Air Canada has stopped accepting new requests for pets to travel in the luggage compartment of its flights until Sept. 12, the airline said Wednesday, as major airports across the country are they face travel delays, flight cancellations and logistical challenges.
Small animals will still be allowed in the cabins of most flights, as long as they can lie on a carrier under the seat in front of the passenger.
Bringing a pet into the cabin will cost $ 50 for flights within Canada and the U.S. (except Hawaii), the airline said, and $ 100 for international flights.
“Due to current delays at the airport, due to the safety and comfort of pets, we will not accept new requests for animals traveling in the luggage compartment until September 12, 2022,” Air Canada said. by email in response to CBC News questions.
“All current pet reservations will be respected.
Until September 12, the animals will no longer be able to travel to the hold of the aircraft. Find out if your pet can travel with you in the cabin: pic.twitter.com/tPNsy9mFxh
– @AirCanada
“This does not affect trained service animals, nor smaller pets traveling in the cabin,” a spokesman said, adding that the airline often has a embargo on pets in the cargo hold on routes. selected during certain times of the year, “especially for destinations. where there is extreme heat.”
“For customers booking flights who want to travel with a pet who cannot be in the cabin with them, there are still several safe solutions available through Air Canada Cargo,” the airline said.
The company did not answer questions about what conditions would have to be met for the ban to be lifted. Nor did it provide data on whether any pets have been lost or sickened during the recent airport chaos.
Air Canada currently leads the world in flight delays
The change comes when Air Canada ranked first on a list of the world’s top airlines with the most flight delays on Tuesday for at least a fourth day in a row, according to FlightAware.
Tracking company Jazz Aviation, which provides regional service to Air Canada, and Air Canada Rouge took second and third place.
MIRAR | Canadian airlines among the worst for delays:
Canadian airlines among the worst results for delays, show recent data
Canada’s top two airlines have had the worst performance of the top 10 U.S. airlines this summer, according to recent data. However, some experts say U.S. airlines experienced delays and disruptions last year due to increased travel demand, and now it’s Canada’s turn.
Sixty-five percent of Air Canada flights arrived late Tuesday, according to FlightAware.
Toronto’s Pearson Airport took first place for location flight delays on Tuesday; it was the only airport on the planet that saw more than half of all departures delayed.
Given the chaos at Canadian airports, Gabor Lukacs, chairman of the air passenger rights group, said the decision to ban pets in the cargo hold is “certainly bad for passengers, but in the current situation makes sense “.
Globally, the airline industry has struggled to keep up with rising demand for travel as airlines and airports seek to regain staffing levels after thousands of workers left during the pandemic. the COVID-19.
Hawaii resident Ella Sidlow is petting her dog while waiting to return home with a United Airlines flight to San Francisco International Airport in October 2020. (Jeff Chiu / The Associated Press)
The problem, Lukacs said, is that airlines should have known they were understaffed and that Canadian airports did not have the capacity to handle the number of passengers who had bought tickets, but did nothing to fix the situation.
A “high school student with an Excel spreadsheet” should have been able to anticipate problems, based on the number of tickets sold compared to staffing levels at airports to handle traffic, he said.
“Why are they [airlines] selling tickets for flights that can’t operate? ”Lukacs said in a phone interview.“ You can’t sell a service you know for sure that you won’t be able to offer. This is an act of deception to the public. ”