Air Canada faces the facts

摘要

So the fuel-price cudgel that has been battering U.S. airlines has finally been seriously felt by Air Canada. The blows can no longer be countered merely by fuel surcharges and charging for a second checked bag (some U.S. carriers are now charging for any checked bag). Air Canada has admitted that it is going to have to cut back seriously on its own infrastructure, eliminating up to 2,000 jobs and reducing route capacity by seven per cent for the fourth quarter of this year and the first quarter of 2009. And "if fuel prices remain at current levels," CEO Montie Brewer said on June 17, "we can anticipate further capacity reductions." The Prince George-Calgary route had already been axed two weeks earlier, so that Prince George travellers now have to fly to Vancouver before heading for any points east.