The end of Air Canada

[a78jumper]

Loss for 2003, C$1.87 billion !!!!

And now their Hong Kong Sugar Daddy is threatening to pull out unless the unions make more concessions. See the story at www.cbc.ca

Me thinks the end is near. This dinosaur needs to be broken up into pieces and sold for whatever they can get. They could could perhaps continue on with a few profitable international routes.
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[Crazy764]

I hope they can pull this together!

[jonathan]

http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2004/04/02/business/aircan_040402

[FlyCharlestonSC]

So much for seeing them at CHS ever again!

[Myblock]

Was just about to start a thread on this but just saw this one...

Sorry to say it but the end is near I think.

[a78jumper]

The financing package has been pulled. This should make more great election fodder. This will go down as a great business study; how to take a company with 0 debt in 1988, and since 1999 a virtual monopoly on many route, with a share price of zilch after an IPO in the teens in the late 1980s. While doing so cut service levels and drive all your passengers to alternatives. Chop the company up into little pieces, Tango, Zip, Jazz et al, and the a**hole in chrage insists he is doing a great job. Oh yes rip your employees union off in the process. What a mess, I give them less than a week before ceasing operations.
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[Dick H]

So what happens to people who have tickets for flights after April 15?
I can't imagine other airlines will honor them, will they?
What about Star Alliance partners?

[chrisburns]

I hope they can pull this together!

I hope so to, Canada would have virtually no air service to overseas and all. I mean if an American company went in, while I would like to see a US airline succeed, I dont think that other airlines should enter each others domestic market. Not to mention it means thousands of jobs and everything else to go with it. Good Luck to Air Canada and all of its employees.

[DougNYC]

Very sad . Without AC, Canada would become about the only country in the industrialized world (OK, excluding Monaco and a few other places that haven't got a commercial airport) without some sort of a flag carrier. Sure, there would still be a few Canadian carriers with scheduled international service, but neither Air Transat nor CanJet would make much of a flag carrier.

Still, I think the worst bit from a Canadian's point of view would be that for domestic travel there would be no alternative to a low-cost carrier. At least internationally there will be a decent amount of international service from other countries' flag carriers and the option of connecting in the US to the international networks of our Big Six airlines.

Hopefully AC can be saved in some way, shape, or form, even if it means a drastically pruned operation. It may not be viable as it is but at some level there must be a market for a Canadian flag carrier, even if it mainly just operates domestic flights and transborder services connecting to UA or some other big US based airline.

I also think Tango, Zip, etc. are all utterly silly; similarly I don't see the point in Ted and Song. Airlines-within-an-airline like these do not work - why do major carriers continue insist on forming them? Jazz, at least, has a legitimate purpose though I don't think giving it its own brand identity was necessarily such a great idea.

For all its glory Star Alliance has quite a few "problem airlines" - mainly AC and NZ, and soon US. Seeing as Star recently gave Mexciana the boot I have to wonder if perhaps AC is next? If so, some of the big Oneworld members might want to consider not doing what they did a few years back with CP, and taking AC, dusting it off, and making themselves a nice little Canadian feeder operation for their network...

[DAL767-400ER]

The end of Air Canada

Looks very bad for AC this time . But as a78jumper said, they had an almost-monopoly in AC on most routes, yet still weren't able to succeed. I mean, how is this possible, when you can basically charge what you want? It is just a sad thing that the employees now have to pay for the mistakes for the executives . As for a replacement of AC, that's a hard one. On the routes to Europe, Asia and the US, other airlines, especially their Star Partners, could fill the gap, since LH still has some planes stored as well as UA of course, BMI could pull their A330 from the military charters, etc. The problem will be the domestic market. Westjet, Jetsgo and Canjet will surely be able to pick up some traffic in the key markets, but is going to fly to all the smaller communities in Canada where AC has a monopoly?

-Colin

[Asian Brushstroke]

Even though I'm not a fan of AC, I hope they will ultimately survive in the long run. Apart from that, I honestly don't think the Canadian government will ever let the airline liquidate, thanks to its status as Canada's flag-carrier.

[ardavis]

Oh dear!! No no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no etc.

[MauwieAir]

maybe they could bring back the leased planes and fly with about 30% of theire fleet and maybe sell some planes.... it would work better than...

[northerner2121]

It won't have much of an effect on ATL, seeing as AC only has one gate here but imagine YYZ or YUL with absolutely nothing Air Canada I said the same thing about CLT and US Airways... CLT would be a wasteland. I'm doubtful that they'll pull through but the best of luck to 'em... What or who will take their place if they go under? Maybe Mr. Branson will open up a VirginCan or something to that extent Good luck Air Canada.

[Crazy764]

VirginCan!