| Journal: TWUK | Section: |
| Title: | Issue Date: 29/05/00 |
| Author: | Page Number: 48 |
| Copyright: Other |
Market update
Network mergers puts pressure on carriers
Integration leads to customers’ complaints
THE furore which met the merger between Air Canada and Canadian Airlines reached fever pitch during the Rendezvous travel trade show. Canadian newspapers reported endless jams, particularly at Toronto Pearson Airport, caused by the integration of the two airlines’ summer schedules on April 2.The federal government reacted to the problems by appointing an ombudsman to deal specifically with customers’ complaints of lost luggage and denied boardings.
Air Canada spokesman John Weber said: “For the past six weeks we have had the unprecedented challenge of combining two networks, two reservations systems, two fleets and two groups of employees, each of whom have their own union agreements.
“To implement the integration smoothly will be a huge Information Technology challenge,” he added.
But he said the media attention had more to do with being Canada’s largest airline and, at a market value of £4.44bn, one of the country’s largest corporations. The fact remained though that complaints were being made, to the extent that Air Canada took out an advertisement in the Calgary Herald, stating that, out of 27,000 daily passengers at Toronto Pearson, 100 were experiencing serious problems. Passengers were advised to check their tickets to see exactly which carrier they were flying with.
The mix-up is due mainly to flights, departing from two terminals, regardless of destination, a problem which the airline hopes will be solved on June 3, when all international flights will depart from terminal one and all domestic and transborder flights from terminal two.
“We have had allegations of denied boardings, but in fact this rate has only changed fractionally since six months prior to the merger,” added Weber.
One of the major concerns expressed by the UK market has been over fares, since Air Canada is now operating in a virtual monopoly, something else Weber firmly denied.
“We don’t consider ourselves to be a monopoly. The charter market is very strong in Canada for a start, and there is growing competition from Canada 3000 and Westjet, who are expanding very aggressively.”
For this reason, he added, fares have not risen, and are not likely to rise as a result of the merger. Air Canada is currently in the process of finding approximately 2,500 voluntary redundancies though.
Among the benefits of the merger are 32 new routes for the summer – including 15 non-stop flights to the UK – and 12 new destinations, including Toronto flights to Tokyo, Amsterdam Munich and Sydney via Honolulu, as well as Vancouver to Mexico City.
Mix-up: from June 3, international flights will depart from one terminal making check-in easier