Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport (YOW/CYOW) - Page 167

Truenorth00 · #**3321** Posted **Feb 13, 2019, 1:54 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ac888yow

Ottawa has a faithful AC/Star Alliance following because there's minimal other choice. If they open up ho-hum domestic markets from YOW they'll be done for. If they get creative and up leisure routes with pent up demand, say Vegas and/or Florida and/or Phoenix, they'll actually fill a vacuum and force the others to chase a bit.

A few flights a week to Vegas and Florida. That's about it. I really don't see much pent-up demand beyond that. We're a city of 1.3 million, in a country where the currency is worth 25% less, where debt is at a record high. That doesn't lend itself to really distant trips routinely. A daily to PHX, LAS and MCO seems like a long shot from YOW, especially for a startup carrier.

YOWflier · #**3322** Posted **Feb 13, 2019, 3:06 AM**

Nobody ever said anything about daily. Twice weekly to Vegas and multiple points in Florida would be a big start. Plenty of demand for that and then some. The data exists.

Vixx · #**3323** Posted **Feb 13, 2019, 3:19 AM**

I'm really crossing my fingers for a regular YEG-YOW flight from Flair in their upcoming announcement.

I currently live in Edmonton but am from Ottawa and go back as often as I can to visit, but a Flair flight will make it possible to just come by on a whim and for 3/4 days if I want instead of having to actually book a week off from work to fly AC and pay $550. Pretty tired of doing that.

acottawa · #**3324** Posted **Feb 13, 2019, 4:25 AM**

Is Flair actually any cheaper? I priced them for a Toronto-Calgary flight and it was only $40 cheaper than Air Canada, and I don’t know what the carry on bag charge is.

JakeLRS · #**3325** Posted **Feb 13, 2019, 4:44 AM**

Flairs re-branding announcement is at 11am Mountain (1pm est).
I believe the new brand goes live Thursday.

Route announcements should hopefully either be on Wednesday or Thursday.

Flairs new branding is modern and bold (Black anyone?)

Dominion301 · #**3326** Posted **Feb 13, 2019, 3:15 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by JakeLRS

Flairs re-branding announcement is at 11am Mountain (1pm est).
I believe the new brand goes live Thursday.

Route announcements should hopefully either be on Wednesday or Thursday.

Flairs new branding is modern and bold (Black anyone?)

The website is already rebranded and if you play the video on the homepage, you'll see the new livery: https://flairair.ca/

Must say I like it. No route announcements yet, so we'll wait until this afternoon to see if there are any.

On a separate note, given the huge amount of cancellations at the airport, expect some upguages over the next 24-48 hours. In fact:

AC450 from YYZ is upgauged to a 788: https://flightaware.com/live/flight/...720Z/CYYZ/CYOW
AC338 from YVR is also showing as a 788: https://flightaware.com/live/flight/...720Z/CYYZ/CYOW

Another rescue flight: AC2089 is an extra Rapidair out of YOW on a 763...AC888 to LHR was cancelled last night.

CityTech · #**3327** Posted **Feb 13, 2019, 3:55 PM**

There's nothing in the TB travel rules that say you can't use an ULCC. And you're supposed to travel on lowest fare. Heck, I've dealt with the stupidity where they've booked me on an American carrier and had me pay for two pieces of luggage, all because Air Canada and Westjet were a few dollars more, while the clerk ignored that those airlines have free baggage for Canadian military personnel.[/QUOTE]

Huh. Well I learned something new. And that last bit is so government it hurts

Dominion301 · #**3328** Posted **Feb 13, 2019, 4:05 PM**

According to this thread: http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...35#post8472335 someone posted the following changes for AC for YOW for S19:
YYZ-YOW +1
YYG-YOW +1
YQB-YOW 1 flight upgauged to DH3.

Plus a whole bunch of other stuff at other airports. None appears yet on aircanada.com though.

MountainView · #**3329** Posted **Feb 13, 2019, 5:23 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dominion301

According to this thread: http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...35#post8472335 someone posted the following changes for AC for YOW for S19:
YYZ-YOW +1
YYG-YOW +1
YQB-YOW 1 flight upgauged to DH3.

Plus a whole bunch of other stuff at other airports. None appears yet on aircanada.com though.

That would make YYG 2x daily. I somehow doubt that. I always thought that route was subsidized by Tourism PEI as well. It usually runs early May until around Labour Day.

YOWflier · #**3330** Posted **Feb 13, 2019, 7:51 PM**

There's a twitter thread where Flair and YOW are asking where Flair should fly to/from.

Check out @FlyYOW’s Tweet: https://twitter.com/FlyYOW/status/10...913029120?s=09

acottawa · #**3331** Posted **Feb 13, 2019, 8:06 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by CityTech

There's nothing in the TB travel rules that say you can't use an ULCC. And you're supposed to travel on lowest fare. Heck, I've dealt with the stupidity where they've booked me on an American carrier and had me pay for two pieces of luggage, all because Air Canada and Westjet were a few dollars more, while the clerk ignored that those airlines have free baggage for Canadian military personnel.

Huh. Well I learned something new. And that last bit is so government it hurts

[/QUOTE]

Not sure about military, but public servants have to use the Government’s travel agency and LCCs don’t appear in Sabre. You can call them up and make them book on the web, but then you have to pay the phone booking fee.

CityTech · #**3332** Posted **Feb 13, 2019, 11:00 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by acottawa

Huh. Well I learned something new. And that last bit is so government it hurts

Not sure about military, but public servants have to use the Government’s travel agency and LCCs don’t appear in Sabre. You can call them up and make them book on the web, but then you have to pay the phone booking fee.[/QUOTE]

In private sector you just buy the flights with your credit card and then file an expense claim. So much simpler...

I travel for work related purposes all the time (private sector) and I buy ULCC tickets and take Ubers. Easy as pie to expense them. But then I hear this stuff, and also that apparently government has to pay extra to take proper taxis because they don't have the ability to expense to Uber. I shudder at the thought of how much taxpayer dollars are being wasted to pad Blue Line's profits...

JCL · #**3333** Posted **Feb 13, 2019, 11:34 PM**

Two Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners are in Ottawa today.

ACA338/343 (Vancouver to Ottawa, Ottawa to Vancouver) being operated by C-GFPX:
https://flightaware.com/live/flight/...705Z/CYVR/CYOW
https://flightaware.com/live/flight/...245Z/CYOW/CYVR

ACA450/455 (Toronto to Ottawa, Ottawa to Toronto) being operated by C-GHPY:
https://flightaware.com/live/flight/...720Z/CYYZ/CYOW
https://flightaware.com/live/flight/...910Z/CYOW/CYYZ

Truenorth00 · #**3334** Posted **Feb 13, 2019, 11:40 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by acottawa

Not sure about military, but public servants have to use the Government’s travel agency

We use HRG. Just like everybody else.

Quote:

Originally Posted by acottawa

and LCCs don’t appear in Sabre.

For now. Launching in Ottawa and not putting at least those flights in, would be stupid.

Quote:

Originally Posted by acottawa

You can call them up and make them book on the web, but then you have to pay the phone booking fee.

We'll see how this plays out.

My discussions with both my unit clerks and the HRG folks doesn't inspire much confidence that we can avoid U/LCCs.

Truenorth00 · #**3335** Posted **Feb 13, 2019, 11:48 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by CityTech

In private sector you just buy the flights with your credit card and then file an expense claim. So much simpler...

I travel for work related purposes all the time (private sector) and I buy ULCC tickets and take Ubers. Easy as pie to expense them. But then I hear this stuff, and also that apparently government has to pay extra to take proper taxis because they don't have the ability to expense to Uber. I shudder at the thought of how much taxpayer dollars are being wasted to pad Blue Line's profits...

The scale is very different. The Department of National Defence alone has over 100 000 full time military and civilian personnel and tens of thousands more part-time. We also have a lot of exotic bookings that a normal corporate traveler may not have to consider. And a lot more baggage than normal. It's nice to have a travel organizer that can do this for us and still give the government reasonable confidence that the rules are being followed and volume discounts are being collected.

There's security and safety consideration when we travel. You get injured in that Uber and nobody really cares. A military member gets injured in a poorly insured Uber and it'll be front-page news and it'll also entitle him to a lifetime pension. Paying for Blue Line seems cheap by comparison.

YOWflier · #**3336** Posted **Feb 13, 2019, 11:57 PM**

Uber is definitely allowed in a department I'm familiar with. I have to believe it's the same across the board.

acottawa · #**3337** Posted **Feb 14, 2019, 12:05 AM**

I don’t think Uber is prohibited, but the process for getting reimbursed is way more complicated than using a taxi chit.

Truenorth00 · #**3338** Posted **Feb 14, 2019, 12:25 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by acottawa

I don’t think Uber is prohibited, but the process for getting reimbursed is way more complicated than using a taxi chit.

Taxi chits are way easier. And readily available at work and any official function. Why would anyone bother with Uber? And that's before the very real risk considerations.

YOWflier · #**3339** Posted **Feb 14, 2019, 2:13 AM**

Complicated? To each his own I guess. Reimbursement is as simple as submitting the receipt in your expense claim and the Uber receipt is already digital so you don't even need to scan it. Taxi chits are cool if you're getting around locally but they're useless out of town... or are they?

I also don't think taxi chits can be used for cost recoverable travel.

MountainView · #**3340** Posted **Feb 14, 2019, 2:53 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ac888yow

Complicated? To each his own I guess. Reimbursement is as simple as submitting the receipt in your expense claim and the Uber receipt is already digital so you don't even need to scan it. Taxi chits are cool if you're getting around locally but they're useless out of town... or are they?

I also don't think taxi chits can be used for cost recoverable travel.

I travel a bunch for work...

I am not allowed to use a taxi chit while I am on "travel status". They are to be used for getting to/from meetings at other Gov buildings.

I have been using Uber to get from my home to/from the airport and submit the receipt via my travel claim after. I have never had a problem, even when the prices were 2.5x surge during a January storm. When I need to be at the airport for a 6-7 am flight, I don't want to deal with calling Westway or Blueline at 4 am - so I just set up the auto-call-an-uber and one has always been available in the early morning for me.

So you are correct ac88yow.