Airband

Shut down travel between provinces to control spread of variants, experts say 'Canada's border is particularly porous, calling the rules around international travel a "Swiss-cheese policy" because it has so many loopholes'

Ottawa has agreed to financial relief package for Air Canada, sources say

Porter Airlines pushes back target date for resuming flights to June 21 Mon Apr 12, 2021 - BNN Bloomberg Kayla Goodfield Porter Airlines Inc. has pushed back its target date for resuming flights yet again. The Toronto-based airline now expects its planes to begin taking off again on June 21, roughly a month after the May 19 date it previously expected to resume flights. “In recent weeks, there has been open discussion by government officials about easing travel restrictions based on expectations that vaccination programs will be well advanced in the U.S. and Canada by early summer,” Michael Deluce, president and chief executive officer of Porter Airlines, said in a release on Monday. “We are looking ahead to summer and preparing for the possibility of some travel restrictions unwinding.” Deluce said the airline will begin the process of rebuilding operations “as soon as conditions allow based on government decisions.” The airline, which is headquartered at Toronto's Billy Bishop Airport, first suspended operations back on March 21, 2020 in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, it has pushed back its scheduled return several times.

U.S. taxi services see business boost helping Canadians avoid hotel quarantine Travellers entering Canada by land aren't required to check into a quarantine hotel "it's not even so much the cost, it's like you're in jail … with this hotel quarantine."

Toronto’s island airport seeks private operator Wed Mar 31, 2021 - The Globe and Mail Eric Atkins - Transportation Reporter The government agency that owns Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport is seeking expressions of interest from investors to operate the airport, which has seen passenger traffic vanish in the pandemic. The move to privatize operations of the island airport adjacent to downtown Toronto is being made more than a year into the COVID-19 crisis that has forced Porter Airlines and Air Canada to halt all commercial airline traffic at the airport. Geoffrey Wilson, chief executive officer of PortsToronto, the agency that owns the airport and nearby port, said the potential investor is likely among the 25 or so institutional funds that invest in transportation infrastructure. Those funds include the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan. The effort to find an investor-operator is driven by a need to ensure the airport can survive the pandemic and emerge from the crisis on strong financial footing, he said. A public-private partnership would be an extension of existing arrangements at the airport, he said, referring to Porter Airlines’ operations, terminal owner Nieuport Aviation and the Ornge air ambulance service. Billy Bishop is Canada’s ninth-busiest airport by passenger volumes, with 2.8 million travellers in a typical year. The airport has been running on its cash reserves and is required to be financially self-sufficient. In good times, it operates on the landing fees, airport improvement charges and rent paid by tenants, like other Canadian airports. “That means that there is no back-stop,” Mr. Wilson said. “There is no funding, for example, from our shareholders, the federal government.” In a statement, PortsToronto said it is seeking “a financial investor that would be interested in operating the airport under lease ... in an effort to reduce PortsToronto’s overall debt position, restore and enhance liquidity; enable ongoing and future infrastructure investment; and ensure the airport’s long-term viability.” “Airports in Canada are built on a user-pay model,” Mr. Wilson said. “We have no users.” John Gradek, a lecturer on aviation leadership at McGill University in Montreal, said PortsToronto’s move underlines the crisis faced by the country’s air industry. “They don’t see travel returning very quickly. They’re turning to the market to provide them with capital to invest in core activities at the airport,” Mr. Gradek said. “They don’t see much cash coming in from operations. They want cash from markets.” Airlines, airports and the companies that serve them have laid off thousands of employees since the pandemic struck. Porter Airlines, the island airport’s main carrier, Sunwing Airlines Inc. and Transat AT Inc. TRZ-T unchno change have suspended operations amid a resurgent pandemic that has closed borders and prompted government to impose travel restrictions. The federal government, the landlord for ports and airports, in the fall offered rent relief or deferrals to Canada’s airports. PortsToronto received a reduction in the gross revenue charge it pays to Ottawa, an amount that fell, in any case, owing to the loss of airplane traffic. The Greater Toronto Airports Authority, operator of Toronto Pearson International Airport, last week said 2020 passenger volumes fell by 74 per cent from a year earlier. Airports rely on passenger traffic for 90 per cent of their revenue and face a total of $5.5-billion in lost revenue for 2020 and 2021. To survive, the airports have taken on a total of $2.8-billion in debt, said Daniel-Robert Gooch, president of the Canadian Airports Council. “This situation has been incredibly challenging for all the airports,” Mr. Gooch said. “Everybody is looking at whatever they can to be creative in terms of how ... [to] get through this.”

Brookfield hires ex-Air Canada CEO to advise on aerospace deals There are opportunities all along the supply chain, even owning airports

Bleeding cash, Canada’s once-booming airports face bleak choices and dim prospects Wed Mar 17, 2021 - The Globe and Mail by Konrad Yakabuski Back when the Trudeau government sought to make infrastructure the leitmotif of its first-term economic strategy, it considered privatizing Canada’s then-booming airports to free up capital to invest in public transit and green-energy projects. At the time, no one seemed more bullish on the idea than Michael Sabia. Then the head of Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, Mr. Sabia had seen the pension fund manager’s stake in London’s Heathrow Airport generate juicy returns over the years and he longed to see similar opportunities arise at home. As a member of then-finance minister Bill Morneau’s advisory council on economic growth, in 2016, he enthusiastically backed its recommendations for a partial or full privatization of Canada’s airports. Most observers assumed the Caisse would pounce at the chance to own a piece of them. The Liberals ultimately decided against privatization in the face of stiff opposition from the people who then ran Canada’s airport authorities and polls showing Canadians cool to the prospect of selling off what were perceived as prized public assets. As a result, the government turned its nose up at billions of dollars in proceeds that could have gone toward other infrastructure priorities or debt reduction. Privatization would also have enabled airports to tap equity markets to fund growth instead of constantly dinging passengers with higher fees and piling on debt that had reached a cumulative $15-billion when the pandemic struck. Now, those same airports are begging Ottawa for a bailout after a year of cratering revenues brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and increasingly punitive travel restrictions imposed by the federal government. Instead of generating cash from their sale, Ottawa could instead be on the hook for billions if struggling airports default on their debt as they run out of cash. As it happens, Mr. Sabia, appointed deputy finance minister in December, is once again at the centre of the debate about what to do about the airports. As an architect of Ottawa’s postpandemic fiscal strategy, Mr. Sabia must address more than the short-term cash woes of Canada’s airports. While Ottawa has provided rent relief to the authorities that operate Canada’s airports under long-term leases with the federal government, it is a drop in the bucket compared with the amount they need to survive the next few years. Some experts predict that air travel might not return to prepandemic levels until 2025, suggesting some airports may need to undertake a financial restructuring to remain viable. Canada’s airports were already at a competitive disadvantage to their U.S. counterparts prior to the pandemic. Having undertaken expensive – or extravagant, say their critics – investments in new terminal buildings in recent years, many came to rely on debt and ever-increasing per-passenger “airport improvement fees” to cover growing operating and debt-service costs. Those days are over. In the postpandemic era, Canada’s airports will need to adopt a more consumer-friendly business model if they hope to lure back travellers. The current model, akin to operating Canada’s airports as public utilities, has proved ill-suited to changing market conditions and competitive pressures. Its days were numbered even before the pandemic. The Greater Toronto Airports Authority and the Vancouver Airport Authority were able to tap debt markets in 2020 to shore up their liquidity. But airports in Montreal, Calgary and Ottawa, however, appear to be on far shakier ground and may need to take more drastic action. Aéroports de Montréal, or ADM, which runs Montreal’s Trudeau and Mirabel airports, last month raised its airport improvement fee to $35 from $30 and adjusted landing charges for cargo flights. But the move was not enough to avoid having its debt downgraded to single-A from single-A (high) by DBRS Morningstar. “In absence of stronger assistance from the federal government, the financial stress faced by ADM is likely to continue,” DBRS added. Moody’s Investors Service last week estimated that Canadian airports would need to see traffic return to between 40 per cent and 75 per cent of 2019 levels to stop hemorrhaging cash. They are a long way from that, however, with traffic hovering at about 15 per cent of prepandemic levels. Additional restrictions imposed last month by Ottawa on international travellers are expected to reduce airport revenues by $1-billion this year on top of the $5.5-billion shortfall previously projected for 2020 and 2021 by the Canadian Airports Council. “While additional rounds of cost-cutting and rate increases are possible, there is a limit to how deeply costs can be cut when airports have an obligation to remain open and rate increases will only make air travel more expensive,” Moody’s noted. “Some airports will likely need to issue additional bonds or increase credit facilities to support their liquidity. The elevated debt levels will deteriorate credit metrics and delay the overall recovery to pre-COVID-19 financial performance.” By failing to privatize Canada’s airports when it could have, the Trudeau government missed out on an opportunity to reap billions of dollars for taxpayers and enable airports to tap new sources of capital that would have helped them withstand periods such as this one. No one understands that better than Mr. Sabia.

Jazz Pilot Leadership Approves Agreement to Secure all Air Canada Express Flying Mon Mar 15, 2021 - Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l KINGSTON, ON— Sunday night, pilot leaders of Jazz Aviation, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l (ALPA) finalized an agreement with their management that enables the company to become the exclusive express operator for Air Canada. The pilots agreed to terms which enable revision of the capacity purchase agreement (CPA) between Jazz Aviation LP, and Air Canada. Under the agreement, Jazz pilots will fly all 70+ seat aircraft under the Air Canada Express banner until 2025. Jazz will add 25 Embraer 175s (76-seat aircraft) transferred from Sky Regional, while 19 Dash 8-300s will be removed from their fleet guarantee. Jazz Aviation LP had to reach an agreement with its pilots as a prerequisite for the capacity purchase agreement revisions. “A long-term goal of Jazz pilots has been to reach consecutive agreements with airline management to facilitate the consolidation of Air Canada Express flying at Jazz. We look forward to welcoming our colleagues from Sky Regional and are pleased to deliver an agreement that provides additional job security to our pilots,” said Capt. Claude Buraglia, chairman of the Jazz chapter of ALPA. “Jazz pilots are proud to become the sole operator of Air Canada Express, and we are prepared to support Air Canada’s recovery through the pandemic and into the future.” As part of the agreement reached between Jazz Aviation LP and the Air Line Pilots Association, Sky Regional pilots will be offered employment at Jazz. Capt. Cam Hill, chairman of the Sky Regional chapter of ALPA said, “Sky Regional Pilots are happy to become part of Jazz pilots’ 90-year history; however, we will miss our Sky Regional colleagues from other employee groups who are unable to join us. By joining Jazz, Sky Regional pilots will have the opportunity to continue their careers while working under Jazz’s mature Collective Agreement that provides pilots with significant job security through 2035.” The CPA is retroactive January 1, 2021.

About 65% were non-refundable fares

FTE count at end of 2019 was just shy of 12,000.

WestJet to lay off 415 pilots as COVID-19 pandemic weighs on outlook for summer travel Fri Feb 26, 2021 - The Globe and Mail Eric Atkins - Transportation Reporter WestJet Airlines Ltd. has issued layoff notices to 415 pilots, underlining the dim outlook for air travel heading into the summer. Calgary-based WestJet issued the notices as it negotiates with the union that represents its pilots, the Airline Pilots Association, to renew a six-month memorandum of agreement that expires on March 31. The MOA, which does not replace the collective agreement, is intended to set out working conditions and mitigate the effects of the collapse in demand for air travel. Morgan Bell, a WestJet spokeswoman, said the layoff notices were sent ahead of the expiration of the agreement as talks continue. “The current MOA is set to expire on March 31 and we continue to be hopeful that ALPA and WestJet can reach an agreement to mitigate any further impact to our pilot group as a result of the pandemic,” Ms. Bell said. “While this work continues, in order to be contractually compliant, layoff notices will be sent to the affected pilots.” Ms. Bell declined to address how many layoffs were issued, but the number was provided by a person the Globe is not identifying because they are not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. The round of layoffs will affect pilots with as many as 10 or 11 years’ seniority, the person said. WestJet has 1,250 pilots in its work force of 5,600. About 5,100 have been laid off since the pandemic caused passenger capacity to be slashed by about 90 per cent, including 450 pilots. Before the pandemic, WestJet employed about 2,000 pilots. A spokesman for the union did not immediately respond to a request for comment. New variants of the coronavirus have sparked tighter travel restrictions around the world, even as some countries begin vaccinating people against the deadly illness. The International Air Transport Association this week said the world’s airlines will continue to lose money through 2021, revising a previous forecast that the cash burn would stop late in the year. “The first half of 2021 will be worse than earlier anticipated,” IATA said in a press briefing. The world’s airlines will burn through US$75-billion to US$95-billion this year, higher than a previously forecast US$45-billion, said Brian Pearce, chief economist of IATA. Passenger “bookings have deteriorated,” he told reporters. WestJet and other Canadian airlines agreed at the request of the federal government to stop flying to sun destinations in Mexico and the Caribbean. WestJet has also halted most flight to Atlantic Canada, and pared back its schedule elsewhere to reduce costs as demand falls.

De Havilland to pause Dash-8 production, 500 employees affected Wed Feb 17, 2021 - BNN/Bloomberg Jon Victor De Havilland Aircraft of Canada Ltd. said Wednesday that it will pause production of new Dash 8-400 at its Downsview factory, as airlines re-evaluate their costs amid harsh market conditions. Around 500 employees will be affected by the indefinite production pause, De Havilland Canada said, adding that its goal is to resume new aircraft delivery as soon as possible, subject to market demand. "While this evolution is taking place against the backdrop of unprecedented industry circumstances, we see a bright future for De Havilland Canada and the Dash 8," said David Curtis, executive chairman of De Havilland Canada parent Longview Aviation Capital. Bombardier, the previous owner of the Downsview site in Toronto, sold it in 2018. Longview Aviation Capital bought the Dash 8 aircraft program from Bombardier in 2019. De Havilland Canada has begun preparing to leave the site over the latter part of the year and says there are a number of options in Canada. The Dash 8 program's site lease expires in 2021. The production cuts underscore the uncertainty in the Canadian aviation industry, where market pressures have forced airlines to cut costs as much as possible in order to preserve cash. Regional routes, for which the Dash 8 is designed, have been hit especially hard, with companies like Air Canada and WestJet scaling down domestic flights. Air Canada said in November that it was cancelling orders for 12 Airbus A220s and 10 Boeing 737 Max 8s as the airline was forced to scale down its operations. As a result of the route cuts, thousands of airline workers have been laid off since the start of the year, when the federal government cracked down further on international travel. Air Canada said last week that it expected that some of the quarantine measures could be replaced by testing programs by April 30, when airlines are scheduled to resume many flights. But experts have warned that a full recovery for the aviation industry could take years. "We are sensitive to the impact that a production pause will have on our employees, and are committed to treating everyone with transparency and respect," Curtis said. "This decision is no reflection on the quality of our team, which has performed exceedingly well through the disruptions of the past year."

Air Canada 2020 Q4 and Year-end Results

Mandatory hotel quarantine violates citizens' mobility rights: civil liberties group Civil liberties group also says the $2,000-price for a mandatory hotel quarantine could prevent lower-income Canadians from taking essential flights abroad Tue Feb 09, 2021 - National Post OTTAWA — The Canadian Civil Liberties Association is questioning Ottawa’s move to require hotel quarantines for international travellers, saying it may harm lower-income Canadians and infringe on citizens’ mobility rights. Cara Zwibel, a lawyer who heads the organization’s fundamental freedoms program, is calling on the federal government to produce any evidence that returning passengers are breaching the current requirement to self-isolate at home, which she suggests is the only fair basis to toughen the rules. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced more than two weeks ago that travellers flying back from abroad will have to quarantine at a federally mandated hotel for up to three days at their own expense, though he acknowledged that only a fraction of COVID-19 cases appears to stem from overseas trips. Zwibel suggests that the cost — $2,000 or more, according to the government — could be prohibitive for lower-income Canadians who need to care for sick relatives or receive specialized medical care abroad. Health conditions that would make isolating in a hotel particularly challenging are another concern. In a letter to Canada’s transport minister and attorney general, the civil liberties association is demanding Ottawa carve out quarantine exemptions and fee waivers for Canadians who seek to look after loved ones or receive treatment overseas, particularly people in narrow financial straits. “For these individuals, travel is not a luxury,” Zwibel says in the letter. “The government’s definition of what constitutes ‘essential travel’ for these purposes will be important.” Ottawa has not announced when mandatory hotel quarantines will come into effect, one of several measures aimed at choking off viral spread at the border and deterring non-essential travel. Trudeau announced on Jan. 29 that Canadian airlines had suspended flights to Mexico and the Caribbean until April 30. Residents who do choose to fly abroad now have to furnish negative COVID-19 test results less than 72 hours before departure back to home soil. Roughly two per cent of cases with “known exposure” have been linked to international travel, and an even smaller proportion in recent weeks, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada. However, there is still virtually no testing at the border and many recent cases do not have an identified source. Section 6 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms states that “every citizen of Canada has the right to enter, remain in and leave Canada,” though all rights are subject to reasonable limits.

sunwingspec.mp4

Horses.mp4

Sounds like a party

Obviously even more draconian measures are required to stomp out the scourge of the remaining 2.4% travel related sources...

I think the 'cooperation' of the carriers to suspend sun destination operations provides the feds enough cover to move forward on an aid package. Some sort of accommodation will be reached (loans, tax breaks, or?) to ease burden on carriers to issue refunds and minimize the howls.

Sampling of quarantine hotel prices and practices elsewhere

Feds mull mandatory hotel COVID quarantine as 50,000 cancel trips The federal government is looking at options that would make it harder for people to return from foreign trips.

The Boeing 737 MAX remains a risky ride But more important is to question why MCAS should exist at all on the 737 Max.

WestJet's 737 Max to be first to return to Canadian skies after global grounding Wed Jan20, 2021 - BNN/Bloomberg CALGARY - WestJet says it will operate the first commercial flight of the Boeing 737 Max in Canada since the aircraft was cleared to fly again in Canadian airspace. The flight will take off from Calgary on Thursday and land in Vancouver, where company executives will hold a press event, WestJet says. Starting Jan. 22, WestJet plans to fly the Max three times weekly between Calgary and Toronto. The Boeing 737 Max was grounded in Canada for nearly two years following two deadly crashes that investigators said was caused by a faulty sensor system. The Canadian government lifted its grounding order for the Max on Jan. 20 after approving a number of changes to the airplane's design, including allowing pilots to disable an alarm system found to be central to the crashes. Max pilots will also be required to undergo additional training in flight simulators before they can operate the plane in Canadian airspace.

Could probably fill it on LAS routes with a discounted LOTTO MAX fare.

Airlines face stiff public relations headwind as they prepare Boeing 737 Max for return to passenger service WestJet, Air Canada are rolling out new safety campaigns and policies to ease public skepticism 'You need to disclose, disclose, disclose'