recreationaltimetraveller

In the wake of a disastrous 24-hour flight delay primarily due to operational challenges, I'm starting to reassess the value proposition of Air Canada and its status offerings in 2023.

Operational Issues:

Air Canada appears to be struggling to regain its operational efficiency post-pandemic, especially with the YYZ and YUL eastern hubs. These hubs, essential for most Transatlantic travel, frequently result in unpredictable delays and missed connections. The airline seems ill-prepared to handle routine issues such as aircraft towing or overnight maintenance, persistent baggage handling problems, let alone weather related IRROPs. In my opinion, an airline's primary duty is to deliver reliable travel. Today, an SD attempted to compare today's travel woes with those of steamships a century ago, but that comparison falls flat when other airlines, many of them Air Canada's partners, appear to handle on-time performance more effectively.

Employee Apathy:

While many Air Canada employees exemplify excellent service, I've also encountered a disappointing number who display apathy and a lack of initiative to rectify problems. An organization riddled with challenges can only overcome them if the majority of its workforce is willing to contribute positively towards improvement. Unfortunately, phrases such as "That's not my job", "I’m sorry I can’t help you", and "You’re right but that’s the way it is" seem all too common.

Communication Shortcomings:

Air Canada tends to either withhold information about issues or provide inaccurate updates. An alleged 20-minute delay often turns out to be significantly longer, something easily verified via FlightAware. This lack of proactive and honest communication could mean the difference between a comfortable wait in the lounge or at home and an irritating delay at the gate or on the plane.

Inconsistent Onboard Services:

There's room for debate about the quality of Air Canada's aircraft fleet. The narrow-body fleet's Wi-Fi services are seriously lacking - 737 Wifi still completely absent, and 32x wifi being barely usable ATG. This inconsistency, coupled with frequent aircraft changes, makes it challenging to anticipate if work can be accomplished during the flight.

Lounge Overcrowding:

Despite the recent changes aimed at reducing overcrowding in the lounges, they remain too packed due to longer dwell times and less frequent scheduling. This diminishes the tranquility these spaces are supposed to offer amid the airport chaos.

Flight Pass Pricing:

As a Canadian living in SOCAL who travels frequently to central and eastern Canada, flight passes have historically been a great option for flexibility and pricing, however with recent pricing changes they are much less competitive. Why would I buy a $495 latitude flight pass credit LAX-YWG (connecting in Vancouver) in the hopes of upgrading it (AC not offering any advance R space on a lot of LAX-YVR flights) when I can buy LAX-YWG in J on WS for $340 and travel in 2/3 the time.

Competitiveness:

Despite these negatives, Air Canada and the Aeroplan program still have commendable aspects. Business priority rewards, or latitude with instant upgrades, and concierge services provided to Super Elite status members like myself do add value. Their hard product (aside from wifi) on the whole, are competitive, especially when compared to other North American carriers.

However, the question remains - are these benefits sufficient to overlook the numerous issues plaguing the airline? Is Air Canada still a viable choice for those residing outside Canada or in hub cities with significant international travel, when compared to other alternatives? With most flights going full do they even care to fix the issues when it's not hurting their bottom line or the stock price?

Bohemian1

There's a lot to unpack here, so permit me to selectively comment / pile onto your observations (keep in mind that I am doing this as someone based in YVR, not LAX):

YYZ continues to be a shitshow for sure. I know that there's still staffing issues but it makes you wonder if AC should even be attempting the number of flights that they have scheduled. As you noted, the issues are endemic, which I think contributes to your next observation.

Like you, when I get that special GA, SD or other team member who just exemplifies how good AC service can be, I call it out to them in-person and provide feedback to AC. But this has truly become exceptional service, emphasis on exception. But if the company doesn't seem to care about service, why should the staff?


When I do get information, the only time I think AC is being genuinely honest is when I'm speaking with either pilots or SD/FAs on the actual flight. And even then, a lot of the pilots never provide clear information or even apologize for delays. there's that attitude again. Otherwise, I just assume that AC is apt to outright lie about the cause of things like delays or cancellations (thus my FT signature right now).


It's such a roll of the dice, compounded by the increased amount of aircraft swaps I've been seeing. But the 7M8 WiFi debacle rules out an increasing number of flights if you want to work, thus further eroding their J product versus other competing carriers. Once again, other airlines figured this out, why not AC? Or do they just hire the B-Team and hope for the best?


Tough one since this seems to be the case for a lot of other carriers too. I like that they've added the SE line but would argue that needs to be an SE/J line instead. But that will not directly address overcrowding, only wait times. Dunno what the real answer is here.


Pick a Flight Pass, any Flight Pass. I don't even bother looking at them anymore unless it's one of their promotional passes which might be a good deal for where I want to fly. Other than that, it's not even worth doing the math right now. But with loads so high, I guess they don't really need to care.


Agreed. Being based in YVR, AC offers a lot of route and schedule advantages to me. And Aeroplan is still attractive as an SE. But, if I was based anywhere else other than YYZ, YUL or YVR, I'd really think twice before pledging any significant amount of loyalty (and spend) to AC.

I'm not one to incessantly talk about tariffs, breach of contract, suing AC, or some other nonsense. But I really do wonder how many of the operational and communication issues listed above would go away if AC was subjected to the type of regulations that we see in Europe. I don't expect the government to solve this mess, but the fact that AC (and others) are fighting any form of reasonable legislation tooth and nail is very telling. Maybe if they devoted the same amount of focus and energy into actually moving the needle on one or two customer-facing operational metrics this would be a different discussion.

canadiancow

If you always buy J, it probably doesn't matter. If you live in California, sure, LAX-YWG might work well, but from SFO, I'm connecting no matter what.

I don't always buy J, but I always sit in J, which is not true of my many 1K/GS friends who fly UA out of SFO.

If you live in YYZ, and want status benefits, there's no other airline that will take you "anywhere".

But I agree with everything else.

tracon

AC isn't the worst.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/fla...ints-1.6863897


In the January-March period, the CTA received 20.9 complaints for every 100 Flair flights.
That compares to 10.7 for WestJet and 5.8 for Air Canada.

songsc

I ask myself these questions:
1. Do I have to fly?
2. Am I happy with my flying experience?

At the end of the day, my goal is to make myself happy, not to achieve some sort of status defined by a business entity. The world is big, there are many things I enjoy other than flying, and there are many airlines other than AC.

respectable_man

Most of the points raised by OP are correct but Rousseau just got a big bonus *despite* uniformly poor OTP, serious understaffing leading to long wait times in person or on the phone, extremely NOT good recovery from IRROPS, grumbling à la OP, sky-high prices. Where are the (competitive) pressure to improve any of these areas when WS might as well be called Air Calgary?

I mean:walk-up fare from YQT to YYZ one way can reach an eye watering $1000….

Shareholders no doubt rejoice at reading your post, but the prisoners keep on showing at the door of the AC prison.

Symmetre

AC has had more than its share of operational problems for a long, long time - starting with a consistently brutal OTP. But what is most galling is that their ticket prices are often considerably more expensive than those of better airlines, especially if you fly out of a hub like YYZ.

songsc

And, flights are often full. I really wonder how AC can be so successful. They must have done something right. Most people I talked to don’t like AC, so I am even more puzzled.

nexusCFX

This is the most pressing issue that has caused me to stop booking any trips back to Toronto. I don't know how AC thinks it's acceptable to run planes with no WiFi on SFO-YYZ. Even more frustrating is my flights were 787s when I booked them, now downgauged to 7M8s. Putting aside how unacceptable that change in product is (they literally market it as signature class vs just business), I had expectations of being able to do work and now I am screwed.

Given the way things are going, I don't see myself booking any additional flights on AC beyond what I have now. Only exception would be Christmas 2024.

I really don't have major issues with AC overall though. They are a NA carrier, I don't grade them against EVA Air and Qatar, I'm realistic about that. I would grade them higher than the major US carriers though, at least given my interactions with them and only flying in J. If they would get their act together regarding my core route, I would give them my money again.

RangerNS

I'm going to say again, if AC takes me to a place 4x a day, an hour late, that is better than someone else who takes me to a place 4x a week on-time but a schedule that is bad, even the select days they fly it.

vestry

I think AC has experienced similar setbacks as some of the European carriers in the past couple years performance wise.

yyzgigi

The one thing that is worth calling out in the performance is having to put up with rouge, which is now a random affliction that hits certain routes at random with a packed and very uncomfortable plane. They could at least justify it before by markets. YYZ-AUS is rouge in the winter schedule.

I wish the AC pilots would have shown the balls that WJ did to get rid of Swoop and killed this virus.

RatherBeInYOW

I had a long talk with a 787 captain this week. I suspect that either AC is going to have to make a lot of changes or there is a strike coming in the fall.

YYJ _SLF

We just landed in IST from YVR on TK.

AC management should take that flight to help them define their aspirations and to see what is possible.

We will travel on AC as much as needed to maintain SE but will look at other *A airlines for the rest.

I am still fumbling my away around getting non-AC metal on 014 stock. Hopefully I will figure it out someday. Code shares and *A over promise and under deliver when it comes to booking the revenue flights that I want to take.

salteen

Many of us who live outside of major centres and fly out of regional airports often have no other choice but AC. This is especially true in the eastern half of the country since WS has scaled back flights significantly. If I want to fly anywhere outside of Atlantic Canada, AC is currently my only option, short of driving 7hrs to take a once-daily YYT-YYZ.

The large geography and sparse population density of Canada make competition harder to sustain. I believe this is why the standards of service for AC are lower than flag carriers in other countries.