Hit by criticism for its 2023 on-time performance, Air Canada says the situation is improving, with a 19.1 percentage point improvement in OTP in the second half of 2023, and a strong operational performance for the year-end holiday travel period.
The airline says it achieved some of its best holiday season operational results in a decade, including completing 98% of scheduled flights, with an on-time performance of 70%. Over the holidays, the airline carried about 2.6 million customers on more than 20,000 flights.
Air Canada EVP Craig Landry welcomes the lifting of COVID restrictions but says more needs to be done to improve Canada's air transport system. (Photo Credit: Air Canada)
"We thank our customers for entrusting their travel to Air Canada and I am proud that we delivered on our promise to transport them safely and conveniently,” said Craig Landry, EVP and COO.
“Our success was the result of extensive advance preparations and the hard work of our people, helped by moderate winter weather. With a clear focus on our customers and on improving the stability and resilience of our operation, we have implemented a range of initiatives to ensure we continue to improve our operational performance into 2024 and beyond," Landry added.
This holiday season, the peak travel period for Air Canada occurred between December 18, 2023, and January 6, 2024. Operational highlights include:
· Approximately 2.6 million customers flew on Air Canada, about 10% more than in the same period in 2022. This is equivalent to moving nearly the entire combined population of Manitoba and Saskatchewan, or everyone in Canada's Atlantic provinces.
· On-time-performance (OTP), measured by the industry standard of arrival within 15 minutes of scheduled time, was 70%. This is a dramatic increase from 40% in 2022, when severe winter weather disrupted travel, and well above the last pre-pandemic holiday period in 2019, when OTP was 54%.
· The average delay, when one occurred, was 37 minutes, a 43% reduction from 2022 and 10% better than the last pre-pandemic holiday period in 2019.
· There were 20,075 flights operated, with a completion rate of 98%. This resulted in a 80% reduction in cancelled flights as compared to 2022, and an 71% reduction as compared to the last pre-pandemic holiday period in 2019.
· The volume of delayed or mishandled bags dropped by a sharp 58% as compared to the prior year, translating into a baggage handling success rate of 98.6%.
Air Canada says it is committed to operational improvement, with significant efforts underway not only to address the lingering challenges the pandemic created, but to ensure that operational performance will consistently exceed pre-pandemic levels.
Better holiday weather helped Air Canada post stronger holiday season performance. (Photo Credit: iStock/Getty Images Plus/uatp2)
Examples of such measures include:
· Stable staffing levels that exceed those from 2019, with continually increased experience levels reinforced through additional training programs.
· Improvements in schedule design that allow for additional flexibility in ground time and connecting time for customers.
· Deep collaboration in planning and execution with all key partners in the travel ecosystem, including airport authorities; agencies responsible for airport security, customs and border processing and air traffic control; as well as third-party ground handlers, caterers, and fuelers.
· A systematic focus on customer experience through a new internal program across the company called ECX, or Elevating the Customer Experience, that breaks down all key passenger touch points and generates improvements through investments in technology, self-service, and business process redesign.
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