Air Canada today provided the following update on its operational improvement initiatives implemented in response to the challenges facing the global airline industry emerging from the pandemic.

Air Canada provides updates on its operational improvement initiatives (CNW Group / Air Canada)
“At Air Canada, we know how much our customers value travel, and they rely on us to transport them safely, comfortably and without disruption. This has always been our goal, and coming out of the pandemic, the global industry has been reeling from the unprecedented challenges of restarting after a virtual two-year shutdown. We share their disappointment with them,” said Michael Rousseau, Canada.

“Earlier this summer, on behalf of everyone at Air Canada, I pledged to do everything possible to restore our company’s industry-leading customer service standards. Among other things, this includes innovation at the airport, operational changes and significant schedule adjustments, and today they create demonstrable improvement in the metrics that matter most to our customers. I am very pleased with the progress to date and thanks to the tireless efforts of our staff, we all continue to work hard on behalf of our clients to complete their recovery.

During the period from June 27 to August 14, the Air Canada family (including Air Canada, Air Canada Rouge and Air Canada Express), which carried approximately 6.4 million customers, experienced the following operational improvements with a return to pre-pandemic customers. Service Levels:

Flight delays – Compared to the week of June 27 compared to the week of August 8, there was a 48% reduction, or 1,160 fewer flights requiring delays of more than one hour. Additionally, flight delays are decreasing in general. For delayed flights, the average delay on June 27 was 28 minutes longer than the same week in 2019. As of August 8, it has improved to 12 minutes.
Flight cancellations – There has been a significant reduction in the number of flight cancellations. There was a 77% drop in the number of canceled flights during the week of August 8 compared to June 27. This translates into 960 fewer canceled flights. Additionally, flight completions, the percentage of all scheduled flights that were not canceled, reached 96.7% for the week of August 8, less than one percentage point lower than the same week in 2019. Most customers were able to travel within 24 hours, often due to cancellations due to weather or other unforeseen factors.
Baggage handling – The biggest improvement during this period can be seen in baggage handling, where the airline handles 650,000 bags per week. In the week of June 27, mismanagement rates per 1,000 customers were 2.5 times higher than in 2019. In the week of August 8, this ratio has returned to 2019 with a success rate of 98%.
Air Canada continues to work with its partners to address issues that disrupt the aviation environment in Canada. Evidence of the success of these joint ventures is a significant reduction in delays and cancellations for airlines, contributing to the overall stability of Air Canada’s operations. This has resulted in a better customer experience, with improved performance in terms of punctuality, schedule reliability and package delivery.

Every day, on average, Air Canada currently operates nearly 1,100 flights and regularly carries 135,000 people. Air Canada has cautiously resumed its schedule as it recovers from the effects of COVID-19 and plans to operate at 79% of its pre-pandemic capacity this summer as the industry stabilizes. To support this, the carrier has recalled employees laid off during the pandemic and continues to hire additional workers. It currently has about 34,000 employees compared to 34,700 before the pandemic.