The 4 major airlines in Canada have been in the news recently, so we want to keep you updated on all of this here. It’s 4 posts in 1! The most major news is clearly the 1st one about non-reclinable seats, and I actually discussed it in a TV news interview this week.
That happens to be another topic where everyone thinks they’re right with their common opinion… but I’m very persistent and I really want you to be a pro and understand how it is.
The other potential strike is also somewhat worrisome. Free on-board alcohol and a major airline partnership are more positive.
Here’s an update from each of the 4 major Canadian airlines.
WestJet: Configuration and seats
This is by far the news that has the most people talking. Non-reclinable seats sound really bad, right? And I remind you that WestJet acquired Sunwing and therefore now also operates all the planes that belonged to Sunwing not very long ago.
Here’s the WestJet change:
- Only on the B737 MAX 8 and B737-800 (narrow-bodies)
- Which currently have an all-economy configuration
- It’s 43 of the 192 aircraft in their fleet (22%)
- Used for short- and medium-distance flights
- Not for transpacific flights, for example
- The interior cabins will be completely revamped
- New seats and a new configuration
- New lavatories and better lighting
- With also the addition of free Wi-Fi already announced
- The new configuration will have 2 seat classes and 3 types
- They’ll add the premium economy seat class
- They’ll also have 2 seat options in economy class
- Completed by the end of 2025
- The first aircraft enters service in October
- Economy class seats are changing (and becoming lighter)
- They’ll be non-reclinable
- They’re ultra-slim and more ergonomically designed
- They gain an adjustable headrest at least
- They gain USB-A and USB-C charging ports
- They gain a phone/tablet holder
- “Extra comfort” seats will be more numerous
- It’s economy class, but with more space
- They’ll be reclinable
- They’ll offer more legroom
- There are 36 seats per plane
- “Premium” seats will be added
- It’s premium economy class
- They’ll be reclinable
- They’ll offer more legroom
- They’ll be wider (2-2 instead of 3-3)
- Additional services are included
- There are 12 seats per plane
- The planes will have one extra row of seats
- To lower prices (YES!)
- That means slowing down inflation, of course
I’m going to try once again to explain that having more choice and better-priced options is better (because it’s important and I really want you to become a pro), and then talk about the change itself.
Base of the low-priced offering
It’s a very normal reflex at first glance, when you don’t know the industry well, to say the classic “it’s a scam, they’re charging more for the same thing as before.”
In fact, that’s just not true. I want you to be among the rare ones who aren’t part of the mass that doesn’t understand all this well, instead of just having the same typical and basic misinformed reaction.
First, as I said during the TV interview, flying has objectively never been so cheap in the history of humanity!
My Canada-Europe ticket next week cost me 220 CAD. My Australia-Thailand ticket (10h+) in August cost me 250 CAD. Domestic flights in Europe often cost 30 CAD (and they’d be much cheaper in Canada too, if it weren’t for the crazy government taxes/fees). Etc.
Think about that! It’s crazy how cheap it is.
When you look at the insane inflation that has affected literally all other products and services, the data clearly shows that it’s much extremely better for plane tickets. Not even close, not even in the same universe.
It’s basic math: you also obviously need to compare to the evolution of prices for everything else. Plane ticket prices have certainly not increased like prices for the rest.
Why? Because airlines have become very good at segmenting their offering for all types of travelers! They’re democratizing air travel by offering the option to travel with less comfort and fewer services, for those who want to pay the lowest price.
It’s always better to at least have the option to pay less, rather than just not having the option… even if many don’t understand this principle.
Imagine if McDonald’s only sold combos, because YOU want to pay more for a combo! That would be absurd and ridiculous. Even if hypothetically, combos were the only option offered before, it would still be stupid. There are people who don’t want a combo! They might not even be able to afford a combo.
Just like there are PLENTY of people who don’t want to pay for all kinds of superfluous things on a plane (including checked bags, specific seats, and reclining seats). It’s a fact. That’s how it is!
I’m part of them, and it’s not rocket science: having a cheaper flight option without superfluous things allows me to travel 10+ times per year! Others who are less privileged might not even be able to travel at all without the cheaper options.
Yes, before everything was “included” in the price… but flights were also way more expensive and only very rich people could travel!!!
Some would even say it’s very elitist to want to force less wealthy passengers to pay for plenty of superfluous things they don’t need, just because you want those superfluous things.
However, as I explained in the news about Europe’s #1 airline that will stop accepting paper boarding passes, people just aren’t good at accepting change (that’s normal, it’s human nature).
So yes, the shift to the à la carte business model allows lowering plane ticket prices. It’s undeniable that plane ticket prices haven’t increased according to the same curve as all other products and services. It’s thanks to the extreme segmentation of airline offerings.
Flytrippers spots the same flight deals at the same prices as we did at our launch more than 8 years ago! Subway’s 5 CAD footlongs have doubled (100% more)… and for most products, it’s like about the same as that.
So it doesn’t lower prices in absolute terms, because nothing lowers with inflation caused by out-of-control government spending.
But it clearly slows down the increase in ticket prices, obviously!
Just rationally compare flights with literally anything else, and you’ll see that even if your initial reaction seems logical, it’s not quite like that in fact. It’s an absolutely unique industry where many things are counterintuitive like this! 😊
Non-reclinable seats
Non-reclinable seats are very far from being a new concept.
Plenty of airlines around the world have non-reclinable seats. Even Flair Airlines here in Canada. Having flown several, it’s really not that bad, given that it’s for fairly short flights.
Most importantly, WestJet says that 50% of its surveyed customers are favorable.
I’m definitely part of them: at 6 feet tall, I prefer BY FAR that the person in front of me can’t recline their seat, even if that obviously means I can’t recline mine either.
Like it’s not even a close call for me. I’m truly happy about this change. I would pay for non-reclinable seats, never for reclinable seats.
If you follow my trips through my stories on my personal Instagram account, you might remember the horrendous space due to the reclined seat on my 13-hour İstanbul-Bogotá flight for my trip to all 6 continents to earn 1M points. My forearm didn’t even fit in front of me…
I repeat, WestJet’s 737 routes are short flights. The interviewer during my news segment also said he hates when people recline their seats.
Yes, it’s clearly a preference that’s personal to each traveler. But that’s what’s great; those who insist on reclining their seat will be able to choose to do so by paying a little more than the base fare!
You want something more than the basics, you pay more. That’s logical.
It’s that way for any product or service, but everyone honestly loves to hate airlines. It’s often very much deserved, but sometimes they’re just being held to a higher standard.
One thing is certain: airlines will always charge the maximum price that people are willing to pay. Nothing more and nothing less. That’s how it is in a complex industry where the entire inventory expires every day, when each $100M plane takes off.
So having lower-priced options means that more people can travel, people travel more often, and it allows for more competition and keeps the price that people are willing to pay lower.
Anyway, this change makes the most basic thing to be a good traveler even more important. BEFORE buying anything, simply look at the details! Read. Research.
If having a reclining seat is important to you, check before buying instead of complaining after buying. Being well-informed is always a good idea! 😉
All airlines are different. And even different airplanes from the same airline can be different, on every aspect of the experience.
Don’t miss soon our guide on how to find the configuration details of the plane operating each flight, which is also very useful for our new section of flight deals in luxurious business class.
By the way, my setup for the live TV interview about this topic was quite unique, given that I had just gotten off the last of my 13 flights in 13 days for the JetBlue challenge.
I found a quiet corner before customs and used a baggage sizer that was lying around to get the proper framing. Traveling isn’t always comfortable and perfect (and shouldn’t be), but traveling is always great! You make it work when you want to make it work… like with non-reclinable seats.
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Air Canada: Food and beverages on board
In 2024, Flytrippers shared with you that Air Canada now offered free snacks, beers, and wines on flights to Canada and the United States. That’s because Porter offered the same thing and was growing strongly (to Canada and the United States). Now, this has gotten better.
Here are the Air Canada changes:
- Snacks, beers, and wines are now included on all flights
- Simpler and easier-to-understand policy
- Since September 1st
- “Sun” destinations were excluded and are no longer excluded
- Not surprising
- Because Porter just added “sun” destinations
- New free food and beverage choices on board certain flights
- MadeGood Mornings Cinnamon Bun Soft Baked Oat Bars
- Greenhouse Ginger Defence Wellness Shots
- New food and beverage choices on board all flights
- Free non-alcoholic beer option: Heineken 0.0
- Air Canada Bistro menu: hummus, oatmeal, pretzels, Smarties
Having more competition is the most important thing in an industry this unique; we’ve been repeating this to you for more than 8 years. Let’s look at this other very concrete example.
Snacks, beers, and wines included on flights to “sun” destinations
It couldn’t be more obvious that the addition of free snacks, beers, and wines was in response to Porter: it wasn’t offered on flights to “sun” destinations, where Porter didn’t fly to!
Well, as we told you, Porter announced its first routes to “sun” destinations. That starts this fall.
So, okay, now yes, it is even more obvious that it was in response to Porter: Air Canada is extending free snacks, beers, and wines to all its destinations. Great news for travelers who want that to be included in the price.
People in general are busy or lazy (and that’s normal), and so it doesn’t always take much to confuse them, honestly.
But it’s true that this was really complicated for travelers to understand. It was free on the shortest flights and on the longest flights, but not on flights of a distance in between.
In short, the on-board snacks and alcohol policy is now much simplified! It’s the same for all flights, all destinations. Snacks, beers, and wines are always included for free. A rare case of re-bundling rather than un-bundling.
New choices
The press release was published on Wednesday morning.
But the day before, on my last of my 13 flights in 13 days for my quasi-mileage run for the JetBlue challenge, the friendly flight attendant on my Air Canada Express flight served me the MadeGood bars that I had never seen.
I was surprised because Air Canada usually announces changes, even minor snack changes.
I even asked her if she had the chocolate cookies, which I would have preferred to have. She told me that she didn’t and that for this flight, there were only those new bars.
Anyway, the next day I saw the press release. These bars are offered only on flights that depart before 10 AM. I don’t know if all such flights will have only this snack option, or if my flight was an exception (it was a short 1h49 flight); to be continued.
The bars were good. Not as good as the chocolate cookies, but good.
Next, the Ginger Defence wellness drink is quite different from what is usually offered on airplanes. However, it’s only free on flights departing from Toronto-Billy Bishop airport (YTZ) and only on flights after 10:30 AM. On all other flights, it’s also available… but not free. That’s a little unusual, but at least it’s free somewhere instead of nowhere.
Made Good and Greenhouse are Canadian family companies, and I know that’s always a concern for our flag carrier airline. They really do seem to try to support local products whenever possible.
When it comes to non-alcoholic beer, Air Canada is the only North American airline to offer it. It’s a trend that isn’t likely to decline, as young people are no longer drinking as much alcohol.
Finally, there are 4 new items on the Air Canada Bistro menu:
- Summer Fresh Hummus & Crackers
- Quaker Maple & Brown Sugar Oatmeal Cups
- TWIGZ Sour Cream & Onion Pretzels
- Smarties candy
Porter: New partner airline
Airline partnerships are one of the most important things to understand to be a travel pro, but many don’t know this well, so we’ll help you with a guide soon. But there’s a good one to announce before.
Here’s the Porter change:
- New partnership with American Airlines (AA)
- The 2nd largest airline in the world
- Very limited partnership for now
- Codesharing on certain limited flights
- Accumulation of AAdvantage miles on Porter flights
- But an expanded rewards partnership is coming next
- Redeeming VIPorter points on AA could be very good
- Depending on the pricing system, of course
It’s a nice opportunity to explain partnerships a bit. Let’s look at the basics and then the Porter/AA partnership in more detail.
Basics of partnerships
The VIPorter program is finally very relevant, since the launch of the brand new BMO VIPorter World Elite Mastercard with a phenomenal welcome bonus that gives you 106,000 points (70,000 points as the bonus and 36,000 points on the spending required)!
That’s enough for 2 roundtrips to Europe on Air Transat!
It’s a good example of why partnerships are interesting: redemptions on Air Transat often give more value than on Porter.
That’s almost always the case with airline programs. It’s certainly the case with Aeroplan especially, and even more if you want to travel in business class.
In short, even if the partnership announced yesterday is rather limited, it’s very promising that Porter promises a “future integration between VIPorter” and American Airlines.
It could be great to be able to redeem VIPorter points on AA to get a whole lot of other options… depending on the pricing system, of course. The airline has a massive fleet of 1000 aircraft, compared to 77 for Porter.
Air Canada is a partner with United, and WestJet is a partner with Delta. It’s logical that the other of the 3 major Canadian national airlines is a partner with the last of the US Big 3.
For now, there are no VIPorter redemptions, though. We’re following this closely for you, and we’ll let you know as soon as it’s expanded.
Porter/American partnership details
It’s certainly not the best timing, considering the drop in travel to the United States… although there are still 2.4 million Canadians who went to the United States just in August (if you’re one of them, watch out for the impact of the current government shutdown).
But there are 2 aspects to the new partnership:
- Codesharing
- Accumulation of AAdvantage miles
Codesharing isn’t that useful, honestly. Essentially, you can now book an American Airlines flight with a Porter flight number and a Porter flight with an American Airlines flight number. It simplifies check-in for everyone and checked bags for those who bring those, but that’s just about it.
This means that the free bag you get thanks to the BMO VIPorter World Elite Mastercard (for you and 8 companions on the same booking) will apply on American flights when you check in with Porter (just as the Air Canada free bag benefit applies on partner airlines when you check in with Air Canada).
On a more strategic level, codesharing also enables the launch of more new routes, which is obviously a very good thing.
That said, even this codesharing partnership is very limited for now. But they specified that more routes would eventually be added.
Here are the American Airlines flights included:
That means the American Airlines flight between Toronto (YYZ) and Charlotte (CLT) is now bookable on the Porter site, with a Porter flight number. Yes, the flight will be operated by AA but will have a Porter code.
(This seems very complicated to understand for many, so we’ll certainly explain this in the upcoming guide!)
American Airlines flights to the Caribbean, Central America, and South America will also be available with a Porter code.
It’s great to see AA’s huge network in those areas being leveraged. Porter’s partnership with Air Transat already covers Europe very well, so Asia will have to be the next region they tackle. Hopefully, with a meaningful partnership with Japan Airlines, Cathay Pacific, or STARLUX.
Here are the Porter flights included (all departing from Toronto only):
That means the Porter flight between Toronto (YYZ) and Edmonton (YEG) is now bookable on the American Airlines site, with an American Airlines flight number.
This is helpful, as it gives you more destination options on the same ticket. In a trade war, it also means more Americans will be flying on a Canadian airline.
Interesting fact, American is the #1 US airline at YYZ. Logical, because United and Delta rely on their partners Air Canada and WestJet and take advantage of partner flights. AA has 25 flights per day at YYZ, and that explains why this is just in Toronto for now.
Apart from these domestic flights, the Toronto-Phoenix flight will also be included (Phoenix is an AA hub) and other transborder flights too, later.
But the most interesting thing about this partnership is that you can accumulate AAdvantage miles on your Porter flights if they have an American Airlines code. If you want to travel in business class or get outsized value even in economy class, AAdvantage miles are great.
You can transfer RBC Avion points to AAdvantage, too; it’s one of the 7 airline programs directly accessible with Canadian credit cards.
Just 60,000 points to save $3557 ($3617.67 minus $60.67)!!! That’s a value of 4.2¢ per RBC Avion point (you need 85,714 RBC Avion points; the transfer rate is 1-to-0.7). A little better than using those precious points for a simple fixed-value travel credit of 1¢/pt like most people do, right?
It’s 4 times more value! That’s the beauty of points of the more lucrative type. They’re amazing. Especially on partners; you probably noticed that this redemption of AAdvantage miles is on Japan Airlines, not American Airlines! Partnerships are key! 😉
You can earn 60,000 RBC Avion points with the record-high welcome bonus on the RBC Avion Visa Infinite Card (ends November 25).
The eligibility rules for this specific card’s welcome bonus are extremely generous and mean it’s really easy to get a lot of RBC Avion points: all new applications are eligible, even if you already have the card… that’s extremely rare!
We’ll talk more about this, with detailed guides on all these programs, very soon.
But also about the arbitrage between different rewards programs with a very concrete example for my Canada-Europe flight at 220 CAD next week! It’s related to partnerships!
Air Transat: Negotiations with pilots
Several people wrote to us about this. So, we might as well talk about it while sharing changes from the 3 other major airlines, even if it’s more of an update than a change.
Here’s the Air Transat update:
- Negotiations with pilots have been ongoing for 9 months
- 400 hours of negotiations have taken place
- Their last contract dates back 10 years
- There was an impasse in negotiations 2 weeks ago
- There has been no “significant progress”
- Pilots filed the official dispute notice
- With the Minister of Labour of Canada
- A federal conciliator will be appointed
- A mandatory conciliation period will start
- Conciliation lasts 60 days (or more if both sides agree)
- Then there’s a 21-day cooling-off period
- A strike or lockout would only be legal after that
- So at least 81 days after the start of conciliation
- That means January at the earliest
- Unless conciliation starts in the next week
- Seems unlikely, but the start date is not precise yet
- It’s far from certain that it will even get that far
- But it’s hard to be very optimistic with recent events
Let’s take a closer look at this, even though I have a feeling we’ll be talking about it again.
Basics of the Air Transat situation
With the recent chaos of the Air Canada strike, it is definitely worrisome for many travelers.
It’s not particularly worrisome yet, but as we have seen with disruptions during WestJet pilot negotiations in 2023 and Air Canada pilot negotiations in 2024 (although minor), it can escalate quite quickly.
Air Transat pilots want the same better contracts their Canadian peers got. They say they are “determined.”
And Statistics Canada data show that, although Québec represents only 23% of the Canadian population, more than 50% of strikes in the country occur there. That’s noteworthy, considering that Air Transat is based in Québec (like Air Canada, by the way… even though Air Canada employees are not as heavily concentrated in Québec).
It’s also worth remembering that Air Transat’s financial situation is very different from Air Canada’s. Air Transat lost $114M in 2024, a 6th consecutive year of net losses.
Mathematically, that provides less wiggle room for salary increases, obviously. Remains to be seen if the union will agree.
Next steps in the negotiations
The pilots’ union filed the dispute notice, an official step that will lead to the appointment of a federal conciliator (that’s almost certain to be the ministerial decision, which is due very soon). It’s the same Minister who ordered Air Canada’s flight attendants back to work in August, by the way.
If there’s no deal after 60 days and 1 of the 2 sides wants to do a strike or a lockout, that can legally happen 21 days after.
This obviously requires that a strike vote takes place, and that notice be given 72 hours before the strike.
Again, this is far from certain. Flytrippers will closely follow this situation and provide you with more information as it unfolds.
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Summary
WestJet will revamp the cabins of several of its planes, with non-reclinable seats. Air Canada has extended free snacks, beers, and wines to all its flights. Porter launched a limited partnership with American Airlines. And Air Transat could be heading toward a labor dispute with its pilots.
What would you like to know about the airline updates for October? Tell us in the comments below.
See the flight deals we spot: Cheap flights
Discover free travel with rewards: Travel rewards
Explore awesome destinations: Travel inspiration
Learn pro tricks: Travel tips
Featured image: Air Canada, Air Transat, Porter, and WestJet planes (photo credit: Kiya Golara, John McArthur, David Syphers, and Adam Khan)
