Canadian Airport Thread II

[thenoflyzone]

Tentative agreement reached between AC and the union.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/air...ants-1.7612403

Glad a deal is reached. This should have been done weeks, if not months ago.

This has cost the airline millions, and damaged its reputation bigtime. Hundreds of thousands of passengers were affected. The buck needs to stop with someone, and that someone is the CEO.

Thousands of travellers affected, and we didn’t hear much from him on Canadian media outlets. But he has no problem giving interviews to American investor media outlets (Bloomberg). Always thinking of the shareholder first, not the passenger….

Rousseau needs to go!

[hollywoodcory]

Didn’t the CEO also basically admit they had no backup plan and were fully expecting them to comply with 107 from the start? That just shows how serious AC took negotiations if they had always planned to run to the Feds for help.

I also feel like this could lead to Patty Hajdu losing her cabinet position. The government prematurely invoking 107 just hours into the strike also played a part in this, and effectively fueled CUPE further. Perhaps it could lead to less federal involvement in labour disputes?

WS flight attendants contract ends in December, so I’m guessing they’ll end up offering what AC did and then some?

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by thenoflyzone

Tentative agreement reached between AC and the union.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/air...ants-1.7612403

Glad a deal is reached. This should have been done weeks, if not months ago.

This has cost the airline millions, and damaged its reputation bigtime. Hundreds of thousands of passengers were affected. The buck needs to stop with someone, and that someone is the CEO.

Thousands of travellers affected, and we didn’t hear much from him on Canadian media outlets. But he has no problem giving interviews to American investor media outlets (Bloomberg). Always thinking of the shareholder first, not the passenger….

Rousseau needs to go!

Yes, a lot of totally unnecessary disruption, damage to their brand and to Canadian tourism.

[whatnext]

According to CBC, ground pay is included in the offer to employees:

...In an interview on CBC News Network, Air Canada's executive vice-president Mark Nasr confirmed the addition of ground pay for flight attendants.

"[Ground pay] absolutely should be in there, and we're so happy that we finally reached this industry-leading deal that allows our flight attendants to be compensated for the important work ... that they perform on the ground," Nasr said.

Sundeep Gokhale, a labour lawyer and partner at Toronto firm Sherrard Kuzz LLP, told CBC News Network that the addition of ground pay is a really big deal for the entire industry.

"It is a great move for flight attendants right across [the board], because it will set a precedent that at least some of that [ground] work will be covered," Gokhale said....

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/air...ants-1.7612403

[RomanR27]

AC489 YUL-YYZ is airborne and the first post-strike flight. There's a handful of others taxiing in YYZ and YVR that will depart shortly.

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

Originally Posted by thenoflyzone

Tentative agreement reached between AC and the union.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/air...ants-1.7612403

Glad a deal is reached. This should have been done weeks, if not months ago.

This has cost the airline millions, and damaged its reputation bigtime. Hundreds of thousands of passengers were affected. The buck needs to stop with someone, and that someone is the CEO.

Thousands of travellers affected, and we didn’t hear much from him on Canadian media outlets. But he has no problem giving interviews to American investor media outlets (Bloomberg). Always thinking of the shareholder first, not the passenger….

Rousseau needs to go!

Yes he does... as do many of his underlings.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by RomanR27

AC489 YUL-YYZ is airborne and the first post-strike flight. There's a handful of others taxiing in YYZ and YVR that will depart shortly.

That was quick!

[Dominion301]

YOW's July pax stats.

Sector / Jul-24 / Jul-25 / % Change
Dom: 328,021 / 359,522 / +9.6%
TB: 52,174 / 51,115 / -2.0%
Int'l: 18,158 / 29,318 / +61.5%
TTL: 398,353 / 439,955 / +10.4%

Sector / YTD 2024 / YTD 2025 / % Change
Dom: 1,863,213 / 2,061,674 / +10.7%
TB: 432,158 / 457,901 / +6.0%
Int'l: 301,752 / 309,421 / +2.5%
TTL: 2,597,123 / 2,828,996 / +8.9%

July % of traffic recovered vs 2019 / YTD vs 2019
Sector / July / YTD % recovered
Dom: 96.9% / 90.0%
TB: 108.3% / 105.6%
Int'l: 118.5% / 107.5%
TTL: 99.3% / 94.0%

12 Months Rolling / % Change vs Year End 2023
Dom: 3,629,961 / +13.3%
TB: 767,192 / +33.2%
Int'l: 441,544 / +39.3%
TTL: 4,838,697 / +18.1%

[Dominion301]

YWG's Q2 pax stats by month:

April

Sector / Apr-24 / Apr-25 / % Change
Dom: 257,416 / 284,772 / +10.6%
TB: 40,556 / 38,764 / -4.4%
Int'l: 18,447 / 19,097 / +3.5%
TTL: 316,419 / 342,633 / +8.3%

Sector / YTD 2024 / YTD 2025 / % Change
Dom: 970,144 / 1,064,582 / +9.7%
TB: 161,824 / 167,226 / +3.3%
Int'l: 150,068 / 155,716 / +3.8%
TTL: 1,282,036 / 1,387,524 / +8.2%

April % of traffic recovered vs 2019 / YTD vs 2019
Sector / April / YTD % recovered
Dom: 100.1% / 94.1%
TB: 94.7% / 90.3%
Int'l: 222.8% / 103.2%
TTL: 102.6% / 94.6%

12 Months Rolling % Change vs Year End 2023
Dom: 3,727,928 / +3.3%
TB: 465,111 / +44.9%
Int'l: 209,927 / +26.5%
TTL: 4,402,966 / +45.3%

May

Sector / May-24 / May-25 / % Change
Dom: 312,887 / 326,870 / +4.5%
TB: 30,786 / 34,401 / +11.7%
Int'l: 1,242 / 2,196 / +76.8%
TTL: 344,915 / 363,467 / +5.4%

Sector / YTD 2024 / YTD 2025 / % Change
Dom: 1,283,031 / 1,391,452 / +8.5%
TB: 192,610 / 201,627 / +4.7%
Int'l: 151,310 / 157,912 / +4.4%
TTL: 1,626,951 / 1,750,991 / +7.6%

May % of traffic recovered vs 2019 / YTD vs 2019
Sector / May / YTD % recovered
Dom: 98.1% / 95.0%
TB: 95.1% / 91.1%
Int'l: N/A (0 pax in 2019) / 104.6%
TTL: 98.4% / 95.3%

12 Months Rolling / % Change vs Year End 2023
Dom: 3,741,911 / +3.7%
TB: 468,726 / +46.1%
Int'l: 210,881 / +27.0%
TTL: 4,421,518 / +45.9%

June

Sector / Jun-24 / Jun-25 / % Change
Dom: 343,575 / 341,497 / -0.6%
TB: 32,782 / 31,313 / -4.5%
Int'l: 820 / 0 / -100.0%
TTL: 377,177 / 372,810 / -1.2%

Sector / YTD 2024 / YTD 2025 / % Change
Dom: 1,626,606 / 1,732,949 / +6.5%
TB: 225,392 / 232,940 / +3.3%
Int'l: 152,130 / 157,912 / +3.8%
TTL: 2,004,128 / 2,123,801 / +6.0%

June % of traffic recovered vs 2019 / YTD vs 2019
Sector / June / YTD % recovered
Dom: 96.3% / 95.3%
TB: 90.3% / 91.0%
Int'l: 0.0% / 104.0%
TTL: 95.5% / 95.4%

12 Months Rolling / % Change vs Year End 2023
Dom: 3,739,833 / +3.7%
TB: 467,257 / +45.6%
Int'l: 210,061 / +26.6%
TTL: 4,417,151 / +45.7%

[Dominion301]

YEG's July pax stats: https://flyeia.com/corporate/media/passenger-stats/

July (YTD)
Domestic 648,472 passengers = +4.8% (Year-to-date 3,374,306 passengers = +6.3%)
Transborder 62,769 passengers = -25.9% (Year-to-date 494,843 passengers = -7.7%)
International 15,154 passengers = -13.6% (Year-to-date 333,855 passengers = -2.3%)
Total: 726,395 passengers = +0.7% (Year-to-date 4,203,004 passengers = +3.7%)

FBO traffic:
61,726 passengers = -1.2% (Year-to-date 432,486 passengers = +13.4%)

[thenoflyzone]

Was asking around at work, and just as I thought, apparently EK did in fact want to send the A380 to YUL during the strike. (They have quite a few spare A380s, so this isn't too difficult for them.)

ADM was ready to cancel the NOTAM restricting code F aircraft. It's about that time when the labour minister issued the back to work order. So EK just decided to upgauge to the 77W instead. Little did they know the F/As weren't going to heed to that order.

[YYCguys]

Originally Posted by whatnext

According to CBC, ground pay is included in the offer to employees:

...In an interview on CBC News Network, Air Canada's executive vice-president Mark Nasr confirmed the addition of ground pay for flight attendants.

"[Ground pay] absolutely should be in there, and we're so happy that we finally reached this industry-leading deal that allows our flight attendants to be compensated for the important work ... that they perform on the ground," Nasr said.

Sundeep Gokhale, a labour lawyer and partner at Toronto firm Sherrard Kuzz LLP, told CBC News Network that the addition of ground pay is a really big deal for the entire industry.

"It is a great move for flight attendants right across [the board], because it will set a precedent that at least some of that [ground] work will be covered," Gokhale said....

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/air...ants-1.7612403

Fun fact: the tentative agreement allows for only 50-70% ground pay. It’s better than nothing but it’s still not acceptable. What other company or industry pays their staff for 50-70% of their pay?

[casper]

Originally Posted by YYCguys

Fun fact: the tentative agreement allows for only 50-70% ground pay. It’s better than nothing but it’s still not acceptable. What other company or industry pays their staff for 50-70% of their pay?

Clearly you have not worked with Marketing or HR professionals. It is all about perspective.

You have "industry leading" compensation for time on the ground. When your flying the cabin staff are getting "premium" compensation.

As a passenger last year, I was being told I should be delighted that I am now getting complementary "premium snacks" and wine/beer. The only thing "premium" about the snacks is the pretzels are in a slightly nicer looking package. I will give Porter credit, I do like the almonds doped with olive oil, that is a step up, but otherwise its just good marketing of the same stuff.

In the 90s as a passenger I was regularly traveling between Vancouver and Ottawa. Full flights were rare. You had CP/Canadian and Air Canada each flying half empty aircraft and everyone checked bags. Everyone was getting a complementary meal. Less stress for the passengers resulted in less stress for the in flight crew. Today the seats are tighter together, full, there is not enough overhead bin space, the passengers are grumpy. It is a harder job.

[thenoflyzone]

Originally Posted by YYCguys

Fun fact: the tentative agreement allows for only 50-70% ground pay. It’s better than nothing but it’s still not acceptable. What other company or industry pays their staff for 50-70% of their pay?

AA, DL and PD only pay 50% hourly rate for boarding. AS uses a different formula, but it comes out to roughly 50% as well.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/19/b...rding-pay.html

UA is negotiating now and has offered boarding pay as well, but details aren't readily available yet.

Pascan aside, those are the only other major airlines that offer boarding pay in North America, and they all only offer 50% boarding pay, and to my knowledge, none of them do if for 60 minutes narrowbody, 70 min widebody, like AC has offered.

PD is 30 minutes only.
DL is 40 minutes for narrowbody
AA is 30-40 minutes as well.
AS is 45 minutes

With AC, it's a full hour at least, and after year 1 of the new agreement, you're getting more than 50%.

I understand you want 100%, but considering where the other carriers are, it's not a bad start. You're ahead of the pack.

[YYCguys]

Originally Posted by thenoflyzone

AA, DL and PD only pay 50% hourly rate for boarding. AS uses a different formula, but it comes out to roughly 50% as well.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/19/b...rding-pay.html

UA is negotiating now and has offered boarding pay as well, but details aren't readily available yet.

Pascan aside, those are the only other major airlines that offer boarding pay in North America, and they all only offer 50% boarding pay, and to my knowledge, none of them do if for 60 minutes narrowbody, 70 min widebody, like AC has offered.

PD is 30 minutes only.
DL is 40 minutes for narrowbody
AA is 30-40 minutes as well.
AS is 45 minutes

With AC, it's a full hour at least, and after year 1 of the new agreement, you're getting more than 50%.

I understand you want 100%, but considering where the other carriers are, it's not a bad start. You're ahead of the pack.

I should have clarified. I meant what other non airline company…I mean if I work for Scotiabank or Walmart or Esso, I am going to be paid 100% of my wage from the moment I sit down at my desk to the moment I get up to leave for home!

[Nashe]

LOL, 50% pay for boarding duties. I guess I'd just work 50% as hard.

"Meh. That carryon looks fine.... Now boarding zones 1-99! I don't care. First to board gets the pods. Line up or don't."

[IcyRock]

Originally Posted by thenoflyzone

Was asking around at work, and just as I thought, apparently EK did in fact want to send the A380 to YUL during the strike. (They have quite a few spare A380s, so this isn't too difficult for them.)

ADM was ready to cancel the NOTAM restricting code F aircraft. It's about that time when the labour minister issued the back to work order. So EK just decided to upgauge to the 77W instead. Little did they know the F/As weren't going to heed to that order.

Do you see EK still potentially deploying the A380 to YUL? I imagine it's going to take some time till AC is back 100%. Nice other scenario would be EK keeping the 77W to YUL permanently.

[YYCguys]

Originally Posted by Nashe

LOL, 50% pay for boarding duties. I guess I'd just work 50% as hard.

"Meh. That carryon looks fine.... Now boarding zones 1-99! I don't care. First to board gets the pods. Line up or don't."

This should not have to be negotiated in individual contracts. The government needs to step in and seriously consider the bill that has been proposed to legislate full pay for all work.

[thenoflyzone]

Originally Posted by IcyRock

Do you see EK still potentially deploying the A380 to YUL? I imagine it's going to take some time till AC is back 100%. Nice other scenario would be EK keeping the 77W to YUL permanently.

I think YUL will become an A359 station in the near future. The 77L is a pig, and the 77W is too premium heavy for YUL in normal circumstances. The A350 will be perfect. A fuel efficient and modern 3 class (business, premium economy and economy) airliner will be perfect for YUL.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emirates_fleet

Yes, AC isn't back up to 100% speed yet, which is why EK is operating a mix of 77L/77W to YUL until August 30th.

[thenoflyzone]

Top 8 busiest airports in Canada (by passenger numbers), ranked by number of non stop destinations and number of countries served.

Source: flightconnections.com

YYZ - 192 destinations (33 domestic) / 68 countries
YUL - 162 destinations (34 domestic) / 51 countries
YVR - 121 destinations (44 domestic) / 25 countries
YYC - 107 destinations (40 domestic) / 20 countries
YEG - 52 destinations (27 domestic) / 6 countries
YHZ - 48 destinations (18 domestic) / 16 countries
YOW - 41 destinations (18 domestic) / 10 countries
YWG - 41 destinations (21 domestic) / 6 countries

Interesting that YYZ has one less domestic destination than YUL. This can be explained by all the Air Inuit and Air Creebec flights from YUL to northern Quebec/Nunavik. YYZ doesn't have an equivalent. This boosts YUL's domestic destination count, without doing much for passenger numbers.

Not much separating YVR/YYC, to be quite honest, which is a bit surprising, but the rest is pretty much as expected.

YHZ outperforming it's peers (YOW/YWG) and YYZ is fast approaching 200+ destinations, in line with other majors such as JFK (198) and LHR (217).

CDG, FRA and DXB are in the 270-295 range. Of course, no one can touch IST, with 319 destinations in 119 countries.