Many airlines around the world are cutting capacity in response to the huge spike in jet fuel costs. Canadian airlines have also announced significant flight cancellations. But as usual, many people are completely overreacting and just objectively have a very, very hard time contextualizing things.
It’s certainly substantial… but it’s also not that many flights. And for flights to/from Canada, airlines are always legally required to simply rebook you for free, including on other airlines (that’s why it’s important to know your rights; a basic skill to be a travel pro).
So you can almost certainly relax; book your flights or keep your already-booked flights. Flytrippers aims to help you travel for less through our 3 types of content, namely flight deals, travel rewards, and tips/inspiration/news.
Here are the details of flight cancellations due to fuel prices.
Why are airlines cutting capacity?
For the first few weeks, the conflict in the Middle East’s biggest impact on aviation was the disruption of thousands of flights at the Gulf region’s major airline hubs.
By the way, most routes are no longer affected, as I shared during my transit through Qatar last week. I’ll share more soon, as will Flytrippers’ other co-founder, Kevin, about his transit experience in the United Arab Emirates.
Airlines usually hedge fuel costs by locking in prices for some time ahead. But now, the massive hike in jet fuel costs is affecting all airlines worldwide.
It’s much worse than the impact on your own gas costs; jet fuel prices have doubled!!!
Many airlines are cutting capacity to minimize financial losses on less popular routes. Operating routes at a 70% load factor might have made economic sense at “normal” fuel prices, but with those recently doubling… the same route just isn’t profitable.
Canceling flights makes more sense.
Because airlines can’t charge more to those who already bought their ticket. At least if you booked directly with the airline, as you should do as we always repeat!
A common beginner mistake is to book a flight via a third-party, and those can charge you more after the booking in certain circumstances… if it’s indicated in the contract you agreed to when you booked.
Which airlines are canceling flights?
Many airlines worldwide are trimming their schedules (canceling flights) due to fuel prices. Too many to list them all here.
You don’t really need to know which ones if you simply do the very basic step you need to do for all flight bookings: manage your booking online to add your email address and receive notifications (always, but especially if you unfortunately booked on a third-party website).
If your flight is affected, don’t worry; they’ll tell you!
Just know your rights below. You should know these anyway.
If you followed the very basic tip to always fly in advance if you have something you absolutely can’t miss, you’ll probably be fine.
I certainly won’t list all airlines that are canceling flights here, but I will at least mention Canadian airlines.
As of now, 3 of Canada’s 5 major airlines have announced flight cuts.
- Air Canada
- 1% of flights (May-October)
- WestJet
- 1% of flights (April)
- 3% of flights (May)
- 5.5% of flights (June)
- Air Transat
- 6% of flights (May-October)
- Porter
- No announcement yet
- Flair
- No announcement yet
Especially in the case of WestJet and Air Transat, that’s a sizeable number of canceled flights indeed. Still, they each operate hundreds of flights each day.
Lufthansa, Germany’s flag-carrying airline, is canceling 20,000 flights. Sounds huge, right? Well, it’s less than 1% of their total capacity…
Often, it’s just a route that has 6 frequencies per day that will go down to 4 frequencies per day. You’ll be rebooked quite easily.
Will more flights be canceled?
Maybe not. But as the situation evolves, there definitely could be even more cuts.
Still, it won’t be that many flights, in the grand scheme of things.
Deciding not to travel just because of this makes absolutely no sense. Nor does stressing all day over a cancellation that probably won’t happen.
As always, if you want to be very sure you’ll be somewhere by a specific time, you need to book a backup flight. That’s it.
Flytrippers will keep you updated about potential future cuts; join 150,000+ savvy Canadian travelers who get our free newsletter.
What are my rights if my flight is canceled?
As per Canada’s Air Passenger Protection Regulations (APPR), which applies to all flights to/from Canada, you are always owed a free rebooking when an airline cancels your flight.
No matter the reason. The airline always has to rebook you for free! Simple.
It’s honestly wild (and sad) how many people fall for the airlines’ frequent attempts to make you believe your only option is to accept a refund.
And if you prefer, you can obviously always choose a full refund in cash if you want (not a terrible travel credit).
We’ll soon share a very exhaustive updated guide to your passenger rights and the best tips for disrupted flights.
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Summary
The conflict in the Middle East has driven oil prices way up. Airlines worldwide, including here in Canada, are responding to those high fuel prices by canceling some flights. Not that many flights are affected, and if yours is, you can simply be rebooked for free.
What would you like to know about the flight cancellations due to fuel prices? Tell us in the comments below.
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Learn pro tricks: Travel tips
Featured image: Air Canada, Air Transat. and WestJet planes (photo credit: David Syphers, Adam Khan and David Syphers)
