Order unlocks new travel possibilities amid a growing demand for business aviation
Bombardier’s family of class-leading business jets are ideal choices for those who prefer the comfort, convenience and peace of mind offered by business aviation
MONTREAL, June 30, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Bombardier is pleased to announce that it has received a firm order for 10 aircraft from an existing customer. For competitive reasons, the order mix will also remain undisclosed at this time. This agreement represents a total value of $451.8 million U.S., according to current list prices.
“We are filled with pride as we announce the year’s largest business jet order,” said Éric Martel, President and Chief Executive Officer, Bombardier. “Our portfolio ideally responds to the growing interest in private aviation, with spacious, high-performing aircraft that are designed to offer the best passenger experience in terms of convenience, comfort, air quality and a smooth ride.”
Bombardier’s industry-leading line of business jets allows customers and operators to efficiently meet their evolving business and travel needs. As passengers increasingly look to private aviation for convenient and worry-free travel, Bombardier’s family of business jets offer a compelling array of choices.
About Bombardier Bombardier is a global leader in aviation, creating innovative and game-changing planes. Our products and services provide world-class experiences that set new standards in passenger comfort, energy efficiency, reliability and safety.
Headquartered in Montréal, Canada, Bombardier is present in more than 12 countries including its production/engineering sites and its customer support network. The Corporation supports a worldwide fleet of more than 4,900 aircraft in service with a wide variety of multinational corporations, charter and fractional ownership providers, governments and private individuals.
TORONTO, June 30, 2021 /CNW/ – Porter Aviation Holdings Inc., parent company of Porter Airlines, has reached an agreement with the Government of Canada for loans valued at up to $270.5 million. Included in this amount is $20.5 million dollars dedicated to issuing additional passenger refunds for flights cancelled during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Porter is using this money primarily as a capital reserve during the pandemic recovery period,” said Michael Deluce, president and CEO, Porter. “We intend to draw on these funds as required in support of re-establishing operations through an uncertain period of travel demand. Our immediate focus is on being ready to fly again as soon as public health conditions allow and governments modify travel restrictions.”
The loans are being made available through the federal government’s Canada Enterprise Emergency Funding Corporation under the Large Employer Emergency Financing Facility (LEEFF). Terms are consistent with LEEFF’s published rates and repayable within five years. A separate loan to assist with passenger refunds is repayable over seven years.
All flights booked by June 30, 2021, for travel as of February 1, 2020, are eligible for refunds. The process for making refund requests begins immediately. All submissions must be made online and will be accepted until August 29, 2021. Refunds are for the total purchase amount and will be processed to the original form of payment, such as a credit card and VIPorter points.
Customers have the option of keeping their existing travel credits and receiving a 25% credit bonus, depending on their method of booking. These credits are valid until December 31, 2022, are fully transferable, and can be redeemed multiple times until the full balance is used. Credits, including bonuses, are automatically applied and do not require the customer to contact Porter. Eligible customers will be notified by email if their address was provided at the time of booking. The value of credits, including bonus amounts, is included in this email.
“All customers with pandemic-related flight cancellations now have the option of requesting a refund,” said Deluce. “We look forward to returning to flying this summer and welcoming passengers back onboard our planes.”
Porter has issued thousands of refunds requested by passengers to date for all flights cancelled on U.S. routes, or any domestic flight booked as of July 2020.
Customers who purchased their ticket through a travel agency must make a refund request through the agency. Travel agency commissions are protected for tickets issued as part of this refund process.
Complete details about the refund process are available on Porter’s website.
About Porter Airlines Porter Airlines has revolutionized short-haul flying with a warm and effortless approach to hospitality, restoring glamour and refinement to air travel. Porter is an Official 4 Star Airline® in the World Airline Star Rating®.
Air Canada is launching a new special livery just in time for the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The new livery is plastered on one of the airline’s Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft. The aircraft is set to enter general circulation with Air Canada before being placed on the airline’s Tokyo Narita route during the Olympic Games.
Air Canada is getting into the Olympic spirit. Photo: Air Canada
Once every four years, or occasionally five years when there’s a pandemic, the Olympic Games are hosted. Typically this means a mammoth logistical challenge, getting teams, fans, and even flames worldwide. Air is usually the most practical option, with airlines willing to lend a hand.
Air Canada’s Olympic livery
Many airlines get involved in the festivities with special aircraft liveries. There are a few special liveries to share, but first, we’ll take a look at why we’re here. Air Canada has applied an Olympic-themed livery to C-FVLQ, a three-and-a-half-year-old Boeing 787-9.
The livery is in English and French. Photo: Air Canada
The livery is relatively simple but gets the job done. On the aircraft’s port side, “Fly The Flag” is written in big black and gold lettering. Meanwhile, on the other side of the aircraft, the same lettering reads “Haut Le Drapeau”, the French expression with the same meaning. On both sides, it also says “Go Canada Go!” in all gold lettering.
Air Canada says Go Canada Go! Photo: Air Canada
According to the fleet number listed on the side of the aircraft, the livery has been applied to C-FVLQ. This is a 3.54-year-old Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, according to ch-aviation.com. It completed its first flight on December 18th, 2017, before being delivered to Air Canada on January 12th.
The aircraft will fly to Tokyo’s Narita Airport during the Olympic Games. Photo: Air Canada
As of February 28th, the aircraft had completed 14,884 flight hours across 1,812 flight cycles. It arrived in Toronto to get its paint job on Sunday before operating its first flight in the new livery to Vancouver today.
Other Olympic Liveries
The Olympic livery from Air Canada is by no means the only one that has ever been launched. There are typically two reasons that airlines may choose to apply an Olympic livery, and both can be explained using British Airways. When London was the host city of the 2012 games, the airline decked out an Airbus A319, G-EUPC in a special livery to carry the Olympic Flame to the UK.
The Firefly livery carried the Olympic Flame to the UK in 2012. Photo: British Airways
As was seen with Air Canada’s livery, airlines also create special liveries to carry their teams to and from the games. For example, after the 2016 games in Rio de Janeiro, British Airways put a gold nose on the Boeing 747 bringing the team home, representing the 27 gold medals won by the team, putting it in second place overall behind the United States with 46 golds.
A golden nose brought the UK team back from the 2016 Olympic Games. Photo: British Airways
Roger and Michael Doucette say they want a refund from WestJet vacations, after their 2020 trip was cancelled due to the pandemic. Shelley Steeves/Global News
A New Brunswick father and son say they are out more than $7,000 for a trip they were never able to take due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the airline is refusing to provide a refund for a vacation that it cancelled.
Michael Doucette of Miramichi, N.B. says when he booked a tropical vacation to the Dominican Republic in February 2020 with WestJet Vacations for him and his father, Roger Doucette, who lives in Moncton, it was meant to be for stress relief.
“The whole point of us getting it was to be able to sort of recharge our batteries, after a particularly rough year,” Michael said.
In less than a year, Roger had lost both his mother and his wife. He thought a getaway might be a great way to help manage his grief.
“To be together and have a chance to try and digest some of this stuff,” Roger said.
But Michael says the experience has caused his father a great deal more anxiety.
In March 2020, Michael says they were informed by their travel agent that WestJet had cancelled their April vacation plans due to the pandemic.
“They suspended all flights and vacations, including ours,” he said.
The family was issued a travel voucher for just over $7,100.
But more than a year later, Michael says that voucher is not useful since his father is no longer medically fit to travel.
With WestJet indicating on its website that it is now offering refunds to some clients whose flights were cancelled due to the pandemic, Michael says they looked into getting his father’s money back for the trip.
“They said nope, if they are not happy then they can file a complaint with the Canadian Transportation Agency,” said Michael.
He says their travel agent was told they did not qualify for a refund because they had cancelled their own trip outside of a required 45-day window, which he says is completely false and that he has the documentation issued by the company to the agent to prove it.
He is hoping it is just a clerical error that will be cleared up soon.
But Gabor Lukacs, who is the president of Air Passenger Rights, says that the company’s refusal to provide a refund paints the entire air travel industry in a negative light.
“It is not simply a matter that consumers want their money back. It is a question that if you don’t refund people, you will not get customers,” said Gabor.
He says the family should be demanding a refund under Alberta’s statutory chargeback consumer protections laws or ask their bank to reverse the charges for services not provided.
“It feels as though they put the whole burden on us,” said Roger.
Global News reached out to WestJet on Monday, but the company has yet to respond to our questions about the family’s refund.
“What is so frustrating is that it is a Canadian company,” said Michael, who says his father cannot afford to take on the loss.
Kim Cochrane and her dog Dylan normally make an annual trip together to Vancouver. Cochrane is a nervous flyer and has a letter from her doctor identifying Dylan as an emotional support animal. (Submitted by Kim Cochrane)
Normally, Kim Cochrane would soon be getting on a plane to take her annual trip to Vancouver, her dog Dylan by her side.
For several years, Cochrane, a nervous flyer, has taken Air Canada flights accompanied by her dog Dylan, along with a letter from her doctor identifying him as an emotional support animal.
But this year, Cochrane was surprised and upset to learn that Air Canada has now altered its policy: as of March 1, emotional support animals are no longer allowed in airplane cabins.
Smaller dogs and cats that can fit inside a specifically sized carrier, as well as service dogs, are still accepted.
“It is helpful to have him there, it’s very calming and grounding,” said Cochrane of Dylan, who is too tall to fit in the prescribed size of carrier.
Allowing emotional support animals (ESAs) is “a necessity,” she says, adding that she hopes the airline rethinks the change.
U.S. authority updates rules
Air Canada told CBC Toronto in an email that the new policy came as a result of changes to the rules in the United States.
In January, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) revised its regulations and now it no longer requires airplanes to accept emotional support animals. It also affirmed that service dogs — including psychiatric service dogs — will continue to be allowed on board.
“While this decision may disappoint some, it will enhance overall customer safety and comfort and align us with major North American carriers to provide consistency,” wrote Air Canada spokesperson Peter Fitzpatrick of the new ESA rules.
Air Canada says changing rules in the U.S., as well as past incidents involving harm to passengers and staff, led the airline to change its policy on emotional support animals. (Maggie MacPherson/CBC)
In the same email, Fitzpatrick also wrote that Air Canada has experienced a “number of incidents involving emotional support animals, including cases where employees and other customers have been harmed.”
According to WestJet’s website, that airline still accepts emotional support dogs inside airplane cabins — an update to its previous rules, which allowed a much broader range of animals.
Similar to the U.S. DOT, the Canadian Transportation Agency requires carriers to accept service dogs, which means they are specially trained to assist passengers who have disabilities.
Service versus emotional support
Lawyer Daniel Walker says legally there’s some murkiness around the definition of emotional support animals.
“Emotional support animals really don’t have much of an enshrined status. What the law really enshrines is that individuals that have a disability, as recognized under provincial legislation … are entitled to service animals,” he said.
According to federal government documents that reference travelling with emotional support animals, an accompanying letter is required from a doctor that confirms the owner of the animal has been diagnosed with a “mental or emotional disability recognized in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Fifth Edition (DSM V).”
In some cases, Walker says, these kinds of letters are being issued with “minimal engagement with medical professionals who will verify whether your need is actually meeting the threshold and the level of a disability.”
Gabor Lucaks, an air passenger rights advocate, says what’s needed is some clarity around what he describes as a “loaded topic.”
“As a general principle, any form of disability should be accommodated,” he said, pointing out that airlines have broad responsibilities to do so under the Canada Transportation Act.
A key question, he continues, is who gets to make decisions about what constitutes a legitimate need for an emotional support animal.
“I think that we should hear more from the disability community on how they propose to delineate between dubious and genuine emotional support dogs.”
Air Canada is launching the Coast-to-Coast FlightPass, a flexible and convenient pre-paid package of one-way flights,available for purchase until July 27, 2021. Packages available include four, eight or twenty credit passes valid for one, two or five travellers, respectively.
If you’re looking to explore our great country this summer (or even next year), the pass is good for travel until July 27, 2022(meaning you can even use it next summer). With this Flight Pass you’re even able to book, change, or cancel up to 1 hour prior to departure.
Whether you’re looking to discover a Canadian destination you haven’t seen before, or to reconnect with friends and family when the time is right, you can use this pass to go anywhere we fly to in Canada!
MONTREAL, June 30, 2021 /CNW Telbec/ – Air Canada (TSX: AC) announced today that all of the nominees listed in its management proxy circular dated May 6, 2021 were elected as directors of Air Canada at its Annual Meeting of Shareholders which was held on Tuesday, June 29, 2021.
All of the nominees have already been serving as directors of Air Canada and each of the directors was elected by a majority of the votes cast by shareholders present online or represented by proxy at the meeting. The results of the vote are detailed below.
Nominee
Votes For
% For
Votes Withheld
% Withheld
Amee Chande
139,562,870
95.45%
6,656,305
4.55%
Christie J.B. Clark
139,159,060
95.17%
7,060,115
4.83%
Gary A. Doer
138,644,840
94.82%
7,574,335
5.18%
Rob Fyfe
138,923,881
95.01%
7,295,294
4.99%
Michael M. Green
131,072,649
89.64%
15,146,526
10.36%
Jean Marc Huot
137,430,296
93.99%
8,788,879
6.01%
Madeleine Paquin
145,829,347
99.73%
389,828
0.27%
Michael Rousseau
145,771,421
99.69%
447,754
0.31%
Vagn Sørensen
131,891,673
90.20%
14,327,502
9.80%
Kathleen Taylor
138,914,124
95.00%
7,305,051
5.00%
Annette Verschuren
145,896,093
99.78%
323,082
0.22%
Michael M. Wilson
138,032,886
94.40%
8,186,289
5.60%
Final voting results on all matters voted on at the meeting will be filed on SEDAR.
About Air Canada
Air Canada is Canada’s largest domestic and international airline, and in 2020 was among the top 20 largest airlines in the world. It is Canada’s flag carrier and a founding member of Star Alliance, the world’s most comprehensive air transportation network. Air Canada is the only international network carrier in North America to receive a Four-Star ranking according to independent U.K. research firm Skytrax. In 2020, Air Canada was named Global Traveler’s Best Airline in North America for the second straight year. In January 2021, Air Canada received APEX’s Diamond Status Certification for the Air Canada CleanCare+ biosafety program for managing COVID-19, the only airline in Canada to attain the highest APEX ranking. Air Canada has also committed to a net zero emissions goal from all global operations by 2050.
TORONTO — Air Canada has selected American Express Global Business Travel (GBT) as its employee global travel booking tool and travel management provider.
The agreement, which went into effect on June 28, supports the airline’s employee corporate hotel accommodation and ground transportation bookings, and will also extend to hotel consulting and meetings and events.
According to Panos Dassios, Director Strategic Procurement, Global Travel at Air Canada, GBT’s proprietary online booking platform, Neo, was a key factor in Air Canada’s decision.
“In rebuilding our business, we have an opportunity to employ new technologies such as Neo,” he said. “By working with GBT, we believe we can better optimize our corporate travel tool in anticipation of business travel returning to more normal levels.”
Patrick Doyle, Vice President and General Manager at GBT Canada, added: “We are excited to partner with Air Canada and very proud to be the flag carrier’s preferred travel management company. GBT and Air Canada have been industry leaders in preparing for a return to travel, and this partnership looks forward to the future as we help Air Canada employees return to travel with confidence.”
Gatineau, Quebec, 29 June 2021 — Building on the preliminary statistics published in February 2021, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) today released its 2020 annual statistical summaries on transportation occurrences in the air, marine, pipeline, and rail sectors.
Figure 1. 2020 transportation accidents reported to the TSB
Air
In early 2020, broad travel restrictions were put in place in Canada and around the world in an effort to contain a new coronavirus that was rapidly spreading. The impact on commercial aviation was immediate, widespread, and lasting, with air transportation activity in Canada being greatly reduced during most of 2020.
In 2020, a total of 170 air transportation accidents were reported to the TSB. This number is 25% lower than the previous year’s total of 227 accidents and 32% below the average of 251 accidents reported in the prior 10 years, 2010 to 2019. Most (165) of the accidents in 2020 took place in Canada and involved Canadian-registered aircraft.
In 2020, 13 fatalities resulted from accidents involving Canadian-registered airplanes and helicopters (excluding ultralights), yielding a rate of 0.5 fatalities per 100 000 hours flown. This fatality rate is substantially lower than the 2019 rate of 1.1, and below the average yearly rate of 1.0 from 2010 to 2019.
Vancouver Airport Authority is ready to welcome back passengers to Vancouver International Airport (YVR) as British Columbia and Canada ease measures to re-open travel and tourism, safely and in a coordinated manner.
“At YVR, we are pleased to see the safe, phased approach that government is taking to advance restart plans in BC and Canada for those who are able to travel. We will continue to follow these plans and the direction of public health authorities to implement measures focused on keeping our communities safe while beginning to reopen the visitor economy,” said Robyn McVicker, Vice President, Passenger Journey at Vancouver Airport Authority. “As measures ease, we are committed to keeping our community and passengers informed of what to expect at the airport. We are asking travellers to be prepared, be patient and have confidence—YVR and our partners are ready to deliver a safe, effortless experience.”
The Airport Authority recognizes that as BC moves through its phased Restart Plan, many people will be planning travel and may be visiting the airport for the first time in over a year. The Airport Authority is committed to keeping passengers informed about what the airport experience will look like when everyone can get back to travel and encouraging them to prepare for their trip in advance.
Passing through Canada’s border will look different and may take longer as passengers returning to Canada meet new entry requirements including pre-departure testing, completion of the ArriveCan, pre-registration for the arrival test at the airport and quarantine plans where applicable. The airport team is ready to support our passengers through these new processes.
Travellers can think of preparing for their trip and journey through YVR in three simple steps:
1. READY – Get ready for your trip by being well prepared:
Know the requirements of where you’re travelling to as well as what you will need when you return.
Make sure your passport is valid and you have the right travel documentation.
2. SET – Get set and be patient when you arrive at YVR:
Masks will continue to be mandatory within the airport and onboard your flight.
Security screening now includes a few extra steps, including temperature checks.
For those entering Canada from the US or another international destination, the border process is more comprehensive—completing forms using the ArriveCan app and pre-registering for testing can streamline the steps of your re-entry.
3. FLY – We are ready to welcome you back as you fly to your next destination:
Many of our retail and concession partners have re-opened, including your favourite global brands and local flavours. We’re also looking forward to some new concepts that will open very soon.
Of course, our TAKEcare teams continue to keep the airport safe and clean at the highest standards using a multi-layered approach to cleaning and hygiene.
For more information visit yvr.ca and yvr.ca/TAKEcare.
Canadian Aviation News 
You must be logged in to post a comment.