Air Canada flight attendants say current wages are ‘near poverty-level'
CTV's Colton Praill on how the potential strike could impact Canadian travellers as 10,000 flight attendants could walk off the job on Saturday.
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CBC
2 minutes ago
- CBC
Air Canada passengers in limbo as flight attendants' strike enters 3rd day
Another day of uncertainty awaited Air Canada travellers on Monday after striking flight attendants defied a federal back-to-work order and delayed the airline's plans to restart operations. 'We haven't slept, we've been calling, we're tired,' said one frustrated passenger trying to fly to Portugal for her honeymoon.
National Post
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- National Post
Ottawa-imposed 'airport rent' is driving up cost of plane tickets, think tank finds
OTTAWA — A leading free-market think tank is calling on Ottawa to stop playing landlord to major airports, arguing that exorbitant land rental fees are driving up the cost of domestic air travel. Article content 'Using airports as cash cows instead of treating them as critical infrastructure hurts families, workers, and patients who depend on reliable air service for treatment access,' says Samantha Dagres, the communications manager at the Montreal Economic Institute (MEI). Article content Article content Canada's airports are operated by private, non-profit organizations, known as airport authorities, but the land they sit on is owned by the federal government, which collects rent. Article content Article content These costs are passed down to air travellers, making up as much as a third of the airport improvement fee tacked onto the price of their ticket. Article content The average airport improvement fee charged on a Canadian domestic flight is $38, according to Westjet. This is twice the corresponding Australian fee and four times more than what U.S. air travellers pay on their tickets. Article content Canadian air travellers also pay higher airport security charges and, indirectly, aviation fuel excise taxes than their Australian and U.S. peers. Article content All told, MEI found that government-imposed taxes, fees and rent charges made up as much as 43 per cent of ticket prices along major domestic routes. Article content 'Reducing the cost of air travel is entirely within Ottawa's control, because it is Ottawa that is driving prices up in the first place,' said Dagres. Article content Dagres and her colleagues found that the government-levied charges on a Toronto to Montreal flight alone ($68) were enough to pay for a budget flight from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. Article content This isn't the first time that Ottawa's ownership of airport lands has been tied to higher ticket prices. Article content A Senate committee recommended in 2013 that Transport Canada make a plan to phase out rental fees and transfer ownership of airports to the airport authorities that operate them. Article content 'Many witnesses raised concerns that these rents do not take into account the differing state and value of airport facilities when they were first transferred to the airport authorities … Since the airport authorities are mandated to be not-for-profit entities, witnesses told the committee that these costs are recovered from users,' wrote committee members.
CBC
4 hours ago
- CBC
Flight attendant strike + Shaun Majumder
The National breaks down what could happen next in the Air Canada flight attendants' strike as passengers try to find new travel arrangements. Plus, comedian Shaun Majumder talks about moving his family back to Canada after years of living in L.A.
