Overall, I’d have to say that Air Canada is comparable with most of the other North American airlines. Once you are seated and in the air, you really couldn’t tell what airline you are on.
However, what turned me off them years ago are their flight routes: I dislike the way they seem to route everything through Toronto.
When I was with my previous employer, a couple co-workers and I would attend five to ten tradeshows per year to promote the company’s products. The first flight I booked (to an American destination), I thought I would give some business to a Canadian company, so I booked the flight with Air Canada. That decision turned out to be a big mistake. We landed in Toronto at Terminal 1 and then had to gather our luggage, go to Terminal 2, and go through US Customs and security. We were about ten minutes late getting to the departure gate, but fortunately the flight was late leaving so we didn’t miss our connection. However, since then, we always flew within North America on American Airlines or United. That way, we could check through US Customs right in the Vancouver airport and eliminate the stress of rushing between terminals.
Since then, hearing from former co-workers, etc. I have learned that many other people avoid booking their business flights to America with Air Canada too.
I would be curious to know how many business flight bookings Air Canada loses because business people don’t want to deal with the hassle of transferring through Toronto (not just people flying out of Vancouver, but other cities too). It also makes me wonder: if airlines, including Air Canada, are always suffering from financial problems, why would they turn away a large chunk of business because of this routing decision?
David
