flight time is definitely noticeable, and is unacceptable.
Aug 1, 2018, 10:21 am
#2
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: USA
Programs: AC SE100K, F9 100k, NK Gold, UA *S, Hyatt Glob, Bonvoy Titanium
Posts: 5,191
Well, it *IS* Canada, so late Oct is right around the 6+ months of Winter weather and possible de-icing time needed.
If AC plans schedules, say, 60 days at a time it may be easier to just pad the schedules .
/not AC specific but I seem to recall on other forums that most flights (without propellers) file flight plans based on Mach .78 to Mach .82 cruise speed.
If AC plans schedules, say, 60 days at a time it may be easier to just pad the schedules .
/not AC specific but I seem to recall on other forums that most flights (without propellers) file flight plans based on Mach .78 to Mach .82 cruise speed.
Aug 1, 2018, 10:33 am
#4
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: YHZ/YQM
Programs: Aeroplan
Posts: 1,618
Sounds like they are padding the block time to be more realistic for winter operations. There have been complaints on this board that AC is a bit too optimistic on how much time to allot for flights. Nothing to do with the speed, but with how long the ground operations (taxi, deice, lineup) will take.
Aug 1, 2018, 10:59 am
#5
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Calgary
Programs: Aeroplan (Silver), Air Miles, IHG Rewards (Platinum)
Posts: 668
Winter schedule takes effect Sunday, October 28, 2018, so as others suspected, scheduled block times in the winter are longer due to longer taxi times to account for deicing.
Aug 1, 2018, 11:18 am
#6
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: OGG, YYC
Programs: AA, AC
Posts: 3,697
Right. But also westerly winds at flight levels tend to be (on average) more intense during winter. Look at the flight times for opposite direction flights (YVR-YUL). The schedule shows a reduction in flight time effective October 28.
Aug 1, 2018, 11:58 am
#7
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Vancouver, Canada
Posts: 6,222
Air Canada is to be commended for taking steps to make published flight times more closely reflect real world experiences.
(Yes I know it's a regular seasonal thing.)
Aug 1, 2018, 12:14 pm
#9
Join Date: May 2005
Location: YOW
Programs: AC-SE100K MM, BA-S HH-D, MB-G LT Sil, IHG-Plt, Nexus, Global Entry
Posts: 3,802
Aug 1, 2018, 12:59 pm
#11
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: YYZ
Programs: TK *G
Posts: 3,099
I am sure flights won't arrive 30 minutes late all of the sudden when they change the schedule, but this may make a huge difference for people trying to make a short connection. Many feasible short connections are now non-bookable. It must be extremely frustrating when you standing right at the gate for a flight you have enough time to board, but have to wait for a couple hours for the next flight due to MCT rules.
Aug 1, 2018, 2:23 pm
#13
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: YYC
Posts: 23,802
You know for a fact it's not part of the recently announced plan to mitigate the fuel price increase?
Or a combination of that and improved OTP?
Surely most passengers would rather live wth that than with a fare raise... More price-sensitive than time-sensitive. Plus, 99% won't even notice.
Or a combination of that and improved OTP?
Surely most passengers would rather live wth that than with a fare raise... More price-sensitive than time-sensitive. Plus, 99% won't even notice.
Aug 1, 2018, 4:31 pm
#15
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: YVR TLS
Programs: Air France Flying Blue, Altitude SE-100k, AAdvantage, United Mileage Plus, WS rewards, BonVoy Titan
Posts: 912
Some airlines mandate the crews to fly at max efficiency, which is a slower cruise mach. Exceptions being strong head wind component, delays that require higher speed etc. But I think the general consensus is that a lower cruise WILL save fuel. Other fuel savings measures are would be an idle decent so with again a lower speed, thus the engines are at idle thrust for as long as possible. Usually these come into force when jet fuel prices begin to climb. It could amount to a :30 minute longer flight on a transcontinental, but on the short hops doesn't effect the times too much. They will factor that into the new sked if these policies will be SOP.