YYC Direct Flights Shakeup 2023 - AC Out, WJ In

[killramos]

Don’t let the door hit them in the way out

[Team_Mclaren]

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Don’t let the door hit them in the way out

I mean... unless you fly private everywhere. Less options definitely hurts most people...

[max_boost]

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Direct flights axed out of Calgary include Ottawa, Halifax, Frankfurt, Los Angeles, Cancun, and Honolulu.

Wow interesting

[Xtrema]

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I don't know what changes they made but I do think they should consider a renaming to Air Liberal Party since those are the only jurisdictions they truly serve.

Edit: No more direct flights to Ottawa, Halifax, Los Angeles, Honolulu, Cancun and Frankfurt.

Well Westjet is no longer fighting them. Looks like AC is pulling out of the west and Westjet is pulling out of east to let each other have their own turf and keep prices up.

Not surprising here.

[flipstah]

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Well Westjet is no longer fighting them. Looks like AC is pulling out of the west and Westjet is pulling out of east to let each other have their own turf and keep prices up.

Not surprising here.

So what's the split of West and East here? Saskatchewan? Manitoba?

[npham]

Should probably switch the the WJ Mastercard at this point.

[bjstare]

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Should probably switch the the WJ Mastercard at this point.

WJ is becoming a shit airline, but the card is still decent if you use all the perks/vouchers.

[killramos]

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I mean... unless you fly private everywhere. Less options definitely hurts most people...

Dunno, them centralizing their operations and long haul routes out of Calgary is a pretty big win for calgarians, no other airline was going to give us that.

Seems like a reasonable price to pay.

[hurrdurr]

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Dunno, them centralizing their operations and long haul routes out of Calgary is a pretty big win for calgarians, no other airline was going to give us that.

Seems like a reasonable price to pay.

Yep this guy gets it.

Competition leaving the west is bad 100%. AC is my preferred Airline. I have 400K Aeroplan points (that they devalued like a mf with their changes a couple years ago) however, Westjet being Calgary based has opened up routes (direct) that we would have never had before. AC pulled NRT years ago, Westjet trialed this year (went well, hoping it's an annual slot), AC Pulling Frankfurt but WJ gave us BCN/CDG/LHR/FCO/EDI/LGW/DUB. Unfortunately Westjet's reach beyond these direct cities is not nearly as good as AC's codeshare and partner network. Westjet's new dreamliner product is wonderful - I flew it to and from Europe this month and I can't fault the aircraft or service for any reason.

We're in a decent spot as far as accessibility to the world from the west. Where AC leaves us, WJ expands, however the lack of competition is what will hurt us. Lynx, Flair, Porter help regionally for short haul, low cost but it's not enough.

After covid the uptick in leisure travel has been exponential. I'm curious and optimistic to see what happens in the next few years.

[SkiBum5.0]

For clarity, the Frankfurt route isn’t gone, it’s serviced by the Lufthansa fleet instead. All perks (points and lounge) still valid. Still stinks bc the AC equipment is real nice on that route

Edit: I fly this route every other month

[rage2]

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Friend booked HNL for NOV during that $400 round trip seat sale. Got switched to a 15 hr connecting flight via YVR.... fucking rough...

Unpopular opinion, but I personally prefer YVR stopovers, and try to book thru YVR more often than not. Their security and customs (both ways) are way more efficient than YYC. It's 10 mins to Chinese or Japanese food that's 100x better than Calgary. Their flights to US destinations (LAX and SFO) are on way better planes. YYC to both those destinations uses shit planes and shit business class. Plus you get a few extra miles and extra segments for grinding out status. I try to fly thru YVR with 6 hour layovers to get some free Vancouver food and shopping in.

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For clarity, the Frankfurt route isn’t gone, it’s serviced by the Lufthansa fleet instead. All perks (points and lounge) still valid. Still stinks bc the AC equipment is real nice on that route

Edit: I fly this route every other month

I used to fly this route regularly too, business lie flats. Great plane. I've always hated Lufthansa segments, but I'm told they're upgrading their entire fleet right now. Can't wait to never fly a 747 again.

[Team_Mclaren]

LMAO if you think Westjet can pick up where AC left off you're delusional. Especially long routes. And that Westjet wont jack up the prices because there are no other options...

Equipment wise yes the 787 in both WJ and AC is comparable. problem is WJ only has 7 of them with 2 on order...

edit: and yes generally i just hate WJ...

[hurrdurr]

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LMAO if you think Westjet can pick up where AC left off you're delusional. Especially long routes. And that Westjet wont jack up the prices because there are no other options...

Equipment wise yes the 787 in both WJ and AC is comparable. problem is WJ only has 7 of them with 2 on order...

edit: and yes generally i just hate WJ...

Delusional? AC has only operated 2 direct european routes out of Calgary. (now 1 starting November) Westjet operates 7. Where is the delusion? Facts are facts? Like I mentioned before Star Alliance is way more connected outside of Canada than anything you book with Westjet however if you're booking direct to Europe from Calgary we have a lot of options thanks to Westjet's new network and routing. (Dreamliner for Transatlantic flights (787-9) is a plus)

No one said that the lack of competition would mean the prices wouldn't get higher, I'm simply pointing out that while AC has been pulling out of the west consistently for the past year, we have more slots with Westjet to more destinations directly. Higher prices will keep poor people out of the air meaning a more comfortable travelling experience and more overhead space. Covid keeping people home allowed for the lower class to save money and allocate it to travel where they never had the capability to travel previously. There has been an undeniable influx of leisure travel in the past year and a half because of it. Meaning price spikes due to higher demand leading to lower availability and higher prices.

AC has a larger fleet of bigger aircrafts operating out of YVR/YYZ/YUL, they always will and we will always have the capability to connect via these hubs out of Calgary which is wonderful as personally I also like to connect to break up longer journeys.

[Team_Mclaren]

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Delusional? AC has only operated 2 direct european routes out of Calgary. (now 1 starting November) Westjet operates 7. Where is the delusion? Facts are facts? Like I mentioned before Star Alliance is way more connected outside of Canada than anything you book with Westjet however if you're booking direct to Europe from Calgary we have a lot of options thanks to Westjet's new network and routing. (Dreamliner for Transatlantic flights (787-9) is a plus)

No one said that the lack of competition would mean the prices wouldn't get higher, I'm simply pointing out that while AC has been pulling out of the west consistently for the past year, we have more slots with Westjet to more destinations directly. Higher prices will keep poor people out of the air meaning a more comfortable travelling experience and more overhead space. Covid keeping people home allowed for the lower class to save money and allocate it to travel where they never had the capability to travel previously. There has been an undeniable influx of leisure travel in the past year and a half because of it. Meaning price spikes due to higher demand leading to lower availability and higher prices.

AC has a larger fleet of bigger aircrafts operating out of YVR/YYZ/YUL, they always will and we will always have the capability to connect via these hubs out of Calgary which is wonderful as personally I also like to connect to break up longer journeys.

Wait... so you're saying higher prices is better? You lost me there. I guess one can always book charter if they want to fly comfortably.

[gpomp]

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Wait... so you're saying higher prices is better? You lost me there. I guess one can always book charter if they want to fly comfortably.

This change only affects people who fly commercial which apparently is only a handful of people on beyond.

[hurrdurr]

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Wait... so you're saying higher prices is better? You lost me there. I guess one can always book charter if they want to fly comfortably.

I said that? My mistake. What I'm trying to get at is that while AC is pulling out of the west, we still have relatively decent connections outside of Canada thanks to Westjet's network growth. Does the removal of these specific flight schedules affect you? Maybe if you were trying to go to Cancun in December... I mentioned previously that lack of competition sucks because it will drive higher demand for what is currently available in the market however on the flip side it could create less demand for non essential travel due to price surges (decrease in leisure travel). In turn this could potentially create a normalised pricing structure.

I'm not en economist for air travel - I've been in the industry for nearly 15 years, merely speculating based on what I've seen in the past.

[max_boost]

I dream of the day I can fly biz class and leave economy for good lol

- - - Updated - - -

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I said that? My mistake. What I'm trying to get at is that while AC is pulling out of the west, we still have relatively decent connections outside of Canada thanks to Westjet's network growth. Does the removal of these specific flight schedules affect you? Maybe if you were trying to go to Cancun in December... I mentioned previously that lack of competition sucks because it will drive higher demand for what is currently available in the market however on the flip side it could create less demand for non essential travel due to price surges (decrease in leisure travel). In turn this could potentially create a normalised pricing structure.

I'm not en economist for air travel - I've been in the industry for nearly 15 years, merely speculating based on what I've seen in the past.

What you said was fine
Team_mclaren just esl

[g-m]

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LMAO if you think Westjet can pick up where AC left off you're delusional. Especially long routes. And that Westjet wont jack up the prices because there are no other options...

Equipment wise yes the 787 in both WJ and AC is comparable. problem is WJ only has 7 of them with 2 on order...

edit: and yes generally i just hate WJ...

Completely with you. I haaaaaaaaaate wj. Terrible planes, terrible service and I'll do anything to avoid flying wj. Even the status matching doesn't mask a sub par product.

[ExtraSlow]

WJ today is not as good as WJ yesterday. But if you live in Calgary, and want direct flights from Calgary, WJ is unquestionably the superior choice. It was true before all this "shakeup" but even more true now.

No Canadian airline is truly "good" anymore. Bring back Wardair.

[Maxx Mazda]

AC is not stopping flights to those destinations, they’re just stopping direct flights there from Calgary. Routes like YVR/YYZ/YUL will be upgauged to connect people to these destinations through their hubs. (Google “airline hub and spoke model” for more.) More frequency is also a huge win for the business travellers who fly a lot. Now, instead of sending a half empty 787 to Frankfurt from Calgary once a day, they can fill every seat in that same aircraft and send it to Toronto and back 6-8 times in the same time period. Utilization will increase, and profits will as well.

Recall, the average podunk Canadian “traveller” doesn’t care about having to connect 3 times to get to Mexico, if it means they’ll save $14 on their round trip ticket. As evidenced above, some travellers even prefer connecting elsewhere since YYC airport is such a dump.