Loading ...The load factor on both Air Canada and Jazz flights dipped this past June, with the decline on Jazz flights reaching 7.9 percent. As such, the average number of seats filled by paying passengers on flights operated by both Air Canada’s mainline service and Jazz, a regional carrier, stands at 82.2 percent. It is not uncommon for carriers to experience a decline in passengers and capacity as higher ticket prices and concerns about the weak state of the economy are deterring people from travelling by air. A good example of this is British Airways, where some flights are more than a quarter empty, with the average load factor now in the 75 to 80 percent range. In Air Canada’s case, however, the decline in the carrier’s load factor is actually less pronounced.
Part of the reason for the modest decline in Air Canada’s load factor is the fact that the carrier has actually increased the number of seats and flights by 2.7 percent. At the same time, the number of passengers taking AC flights only increased by a marginal 1.9 percent. Yet this 2.7 increase in capacity is widely seen as a very temporary measure. The Canadian flag carrier has already indicated that it would slash its overall capacity by around 7 percent for the fall and winter seasons.
In addition to ultimately decreasing its capacity, Air Canada has also announced that it would try to weather the storm caused by a weak economy and record high petrol prices by cutting up to 2,000 jobs across the country. As we reported late last week, Jazz will go ahead and cut an additional 270 jobs as well, accompanied by a 5 percent reduction in capacity.
www.aircanada.com
